Bruce’s Notbook Hustle In The Sun: Saturday Standouts

<p>Spring is here and that can only mean one thing. It’s Circuit Season! The Prephoops Circuit is upon us. I will be covering and providing exposure for the Hustle Region Circuit. The Hustle Region Circuit consists of AAU Programs from California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and New Mexico. The circuit features 10 stops including the Hustle Region Final in Irvine July 15th – 17th. Stop number 5 sends us to Irvine California, for the Hustle In The Sun, where we will have everyone playing under one roof inside the Momentous Sports Arena. I pulled up to check out the action on Saturday, here’s a look at some of my Standouts. </p> <p><strong>Jake Lentz</strong><em> 5’9 PG BTI 2025</em> - Saw Lentz in the first game of the day, and he did not disappoint. He was one of the top snipers, spraying threes from all over the court. His ability to space the floor and change the scoreboard was crucial to BTI picking up a last-second victory. Lentz finished with 23 points including 5 three-pointers to power his team to the victory. </p> <p><strong>Jeremiah Calhoun</strong> <em>6’2 PG Team Eleate 2022</em> - Calhoun was his usual solid self In a victory over D1, the guard controlled the game with his passing and ability to score off dribble drives. The big guard was his usual steady self, finishing with 18 points to help his Team Eleate squad to a victory on the day. The unsigned senior has recently picked up some additional D2 interest. </p> <p><strong>Jael Martin</strong><em> 6’7 SF LA Elite 2024</em> - I saw Martin play exactly two halves of two separate games and was intrigued more and more. He has good size, is athletic and a fluid runner, I picked up most of that in the first half. He also is an above-average finisher, especially in transition where he showed the ability to get out, and use Euros and 1-2 steps to elude defenders and finish at the rim. </p> <p><strong>Kaedin Hamilton</strong> <em>6’8 C BTI 2024</em> - Hamilton won’t blow you away with anything except his size, however, his production was worth a look. The big man was effective using his strong hand to finish around the rim, and yes he was the biggest player on the court most times, however, you can’t ignore the number of boards he grabbed. Hamilton was a volume rebounder that managed to snag everything that bounced his way, showing decent hands in the process. </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1253214" first="Mateen" last="Rafiq"] <em>6’0 PG Rose City 2024</em> <em>(featured image)</em> - I’m always looking for guys that are different and Rafiq is that. Watching him play, I noticed that no one was able to stay in front of the Rose City guard, as he seemed to turn the corner on every player that came out to guard him. The next part that made him different was his decision making, as Rafiq, was nearly flawless deciding when to finish at the rim or dish to open teammates once the defense collapsed. </p> <p><strong>Jackson Young</strong> <em>6’2 SG Swoosh Elite 2024</em> - I remember watching Young when he was in the 8th grade and his shooting stood out. What impressed me today was his playmaking ability, which is saying something considering he buried 4 treys and had 25 points in the game. The guard was able to use a decent first step to get into the lane, defeating defenders before creating for his teammates. I’m not sure how many assists he had, but he had enough to make an impact and was one of the better performers on the day. </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/bruceprephoops/?hl=en">For Exclusive Content With Top Prospects</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/s6_QrcbLhd4" width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>