2026 Watch List: CG Positional Breakdown

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Yesterday we released our first edition of the class of 2026 watch list and the number of potential elite prospects in this class is quite impressive. Because we like to give the younger groups of players a full year of high school basketball experience before officially ranking them, we should be able to place them in a formal ranking format on our next update. We open up our coverage of the 2026 class by breaking down some of the top combo guard prospects on the list.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1956465' first='Alijah' last='Arenas'], Chatsworth</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Arenas is another elite scoring freshman prospect whose smooth shooting ability both off the catch and off the bounce with NBA range is what stood out most about his game this season. When you combine that with his innate feel for the game, size and length at a wiry 6-feet-3, the Van Nuys Grant product is among the top combo guard prospects in the region and on the west coast at large.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1956463' first='Brandon' last='McCoy Jr.'], St. John Bosco</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>McCoy only got about half of his freshman season worth of playing time but there's no questioning his talent level earned him a spot on this list. The 6-foot-4 guard has a smoothness and explosiveness to his athletic ability that keeps defenses guessing and allows him to score in a variety of ways around the basket. McCoy, while being an elite scorer, also plays the game with great feel and a high basketball IQ when playmaking for himself and teammates.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1956509' first='Delan' last='Grant'], Heritage Christian</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Grant is a powerful and physical prospect whose frame and willingness to play through contact gives him a dimension of offense that some other freshman prospects can't match. Grant is a tough cover when he gets downhill in transition as he can lower his shoulder, initiate or absorb contact, and stay on balance while elevating to the rim. The 6-foot-2 guard can also stretch the floor with the catch-and-shoot three.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1956616' first='Jaiden' last='Bailes'], St. Augustine</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bailes is a next-up prospect in the San Diego area as his varsity experience this season will turn into some major varsity minutes for the defending San Diego Section Open Division champions. The Saints combo guard does a little bit of everything from driving and scoring to driving and dishing and then to knocking down open three-point shots. Bailes showed a ton of poise and confidence when he got minutes on San Diego's best team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1956462' first='Julius' last='Price'], St. Joseph</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's hard to know which region to place St. Joseph players in because there are times when the Santa Maria-based program plays in the Southern Section in the playoffs and times where it competes in the Central or Northern Sections. For the purpose of covering as many players as possible, we opted to include its talented freshman here. Price is a strong, physical guard whose ball handling and passing abilities allow him to play on the ball while his three-point shooting touch makes him an effective off-ball scorer as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1956478' first='Ty' last='Ingram'], San Ysidro</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ingram operated mostly in a complementary off-ball role while highly-regarded recruits [player_tooltip player_id='1069091' first='Mikey' last='Williams'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1814760' first='JJ' last='Taylor'] did most of the offense initiation but there were tons of moments where Ingram showed why he was among San Diego's best prospects - regardless of class. The 6-foot-2 guard is a scoring machine whose 11.2 points per game average is a bit understated and should see a major jump in his sophomore campaign. One thing that I always respected about Ingram's game while watching him was how fearlessly he approached the game regardless of the matchup or televised game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->