Prep Hoops NEXT Illinois Showcase: Steve’s Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sunday morning Prep Hoops hosted the PHI Prep Hoops Next Camp in Aurora, IL at Supreme Courts. Every year this event is filled with up-and-coming talent ballers. This year was no different. In this article I highlight the top players from Sunday's games.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2369872' first='Cody' last='Rader'] (Geneva) 2029 5'10</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rader came into the camp with some fanfare. He's a highly skilled guard who was a step ahead of the other players. Cody has slick handles and has that wiggle to his game that coaches love to speak about. As a scorer he shot the ball very well from deep and is tough to keep in front when looking to get in the lane. Some of his best plays came from fastbreaks where he made pinpoint passes to guys cutting to the rim. Rader is a high IQ guard who has an instant impact at the high school level.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2632448' first='Eshun' last='Flowers'] - Spears (Ashburn) 2029 6'2</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was refreshing to watch Eshun play. He's a steady-post player who high points rebounds and is a terrific rim protector. Flowers scored a handful of his points off putbacks. What's intriguing about him is his mobility and how coordinated he is. A few times Eshun rebounded the ball, pushed the break himself, and scored on coast-to-coast plays. He has the skills to score in the paint with one-on-one moves.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>AJ Kroll (Murphy Jr High) 2029 6'1 </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kroll is one of the players who has elite hang time and body control in the paint. He's a big guard who can finish in various ways when he gets in the lane. AJ had a spurt where he scored off runners and floaters attacking the basket aggressively. An underrated piece to his game was the passing. When using ball screens he made some high-level passes threading the ball between defenders and leading his teammates to easy points. Kroll will be a very talented high school guard who could find some minutes on a team next season.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2369859' first='Jayce' last='Lopez'] (Rockford Eisenhower) 2029 6'0</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jayce was one of the toughest players in the camp. He played with consistent motor on both ends of the court. Lopez gets to the basket with hard drives and does a good job at scoring off two feet in the lane. A strong point of his game is attacking the chest of players and scoring through the contact. Jayce was aggressive on defense causing all types of chaos with his constant movement in the passing lanes.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2393299' first='Duain' last='Johnson'] (Calvary Christian) 2030 6'3</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Duain is a traditional big man that's steady in the post. He is consistent on the glass and is very mobile in transition. Johnson is already ahead of the curve with creating space in the post by initiating contact first. He showed good hands around the basket and displayed perfect timing on the glass. Duain is just a 7th grader but will a force if he continues to work on his game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->