Cherry Creek Classic Standouts: Young Guns
In this article:
The Cherry Creek tournament showed many young prospects that make the future of Colorado high school basketball very exciting. Here I will be highlighting some sophomores and freshmen who stood out. Garrett Barger Garrett Barger 6'9" | PF Eaglecrest |…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe Cherry Creek tournament showed many young prospects that make the future of Colorado high school basketball very exciting. Here I will be highlighting some sophomores and freshmen who stood out.
Garrett Barger Garrett Barger 6'9" | PF Eaglecrest | 2025 State #364 Nation CO – Eaglecrest
Garrett Barger Garrett Barger 6'9" | PF Eaglecrest | 2025 State #364 Nation CO was one of the best bigs at the tournament as a sophomore, making him one of the most intriguing prospects in the state. Standing at 6’7, Garret moves well for his size, he uses that mobility and length to be an effective rim protector. From down low Garret impressed me with his ability to confidently shoot hook shots over both shoulders, making a few left-hand hook shots over defenders. Garret is surely a forward with D1 upside, it will be very fun to watch him and highly ranked teammate LaDavian King LaDavian King 6'1" | CG Eaglecrest | 2025 State CO throughout their careers!
Jeremiah Hammond Jeremiah Hammond 6'3" | CG Cherry Creek | 2026 State CO – Cherry Creek
While Jeremiah Hammond Jeremiah Hammond 6'3" | CG Cherry Creek | 2026 State CO is not starting he is a good presence for Cherry Creek off of the bench. Jeremiah did a good job of playing his role for the team, making the right pass to open teammates and shooting when needed. During this tournament, he showed off his court vision making some long outlet passes and some tough cross-court passes. While we have not seen a ton of scoring for Jeremiah, he got the opportunity to shoot more in their upset win against Eaglecrest where he had 15 points. Jeremiah provides solid size, good decision-making, and is a good shooter who will only expand his scoring bag as he gets more chances to score!
Cal Baskind Cal Baskind 6'0" | SG Mountain Vista | 2025 State CO – Mountain Vista
Cal Baskind Cal Baskind 6'0" | SG Mountain Vista | 2025 State CO has proved that he is one of the best guard scorers in the mid-range and close to bucket in his class. Cal has an uncanny ability to stop on a dime and quickly get his feet set for mid-range pull-up jumpers. Near the basket, he is a crafty scorer who uses pump fakes to get defenders off of their feet. Next year with most of Mountain Vista’s squad graduating I could see Cal being a big-time scorer during his junior year campaign, as the coaching staff has a ton of confidence in him as he already starts.
Talbert Borne III – George Washington
Talbert “Tre” Borne III is a freshman who may not have had huge statistical performances but is an intriguing prospect playing good minutes as a freshman. Tre has solid size standing at 6’2-6’3 and is a sneaky athlete, at the end of his match-up against Mountain Vista he almost had a posterizing slam on a 6’7 defender. From three-point land, he has good form on his jumper and made a few threes in the tournament. Tre is an intriguing freshman wing to keep an eye on.
Izaiyah Romero – Fairview
Izaiyah Romero is a super athletic guard who impressed me with his scoring ability near the rim. Izaiyah had his best performance of the year putting up 22 points against Cherry Creek. In this game, he did a good job of getting good looks by running the floor and cutting without the ball. It is not often you see a 6’1 player dunk off of two feet right under the basket but that is just the type of athlete that Izaiyah is. He is another freshman who went for a posterizing dunk but ended up drawing the foul instead. Izaiyah is intriguing as he is already arguably an elite athlete as a freshman, it will be very interesting to see how his skill develops throughout his high school career.