NCAA Academy CA+TX Standouts

The NCAA and Team USA put together a joint camp at the end of the grassroots season to provide exposure for hundreds of prospects in the last live period for coaches of the summer season. The NCAA Academy had two tracks: A Junior College Pathway and an Individual Pathway track for individual HS athletes assigned to teams to play out a 6-game schedule in front of coaches. We'll break down some of our 2025 and 2026 California/Texas standouts from the Individual Pathway below!   Texas:    -Came away impressed with the versatility from Adkins in both games that I saw, has the perimeter skill to hit some shots off the bounce and create for others while serving as a mobile defender that can bang with bigs in the paint and slide with guards on the perimeter. Very explosive athlete that wants to win his individual matchup at both ends of the floor, playing a physical old-school brand of defense on the ball while also cleaning up his teammate's defensive mistakes with weak side blocks at the rim. The handle gets him where he needs to go and he doesn't try to do too much off the bounce, kicking out when he doesn't have a good look at the rim. The C+S makes from the midrange and beyond the arc, though, had great arc and rotation on the ball–splashing through the rim– which provides optimism for the long term projection on touch shots in the paint.     -Inman immediately turned heads in a matchup with "Team Drake" with a 6/7 performance from beyond the arc in the 1H alone, hitting treys off the catch and OTB to give his team a big early lead. Got to the rim in the 2H to hit floaters and layups, also had 2 nice pull-ups from the elbow. Had a real nice one-handed pass to the cutter in the secondary break. With good positional size and athleticism in the open court, it's hard to believe that he only had a handful of LM+MM offers entering the camp because he can play as a combo guard or as an off-ball shooting 2. Finished with 31p 3r 2s 2a 1b on the day.     -Very skilled wing that can dribble, pass, and shoot. Can avoid ball pressure with the handle or create space for a jumper but isn't really getting downhill on many guards unless they close out too hard. Not overly quick or strong defensively but moves well enough and gets into his defender's chest to wall up and contest shots to compensate. The shooting will be his calling card at the next level. Confident shooter with range that extends past the college line, hit shots off movement, off the bounce, and off the face-up jab and pull. His ability to make cross-court passing reads rewarded cutting guards that kicked out to him for shots earlier in the game or bigs on rolls to the rim that set screens to free him up for looks throughout the contest.     -Ward's ability to operate out of the post as a passer or scorer is what stood out from the outset, patient with the defender on his back he could get into his shot smoothly or find an open teammate before the double team arrived. Ward is an unselfish passer off the bounce or on the perimeter too, executing skip passes with either hand off a live dribble to open shooters. Zipped a bounce pass through traffic for a backdoor dime to a cutting teammate.   Ward took his own opportunities to score as well: hitting an extension lay off the elbow rip through, hitting a C+S 3, hitting a fader from the post, and scoring off of post pivots and putbacks around the rim. Ward isn't overly explosive or fast but balances that out by playing with good pace and protecting the rock OTB. Love his upside as a versatile wing that contributes to winning and can plug multiple holes for offenses. Finished with 13p 7r 5a 2s.     -Really explosive scorer that led a huge JL3 comeback and eventually hit the GW 3 just before the buzzer to win the game. Garrett is incredibly explosive off the bounce, using his speed and quickness to get from the 3 point line to the rim in 1 dribble. Hit shots from all 3 levels OTB and showed an ability to create his own shot at each of those levels with stepbacks, sidesteps, floaters, 3s off the flare screen, C+S curls– the diversity in his shot diet made the performance that much more impressive. Defensively he met the ball at the point of attack, sometimes over-pursuing and getting blown-by while others times he shut his matchup's water off to collect the steal and head the other way. Definitely wired to score but did a good job of kicking out to shooters in the halfcourt.    California    -Good size and frame for a PF prospect, plays within himself while remaining assertive as a player that can bulldoze his way to the rim, finish putbacks, and knocked down midrange C+S looks in rhythm. Runs the floor well, knows when to cut to space off the ball or set a screen on it, pretty good vision as a stationary passer from the high post and wing. Good not great athlete, runs the floor well, not overly explosive but he times rebounds well and has a good feel for where the ball is coming off. Finished with 8p 4r 3a 2s 1b, high academic prospect.     -Stopped allowing his team to settle for jumpers and really turned it up in the 2H to lead his team to a comeback victory by relentlessly getting into the paint before finishing at the rim. His finishing bag around the rim stood out as Hightower scored off spin moves, simply accelerating past and out-quicking his matchup for extension lays at the rim, and hitting pull-ups or floaters in the paint. Despite average size and build, his ability to get to the line and play through contact makes him more valuable as a scorer. Vision and delivery on his passes were on point, just would like to see him look for those reads more often at the next level–although my viewings were strictly in a camp setting, that context matters. Had by far the best offensive performance of the game with 37p 8r 5a 1s in the win.

The NCAA and Team USA put together a joint camp at the end of the grassroots season to provide exposure for hundreds of prospects in the last live period for coaches of the summer season. The NCAA Academy had two tracks: A Junior College Pathway and an Individual Pathway track for individual HS athletes assigned to teams to play out a 6-game schedule in front of coaches. We'll break down some of our 2025 and 2026 California/Texas standouts from the Individual Pathway below!