GASO Memorial Day Weekend 2023 Wing Standouts

Check out my scouting reports and analysis on some of the top prospects in attendance at the GASO (Great American Shoot Out) Dallas Fort Worth Memorial Day Weekend tournament! These guys really popped during their time on the court, expect them to begin to garner some real attention over the next few circuit months! [player_tooltip player_id="892143" first="Gehrig" last="Normand"]<a href="https://prephoops.com/player/gehrig-normand-2/"><img class=" ls-is-cached lazyloaded" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/user-uploads/D6E12A66-14DB-4557-AB79-65F1FA81C446-1-150x150.jpeg" data-src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/user-uploads/D6E12A66-14DB-4557-AB79-65F1FA81C446-1-150x150.jpeg" /></a> 2023 6’5 Birdville High School (3D Empire 17U) Gehrig was easily one of the best players in attendance through his ability to score across all three levels but also use his aggressiveness to put his team on his back and attack the basket. I was very impressed with his ability to take what the defense gave him every time down, wether that was a quick shot off the catch from the corners or wings, or attacking hard closeouts to go finish at the rim. He knocks down shots at a very high level with his ability to simply shoot over the top of his defenders. Where I was mots impressed by was his ability to catch any pass and put it on the floor and get into his shooting motion. There were multiple instances in which he caught tough passes and either used a one to two dribble pull up to score in the midrange or even throwing down a backwards lob that caught the defense slipping. I was blown away by his awareness with and without the ball, moving into space and attacking gaps for easy backdoor cuts. Gehrig is easily one of the most aware prospects I have seen in some time, I have to be keeping tabs on this kid! https://twitter.com/gasoclips/status/1530916770911031296?s=21&t=ZxwSqfOa3tPfCF9p6yMRXA [player_tooltip player_id="1471671" first="Ismael" last="Smith"] Flores 2023 6’7 James Martin High School (Dallas Mustangs 17U) Ismael is an athletic wing who moves very well up and down the court and can handle the ball and create opportunities for his teammates in the full court and the half court. He was easily one of the best players in attendance with his ability to score across all three levels off the bounce. His confidence is growing at a tremendous rate, and is now hunting for his shot in the midrange and beyond the arc. He is eager to get into the paint every chance he can, and knows how to quickly attack smaller defenders before they get a chance to bring a double team. He has an extremely large catch radius which allows his teammates to throw him any sort of entry pass into the post. With his back to the basket he is good at using his size and strength to back his opponent down. He is good at using his size to his advantage, but is also smooth enough to hit turn arounds and use his length to create separation. I was blown away by his ability to hang in the air and release the ball as he is fading away from defensive pressure. Ismael stock probably took the highest leap out of all of the prospects in attendance with how easy he did everything on the offensive end. I am eager to watch his senior year campaign! https://twitter.com/gasoclips/status/1530942978881101826?s=21&t=ZxwSqfOa3tPfCF9p6yMRXA [player_tooltip player_id="1471680" first="Peyton" last="Gusters"] 2023 6’5 Oak Cliff Faith Family Academy (AJ1) Peyton is a long athlete who has an ability to truly do it all on both ends of the floor. His length allows him to defend all positions on the floor and his foot speed allows him to harass high level guards in the full court. His ability to defend the best players on the court and seemingly tale them away really allowed his defense to take advantage of relaxing a bit more on the defensive end. It allowed his center to stay back in the paint and everyone else just deny the ball when he was on the court. He is a strong trapper of the basketball who uses his ability to seemingly swallow up his opponents by his harassing nature on the ball. On the offensive end of the floor he is a very active player off the ball, he can run off screens, create offense at the high post or flash to the rim. I was very impressed with his willingness to get on the offensive glass, every time a shot goes up he is sprinting and leaping towards the rim at the highest level. Jace Crawford 2023 6'6 Coram Deo Academy (Lee Green Basketball) Jace is a highly skilled three and D wing who showed an ability to not only lock up anyone down low or on the perimeter, but also showed off his elite foot speed and the ease in which he finishes on the break. He is an incredibly mobile player for his size which allows him to dominate in the full court. His energy makes him a tremendous rim runner on the break and he displayed a handle to get past his opponents. He fights for positioning down low, allowing him to grab rebounds and make the right outlet pass. He knows what kind of force he is as a trailer option as well, routinely blowing past his opponents with his end to end speed and punishing the defense for not being set after a missed shot. Where I was most impressed with his game was his ability to defend on the perimeter for his size, not only defending on the ball but also contesting shooters from deep positioning in the paint. He had a block on a jump shot in the corner that had the entire crowd suck in air after seeing him sky through the gym to take away that opportunity. I would like to see him work on his decision making with a live dribble, and also the consistency in which he screens and rolls to get open looks for himself.