3SSB Invitational: Standout Rising Senior Lead Guards

Ladera Ranch, CA - The Adidas 3SSB Circuit wrapped up its season with the Earn Your Stripes Invitational hosted at the beautiful OGP Ladera Sports Complex, which features 8 courts, 7 used for games and the other court used as the event's hospitality center. The tournament featured 75 Adidas teams, with a majority in the 17u Division, as well as numerous nationally ranked players from the classes of 2026 through 2029 on display. The facility was also packed with D1 coaches, and other divisions, over the four day event, given this was the final live period of the club season. This article takes a look at 7 standout lead guards from the 2026 class. There is no ranked order to this list of players, but in alphabetical order. This article will be followed by a part two looking at the rest of the standout rising senior lead guards.    Of the players in this article, Bailes is the one I am most familiar with, as I have seen him play numerous times since his freshman year, and he continues to improve his shooting, as well as being one of the top lead guards for the rising senior class in the West. The 6-foot-3 Bailes has a strong handle on the ball, keeps his dribble low to prevent defenders from crowding his dribbling space, and has good court vision to find open teammates. Bailes has a nice burst of speed off the bounce, gets downhill with purpose, has the handle to weave through traffic on the court, with the awareness and accuracy on his passes to find open teammates. Bailes is a solid on-ball defender, a good positional rebounder, and has nice touch on the floater down the lane. Where Bailes has continued to evolve his game is his efficiency from the perimeter, especially the 3-ball, where he connected on multiple threes off the dribble or the catch and shoot, which makes him a tough player to guard with his explosive moves to the basket. He will be a key new addition for JSerra this coming season.     Bivins was arguably the best prototypical lead guard at the Invitational, as he showed elite court vision and play making all weekend long for the Washington Warriors. The 6-foot-1 Bivins is a true point guard that has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive while finding holes in the defense, and makes pin-point passes in tight windows when attacking off the perimeter or finding teammates cutting off screens. Bivins plays with a nice change of pace and direction to keep his defender off balance, consistently probes the defense to find openings to attack, and makes some finds that make heads spin on and off the court. Bivins is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch, likes to get to the mid-range with good body control on the fadeaway and one-handed float shot, and is creative on finishes around the basket over height. Bivins was one of the more talked about lead guards at the Invitational, with most scouts and coaches commenting on his superb play making.     Dawkins was one of the more surprising players I was able to see at the 3SSB Invitational, as his ability to impact various aspects of the game stood out in Garner Road's opening day loss to ASAK. The 6-foot-4 guard was active on the defensive end early, showing the lateral footspeed and quick hands to get into his opponents dribbling space and cause turnovers. Dawkins is effective with the 3-ball off the dribble and the catch, gets good lift on the mid-range jumpshot, has the moves and handles to break his defender down and get down hill, and displays good body control through contact within 15-feet of the basket. The spin move into a jumper was the move that really got my attention given the difficulty of the shot. Dawkins was solid running the offense, and used his height to make passes over the defense to bigs in the post, as well as finding players moving off the ball. Great motor and tough player that can play on or off the ball.     The Purdue commit displayed elite lead guard play throughout the weekend and was the driving force behind Indiana Elite winning the Invitational championship. The 6-foot 2 point guard displays poise and control when running the offense and setting up his teammates, he keeps the ball on string with the court vision to find open teammates moving off the ball, and delivers pin-point passes to hit players in stride for open looks. Ertel has the moves to shake his defender, a quick first step to get his opponent on his hip, the body control to absorb contact on finishes at the rim or shots from the mid-range, and is efficient from beyond the arc off the dribble or the catch. Ertel is a tough on-ball defender with active hands to create turnovers, and showed to be a true 3-level scorer with the ability to impact the game in countless ways.     Kinney is considered by most national outlets to be the top point guard in the 2026 class, and he lived up to that hype at the recent 3SSB Invitational in SoCal. Kinney was superb all weekend and was a key factor in Wildcats Select earning a spot in the championship game, but he took his game to another level in pool play in a win over Compton Magic, as he would put on a scoring clinic with an array of moves and tough shots from start to finish. The 6-2 lead guard has a fluid handle and keeps the ball on a string, dribbles with a purpose to either set-up teammates or create his own offense, the court vision to find open players off the dribble drive, and has the active hands and timing to jump passing lanes, with the lateral quickness to stay in front of his opponent and poke the ball out to get in the open court. Despite his impressive play running the offense, his ability to score the ball from 3-levels with seemingly countless moves and countermoves was what made him one of the best all-around players at the 3SSB Invitational. Kinney is able to create separation from his defender with the hesitation, the crossover, wrap around crossover, spin move, the hard pound dribble, and the step-back to get his defender off balance. Kinney is accurate with the 3-ball off the dribble or the catch, has the body control and strength to finish through contact with creativity on finishes around the basket, and was deadly with the mid-range jumpers, as he connected shots fading away and spin moves into the pull-up, as well as touch on the floater down the lane or off the baseline. Kinney showed there are not many shots he is not capable of making on a consistent basis, which is what makes him a top 15 player nationally.     Jones was thrust into the lead guard spot for the 3SSB Invitational, as Compton Magic was without its premier point guard Mason Magee, and he displayed quality decision making with the ball in his hands, as well as his usual sharp shooting from the perimeter. The 6-foot-3 guard, and Stanford commit, has the handles and court vision to survey the floor, makes the right reads in the half-court setting, and makes solid decisions in the pick and roll/pop action either finding the screener or creating his own shots. Jones plays with good pace and feel for the game, makes nice use of the hesitation and the crossover to generate space from his defender, gets good lift and can stop on a dime for the mid-range jumper, is efficient with the 3-ball off the dribble or the catch, and has nice form on his shot with range on the 3-ball. Jones is a solid defender and has active hands to create turnovers on the perimeter that lead to transition buckets. Jones has a silky smooth flow to his game and can score the ball in volume.     Rippey came into the Invitational as one of the top players on the 3SSB Circuit, and he let that be known from the jump in New Heights first game and win over D1 Minnesota. The 6-foot-2 lead guard displayed his elite two-way skill set throughout the weekend in SoCal, and the phrase that kept popping in my head the 3 times I watched him play was “he's a real hooper”. Rippey has a strong handle on the ball and keeps it on a string to prevent defenders from getting in his dribbling space, makes great use of the crossover in various forms to keep his opponent off balance, a nice burst of speed off the bounce to keep relentless pressure on the defense, and shows creativity on finishes around the basket. Rippey has shifty moves to create space from his defender, gets good lift on the jump shot off the bounce, with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line, moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch, has the body control to absorb contact in the air and still connect on tough shots, and has the court vision and precision to make great reads to teammates cutting off the ball or finding holes in the defense. Defensively is where Rippey really impressed me, as he has great lateral movement and foot speed to stay in front of opposing ball-handlers, the instincts and timing to jump passing lanes to get into the open court, and is bouncy to alter shots on the perimeter. Rippey does a lot to impact the game overall, and was one of the top two-way players on display at the 3SSB Invitational.

Ladera Ranch, CA - The Adidas 3SSB Circuit wrapped up its season with the Earn Your Stripes Invitational hosted at the beautiful OGP Ladera Sports Complex, which features 8 courts, 7 used for games and the other court used as the event's hospitality center. The tournament featured 75 Adidas teams, with a majority in the 17u Division, as well as numerous nationally ranked players from the classes of 2026 through 2029 on display. The facility was also packed with D1 coaches, and other divisions, over the four day event, given this was the final live period of the club season. This article takes a look at 7 standout lead guards from the 2026 class. There is no ranked order to this list of players, but in alphabetical order. This article will be followed by a part two looking at the rest of the standout rising senior lead guards.