Take Flight Challenge: Best All-Around

<p>REDONDO BEACH — Coach Reggie Morris and the Redondo Union high school basketball staff put on its annual Take Flight Challenge over the weekend that featured many of Southern California's top teams and prospects. We were in attendance for each of the eight games in the main gym and below are the most impactful all-around players we watched.</p>   <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1630617' first='Brayden' last='Burries'] | 2025 | Eastvale Roosevelt</h4>   <p>There's really nothing that Burries doesn't do on the court. He's obviously a guy who can get a basket in a variety of ways - especially in downhill drive situations to the rim, but his presence and effort plays on the defensive end and on the boards made a huge difference in the Mustangs edging out a win over St. Joseph. Burries guarded multiple positions, including [player_tooltip player_id='1630616' first='Tounde' last='Yessoufou'], another one of the state's and country's top prospects, and tracked down missed shots and loose balls in and out of his area. Burries also led Roosevelt with 26 points and made the game-winning basket on a mid-range jumper.</p>   <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1502868' first='Devin' last='Ringer'] | 2024 | Redondo Union</h4>   <p>The 6-foot-3 guard continues to make the case for himself as being one of the more underrated senior prospects in the state. Ringer scored an efficient game-high 22 points but, more importantly than that, showed he can control tempo, pace and make the right decisions in open court and half-court offense. Because the Sea Hawks play such an uptempo style on offense, Ringer's decision-making is a crucial factor in the outcome of the game.</p>   <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1417368' first='EJ' last='Vernon'] | 2025 | Crossroads</h4>   <p>There was no answer for Vernon around the basket or in face-up situations as the 6-foot-6 forward used his size, strength and skill to take advantage of mismatches inside. The junior forward finished with a game-high 24 points in the Roadrunners' win over Bishop Montgomery and Vernon was not only impactful as a go-to scoring option but also a second-chance point creator. Vernon is an elite competitor on the offensive glass and made dominated the paint in that capacity.</p>   <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Giovanni Ofoegbu | 2025 | Long Beach Poly</h4>   <p>Ofoegbu is emerging as a sleeper prospect in SoCal's junior class. The 6-foot-4 wing is a strong, physical and explosive athlete who can attack the rim in transition and finish above or through contact but he also showed the ability to knock down catch and shoot threes when given time and space. Ofoegbu has all the measureables and athletic ability to be a high level defender.</p>   <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1896220' first='Joshua' last='Garland'] | 2025 | Leuzinger</h4>   <p>Garland is such an interesting and fun player to watch. The 6-foot-3 forward is undersized for his position as far as current standards go but his feel for the game, vision and willingness to identify cutters and make needle-threading passes makes him a highly effective high school player. Garland is great on either elbow spot where he plays the trigger man for the Olympians offense and freely dishes to cutters and open shooters. Garland can also put the ball through the net when needed as he scored 27 points in a last-second loss to Cathedral Catholic.</p>   <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1630618' first='Nik' last='Khamenia'] | 2025 | Harvard-Westlake</h4>   <p>Khamenia's versatility is what makes Harvard-Westlake so difficult to defend. The 6-foot-8 wing/forward is a dribble, pass and shoot threat who doesn't need a ton of dribbles to to get to his sweet spots. Khamenia is simple and efficient with his movements, can elevate and shoot over defenders in the mid-range, knocks down catch and shoot threes and can post to score or post to set up a teammate cutting or spotting up opposite. The highly-ranked junior finished with 21 points in the Wolverines win over Heritage Christian.</p>   <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1630616' first='Tounde' last='Yessoufou'] | 2025 | St. Joseph</h4>   <p>Few other prospects in the country possess the combination of explosive athleticism, strength and skill that Yessoufou has. The 6-foot-6 forward is a powerful and shifty transition slasher and finisher who can fill the wing as a secondary threat or snatch a rebound, push the break and get to the rack. As we've seen over the last couple of seasons, Yessoufou continues to improve as a three-point shooter both off the catch and off the bounce. The junior scored a game-high 27 points in a one-point loss to Roosevelt.</p>

REDONDO BEACH — Coach Reggie Morris and the Redondo Union high school basketball staff put on its annual Take Flight Challenge over the weekend that featured many of Southern California's top teams and prospects. We were in attendance for each of the eight games in the main gym and below are the most impactful all-around players we watched.