Cali Live Showcase: More standouts

<p>After getting off of work, I headed up to Orange County for opening night of the live period, and there was no better place to spend it than at the Cali Live Showcase. Wednesday night’s showcase games pitted some of the event’s top teams – and prospects – against each other in eight games at Orange Lutheran HS.</p> <p>Here were some of my standouts from the night that was.</p> <h3>Jackson Rasmussen, 6-7 2025 G, Select Basketball Black</h3> <p>Rasmussen had a standout performance against Team Rampage by playing the right way. He’s a sturdily built wing/ four man who can shoot it from the perimeter and score around the basket with either hand. He moves well without the ball and is an exceptional screener. And he was doing that against a pair of unsigned seniors, making the effort that much more impressive. </p> <h3>Salim Arikat, 6-8 2022 F, Team Rampage National</h3> <p>The other of Rampage’s two unsigned seniors who is pursuing a prep option in 2023, Arikat is a sleekly built lefty forward who can handle the ball on the perimeter and prefers to attack facing up. He needs to get stronger and finish through contact better, and his shooting from three can be streaky, but he’s got an intriguing skill set and is a player with a lot of upside. </p> <h3>[player_tooltip player_id="1264595" first="Jase" last="Butler"], 6-5 2024 G, Oakland Soldiers 16u EYBL</h3> <p>Butler but on a nice scoring display for the Soldiers who nearly came back from a 12-point deficit, falling to two to Team Inland. He has good size and plays with solid pace, not getting easily sped up. He looks to score coming off of ball screen action, and has a nice pull-up jumper from mid range, and is also a capable, albeit streaky, shooter from the three. His feel is solid as a passer in the pick-and-roll, teaming up with Austin Maurer in that set to get the 6-10 big some easy scoring opportunities. </p> <h3>Ashton McCullough, 6-5 2025 G, Team Inland</h3> <p>With [player_tooltip player_id="1434417" first="Dennis" last="Evans"] away at the FIBA U17 World Championships, Team Inland looked for guys to step up, and McCullough - a criminally underrated rising sophomore - was one of the players to elevate their game. He’s a do-it-all guard who has solid handle, plays with great pace and can get into the paint and score when he wants, but he’s most effective as a passer, and can deliver dimes with either hand. He can also hit the open three and has the potential to be a very good on-ball defender. </p> <h3>Kenneth Brown, 6-4 2023 G, Team Inland</h3> <p>Brown’s shooting helped give Team Inland a big second-half lead against the Soldiers 16u EYBL team, but he showed he’s more than just a shooter. A strong combo guard and slasher, he can get into the paint and score through contact as well. But his shooting is what will get him on the floor at the next level, as his release is cat quick and picturesque. </p> <h3>Alvin Baez, 6-4 2023 G, Rhode Island Elite</h3> <p>Baez is a physically built combo guard/ wing who is wired to score. He is very right-hand dominant, but he gets wherever he wants on the floor due to his strength and underrated burst. He’s also a very good offensive rebounder, who uses his explosiveness to outleap opponents and a great second jump to finish the boards up with second-chance buckets. Defensively, he needs to improve his effort level away from the ball, as he tends to relax on that end. </p> <h3>Kyle Evans, 6-8 2022 F/C, Cali Rebels Elite </h3> <p>Evans continues to get better since the first time I viewed him two years ago. He’s now a capable low-post threat who can step out and hit shots from the short corner, and while not an overly explosive athlete, can finish above the rim when catching dump off passes from guards after they draw his defender. The right Division 2 school who could bring him along slowly will be getting a player whose best basketball is still way ahead of him. </p>