Grit Region Finals: Teddy's Saturday Notebook (Part 1)

Next Gen Brothers are Forwards to Watch in the Future Based out of Peoria, Next Generation Academy has a set of brothers who caught my attention against Joliet Spurs/Loyalty. In the 2025 class, F Darren McClendon opened my eyes with some nice hustle plays. He’s a big-bodied forward with a solid touch and found several opportunities to score early. He displayed some nice interior defense with a block late in the first half. His younger brother Davion was just as impressive. Playing up, Davion’s a 2026 who’s another big-bodied forward who can control the paint, box out, and get to the line. He’s got a tremendous amount of confidence scoring over defenders too, with two impressive finishes in the paint later in the game. Both bigs showed some unselfish play too. I saw each of them find an open teammate in the corner for 3 early in the 2nd half. NextGen won 70-48. Each brother scored double-figures.   2025 Kobe Jordan has lots of Upside for M14 Hoops. Yes, that’s his actual name. The biggest early takeaway from this game was the tremendous team effort from M14. Every player on the roster had scored within the first 10 minutes. But it wasn’t just that. At least three passes were made on each successful offensive possession in the first half. Guard Kobe Jordan impresses me the most on this team. His build and explosiveness give him a nice overall upside. He started the game with a contact-finish driving down the lane, and then showed off his range with a 3-pointer. He never made any bad decisions and knew when to pass the ball up. His off-ball movement and ball control was solid too. He exploded down the lane for several more buckets in the 2nd half, and drew several fouls. Guards Carter York and Will Heckman showed tons of confidence with the ball for M14 and created many plays. Each hit a pair of 3’s and stretched the lead late. Jordan assisted York for an and-one cutting to the basket with 3 mins to go. Jordan scored 13 to lead M14 National to a 54-47 win.   Fab 4 on 15u Fundamental U Dominates Clippers Nation I watched Fundamental U’s top 15U team next. They faced Clippers Nation Elite from the southeast Chicago suburbs. Fundamental U got off to a blazing start. Guard Ben Gablenz found holes for two easy layups and hustled for rebounds. He assisted an open teammate in the corner too. On defense, Gablenz blocked a shot and displayed some nice footwork squaring up opponents. Ayden Farrare and Theo Rocca also found several buckets early on. Farrarre showed his midrange abilities hit a shot in the corner, and Rocca displayed terrific on-ball defense with several steals and easy transition points. Forwars Drew Bartolai also displayed tons of confidence for Fundamental U. He’s a high-motor prospect who fought for some tough rebounds and drew foulds. Bartolai and Rocco led all scorers with 9 first half points. Gablenz began the 2nd half with an impressive drive to the basket. Rocca and Bartolai followed that up with finishes down low in traffic. Bartolai also showed his defensive abilities, rejecting a shot into the stands early in the 2nd half. But Ayden Farrare really got hot. He knocked down an outside shot to start the half, and drove down the lane for two inside buckets through contact, getting a foul on one of them. Fundamental U would break away to a 58-38 win. Gablenz had 12, Bartolai with 11, Farrare with 13, and Rocca with 15 to lead all scorers.   15u Midwest Aces Have Nice Guard Duo of Brothers 2025 G [player_tooltip player_id="1465916" first="Xavi" last="Granville"] and 2026 G [player_tooltip player_id="1465903" first="Alex" last="Granville"] starred for Midwest Aces against Chicago Demons. I saw a lot early from [player_tooltip player_id="1465916" first="Xavi" last="Granville"]. The 6’1” guard has nice slashing abilities with a quick burst to the basket. He scored 4 quick points driving down the lane. He then hit a 3 and made an assist in transition. Before that, he assisted Aayan Siddiqui for two baseline jumpers. In the 2nd half, Granville drove past three defenders for a difficult finish at the rim. On defense, Granville did a great job sticking with his man, and forcing tough shots. His hustle to stop a fast-break layup after a turnover showed no quit. Xavi’s brother Alex gave me a glimpse of his potential too. The 5’11” guard also plays tough defense and forces difficult shots. He had two blocks in the first half while playing up a year. On offense, he spaced out well and converted a nice floater in the first half. He also found several other scores and entered double-figures after converting an and-one later in the game. Both brothers ended in double-figures, despite the loss mot Chicago Demons.   15u Chicago Demons Play Strong Team Basketball At least five players scored more than once in the first half against Hardwood Midwesr. They moved the ball up the floor at a very high rate and found most of their points in transition. Taki Purdis led the Demons with 9 points as they held a 33-23 halftime lead. Purdis found a bucket from all levels in the opening half. He’s got a nice burst to the basket with good ball-control. He entered double figures as he broke off a defender for a layup to open the 2nd half. Later that half, he utilized the pick-and-roll for a strong floater to keep the lead double-digits. Guard [player_tooltip player_id="1439013" first="Julien" last="Doyle"] also played well in the 2nd half. He also has a nice burst and scored several inside buckets.