Mater Dei Extravaganza: New Names to Watch
SANTA ANA — The 27th annual Nike Extravaganza took place last weekend on the campus of Mater Dei high school and the slate of games didn’t disappoint. The event featured many of the top teams and prospects in Southern California…
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Continue ReadingSANTA ANA — The 27th annual Nike Extravaganza took place last weekend on the campus of Mater Dei high school and the slate of games didn’t disappoint. The event featured many of the top teams and prospects in Southern California and a handful of Vegas’ best teams and players, as well. In This piece we take a closer look at some of the newer names to make their way onto our radar.
Eli Bradley Eli Bradley 6'2" | SG Bishop Gorman | 2023 State NV , 2023, Bishop Gorman (NV) – Bradley looked to be in his comfort zone shooting in a gym he was more than familiar with. The junior lefty with a sweet shooting stroke played at Mater Dei high school as a freshman before moving to Las Vegas and enrolling at Bishop Gorman. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard/wing went 5-for-6 from the field, all five makes (and one miss) coming from three-point range. Bradley finished with 15 points in the Gaels big win over Whitney Young of Chicago.
Chris Nwuli Chris Nwuli 6'7" | SF Wasatch Academy | 2025 State #38 Nation UT , 2025, Bishop Gorman (NV) – The intrigue surrounding Nwuli as a prospect is predicated on his elite athleticism to go along with his long and wiry 6-foot-7 frame. The freshman is a starter for a very good Gorman squad that is 22-0 on the season and while Nwuli’s role is fairly limited at this time, west coast basketball fans can expect big things out of him over the next three seasons. Nwuli had eight points on 3-for-4 from the field in the win over Whitney Young, and while those numbers seem pedestrian, his impact was felt on the defensive end and when getting out in transition to put pressure on the defense.
Justin Davis, 2022, Capistrano Valley – Davis is a smart left-handed guard with good ball skills and feel in the open court. The 6-foot-1 unsigned senior has good speed in the open court and plays with pace that allows him to knife through the defense and into the lane where he can score around the basket or create for teammates.
Kairi Shepherd, 2023, Long Beach Poly – Sheppard comes off the bench for the Jackrabbits and has a lot of traits that make us think he could be a major contributor by next season. At 6-feet-2, the combo guard has a smoothness to his perimeter game that allows him to flow into a pull-up jumper at the mid-range level. Shepherd has good size at the guard position and has flashed the ability to score in a variety of ways.
Luke Rishwain, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame – The Rishwain name has been long associated with Notre Dame as his brother Julian lit up the scoreboard there for four years before moving on to Boston College and then to the University of San Francisco. On Saturday Luke shot his way onto the radar as his 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting and 3-for-6 from three-point range helped the Knights snag a 70-63 win over St. Augustine.
Nikolas Khamenia, 2025, Harvard-Westlake – When it comes to “upside” in SoCal’s freshman class, Khamenia is one of those players you can’t help but wonder how good he will be. At 6-feet-6 with fluid athleticism and a fundamental and consistent shooting stroke out to three-point range, Khamenia has flashed plenty of brilliance in his limited minutes thus far for a very good Harvard-Westlake team.