Freshman Showcase: High Upside Prospects

Over 80 freshmen made the trip to Louisville on Saturday to compete with many of the best players from across the state in this 2028 class. There were several names that have been known for a while coming into the event but plenty more who made names for themselves at camp on Saturday afternoon. Here's a look at some players with high upside coming out of Saturday's event. This is not including players who have already been featured in other articles about Saturday.    McNear has great length and athleticism already and will be a much better player and prospect once he smooths out the rougher edges of his game. For right now, Bray can be a player that does a lot of things really well but may not do one particular thing great. That will change though as I expect him to slow down his growing, improve his coordination and add bulk to his frame. [player_tooltip player_id='2360945' first='Bray' last='McNear'] is definitely a stock to buy now and hold on to.     Trey was the biggest prospect at camp on Saturday and flashes enough potential that you can see why Coach Haworth at Male raves about Hillerich when asked. The big fella is a little heavy footed right now but as he grows into his body, expect him to be a dangerous two way big that is comfortable lining up a three or playing on the block. For right now, I'd like to see Trey run to the three point line less and go be 6'8 around the rim.     Unfortunately, I didn't get to see "Boogie" until he was limping around with a hip injury in the last game of the day. If you were going to draw a kid who resembles "length and upside" at 14-15 years old, Cook would be that picture. He made some impressive dunks when the kids were messing around before camp and he looks like a baby deer in the sense that Cook is likely to grow several more inches and get more coordinated as he does. I'll likely have to catch a CAL game this season to see Jordan when he's 100% healthy.     Duke was much better than when I saw him this June with East Jessamine. Tyson looks much smoother in the half court and was one of the most consistent players who actually made their dunks on Saturday instead of just popping rims. He showed off an improved three point stroke and Duke's recent growth should nudge him more to being a combo guard or a wing, long term. Interested to see how his Freshman season goes.     Nichols is another player that has grown and added some weight since the last time I'd seen him, earlier this year. Ja'Cobi was maybe the only player that didn't seem bound and determined to score as many points as possible on Saturday. He was looking instead to rebound, block shots and play defense. That actually stood out in a camp where many were forcing offense (all camps feature forced offense). If Ja'Cobi continues growing, his prospect ceiling will be amongst the best in this class. If he stays at 6'4, Nichols will need to get comfortable as a wing. He has plenty of time, either way.

Over 80 freshmen made the trip to Louisville on Saturday to compete with many of the best players from across the state in this 2028 class. There were several names that have been known for a while coming into the event but plenty more who made names for themselves at camp on Saturday afternoon. Here's a look at some players with high upside coming out of Saturday's event. This is not including players who have already been featured in other articles about Saturday.