Bruce’s Notebook: LV Classic Pool Play Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Las Vegas Classic is here! Hosted by Bigfoot hoops, the classic is one of the most prestigious grassroots tournaments in America. The event runs from Wednesday, July 27th, and concludes Sunday, July 31st. Two full days of covering the event has provided me with a tremendous opportunity to see a lot of talent. Here's a look at some of my standouts from Pool Play. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1463303' first='Jaxon' last='Richardson'] <em>6'4 SG Vegas Elite 2026 (featured image) </em>- Richardson is making his move for the #1 spot. I've seen him twice in the last two weeks and he looks more dominant each time. Length, athleticism, and playmaking ability are his strengths. He also showed the ability to defend every position on the court. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1301617' first='Adam' last='Montoya'] <em>6'1 PG Northern New Mexico 2023</em> - Montoya is a good PG with length. He flashed a decent handle using it to get by defenders and get to the rack. I was impressed with his scrappyness as for a player his size, he did a good job of getting into the lane and fighting for rebounds. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kaharie Loggins</strong> <em>6'3 SF OFG 2023 </em>- Loggins is one of my sleepers from the event. An above R&amp;J athlete the 6'3 forward had several explosive plays at the rim. He impressed me with his ball skills. He has an ok handle, and is good when driving with his strong hand to the rim. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1253140' first='Brian' last='Townsend'] <em>6'3 SF Vegas Elite 2025 (#16PHN 2025) </em>- Chef is a player with a chance to rise. He has a good frame, and is more athletic than you may believe. His skill set is also intriguing as he's impressive both bullying his way to the rim as well as using finesse on the perimeter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='986961' first='Gregory' last='Burrell'] <em>6'2 SG Vegas Elite 2024 (#18PHN 2024) </em>- The yin to Townsend's yang, Burrell is a player known for playing hard, and he did just that today. He was able to attack the basket with strong drives, and even made a couple of jumpers, showing improved consistency on his shooting. He seemed to be on the end of quite a few of Townsend's assist. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1037513' first='Zarshon' last='Cousin'] <em>6'2 SF Vegas Elite 2024 (#46PHN 2024)</em> - Cousins played with terrific confidence. The shooting guard showed improvment in his shooting, knocking down two cluth corner threes in the game I watched. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1076705' first='Cedarius' last='Yates'] <em>6'3 SG Showtime 2023 (#10PHNM 2023</em>) - Yates is a player with raw offensive skills and a terrific frame. He played with an extremly high motor today, snagging boards in traffic, as well as defending and scoring around the bucket. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1530707' first='Torrance' last='Burdex Jr'] <em>6'1 PF Showtime 2023</em> - I am preferable to undersized, high academic players, Burdex checks both those boxes. The 6'1 post man showed a knack for scoring around the basket, showing great feet and brute force. If the on court game insn't enough, he's a 4.0 student in the classroom. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center"} --> <p class="has-text-align-center"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/bruceprephoops/?hl=en">For Exclusive Content With Top Prospects</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L21l1-mYthwu0026t=1s","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L21l1-mYthw&amp;t=1s </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->