Central Cali Prospects Junior/Senior Showcase: Standout Forwards

This past weekend, on Sunday, August 24th, Central Cali Prospects hosted its 5th Annual Junior/Senior Showcase, an event that has featured some of the top upperclassmen in the Section the past 4 years, and this year's event was the best one yet as far as depth of talent, size, skill, and next level prospects. The showcase was held at Bakersfield High School, in Central California, and featured 60 players from various areas throughout the Section, such as Santa Maria, Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande, Bakersfield, Fresno, Hanford, Visalia, Reedley, Kingsburg, and Lemoore. Players were placed on preset rosters and made up five teams, using NBA team names as follows: Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Suns, and Kings. Each team, or player, played in two showcase games, which was set up in a 5 game format. The event also featured a recruitment discussion with JUCO players, to provide participants with information and knowledge of what the current recruiting environment is like. This article looks at 7 standout forwards (bigs) from the Junior/Senior Showcase, and provides their scoring and rebounding statistics, as well as a brief summary of their skill sets. This article will be followed by pieces on wings, combo guards, lead guards, and best shooters from the event. The players are not listed in a ranked order, but alphabetically. I begin with the athletic and lengthy big man, [player_tooltip player_id='2131807' first='Abdoul' last='Bare'].    Bare has been one of the more promising long term prospects in the Central Section since entering high school, and he displayed his dominance on the glass at the Junior/Senior Showcase. Bare had a double-double in both of his showcase games, with 10 points and 14 rebounds in his first game, followed by 10 points and 19 rebounds in his second game, and was the event's overall top rebounder. Bare has great size and length to leave his imprint on both ends of the court, uses his massive wingspan to be a high-level rim protector and shot blocker, with the agility to alter shots on the perimeter when switching off on ball screens, and he gets off the floor quickly for putbacks or defensive rebounds to limit opponents to single possessions. Bare runs the floor well in the open court, gets ahead of the opposing team to get open for passes up the court and transition buckets, and throws down some monster dunks in the half court setting or the open court. Bare has nice touch on shots around the basket, and can connect on the mid-post jumper with accuracy to pull his defender away from the basket.     Brown was one of the more intriguing long term prospects at the Junior/Senior Showcase, as he is coming off a season ending injury from last year, but has been impressive all Summer for the Drillers, which he displayed on Sunday. Brown had 8 points and 8 rebounds in his second game, but displayed his ability to actively impact the interior on both ends of the court over the course of his two showcase games. Brown has the length and height to control the boards, has nice touch on shots around the basket, has the wingspan to alter shots around the basket, along with the agility to step out and alter shots on the perimeter, as well as defend both bigs and guards. Brown is accurate with the jumper from the mid-range, with the ability to space the floor with the 3-ball on occasion. Brown is great in the open court and runs the floor well to get ahead of the defense, and get open for passes up the court. Brown has enough handle to put the ball on the deck and attack from the top of the key, and is still pretty raw in his skill set with a ton of upside.     Crew was a player I have been wanting to see in person and have heard good things about his game for some time now, and he displayed the versatility of his skill set at the Junior/Senior Showcase. Crew had a solid showing in the opening game of the event, with 8 points and 9 rebounds and probably had 4-5 assists but we did not keep those stats officially. Crew has good handles, makes good use of the crossover and spin move to create space from his defender, is accurate with the mid-range jumper off the bounce, and makes good decisions and reads to open teammates from the top of the key. Crew has good size to back down smaller players, can turn and shoot over such defenders, and with his ability to stretch the floor with the jumper, he is able to draw bigs away from the basket and open up the court. He does a solid job on the glass, has good touch around the basket, and can push the pace of play in the open court.     Eyita dominated our Next Up Showcase last year, freshman/sophomore players, and was named the event's Most Outstanding Player. He left his imprint on this year's Junior/Senior Showcase as one of the event's top rebounders and displayed his ability to impose his will on his opponent with a solid build and size, along with the footwork and post-moves to create scoring opportunities from the mid-post to the basket. Eyita had 8 points and 15 rebounds in his first game, as he and fellow teammate [player_tooltip player_id='2131807' first='Abdoul' last='Bare'] battled it out for supremacy in the paint. Godson followed that up with an impressive double-double of 15points and 14 rebounds, and was the second best rebounder at the showcase. Eyita has good back-to-the-basket moves to score in the post, has good feel to spin away from his defender to get open looks at the rim, has enough handle to put the ball on the deck and attack the basket, and can spread the floor with the 3-ball, either popping off the screen or off the catch. Eyita sees the court well to make good reads from the top of the key, has good timing and length to be a quality rim protector, and has the handle to push the ball off the glass and initiate transition play, with the ability to go coast to coast. Big junior season on deck for Eyita, as he will be part of the 3-headed frontline for St. Joseph with two 6-foot-9 players, as well as 6-foot-8 sophomore Williams Sacre, which is a key reason the Knights are the preseason favorites to win the Section title despite Toude Yessoufou being at Baylor now.     Fox is more of a forward/wing prospect with good size and skill to play from the perimeter, but he did a majority of his work at the Junior/Senior Showcase from within 15 feet of the basket, with good size and length. Fox would go for 11 points and 7 rebounds in his first game, followed by 12 points and 6 rebounds in the final game of the event, showing his ability to put up points and crash the boards. Fox has good footwork and moves to score around the basket, which was evident with a couple nice up and under lay-ups. Fox has solid handles, makes good use of the crossover or straight-line dribble to create off the perimeter, gets to the basket with the strong build to absorb contact on finishes at the basket, and can space the floor with the 3-ball to pull bigger defenders away from the basket. He made good use of the spin move on the attack to get his defender off his hip, and good court vision to make good reads on passes from the post. An intriguing prospect that I was glad was able to attend. Big senior season coming up for Fox and he should put up good numbers for the Tigers this season.     Galpin is coming off a great sophomore season, where he would average 10 points and 5 rebounds per game. I had been hearing he had been playing well over the Spring and Summer, and he put his versatile skill set on display in the opening game of the event, where he would go for 17 points and 6 rebounds. He had 7 points and 8 rebounds in his second showcase game. Galpin crashes the boards with good timing and touch on put backs, he has enough handle to push the ball off the glass up the court, has good footwork and back-to-the-basket post moves to score amongst the bigs, and showed he can spread the floor with the 3-ball off the catch. Galpin has good court vision and accuracy on passes from the top of the key to cutting teammates, and has a smooth pull-up jumper off the dribble. Galpin was one of the more versatile scoring forwards, and is set to have a big senior season for the Eagles, who are expecting a big year.     Medina looked good this past June at the Bakersfield College team camp with Garces Memorial, and he asserted himself early and often in the opening game of the Junior/Senior Showcase. Medina had 17 points and 7 rebounds in his first game, and showed his ability to score the ball in the paint, as well as space the floor with the 3-ball. Medina has a solid frame with agility to run the floor in the open court, the strength to take contact around the basket and muscle through for the finish, and the shooting form to knock down the 3-ball off the catch. He has nice touch on shots around the basket, crashes the boards with multiple efforts on the offensive glass, and will be a key factor for the Rams this coming season.

This past weekend, on Sunday, August 24th, Central Cali Prospects hosted its 5th Annual Junior/Senior Showcase, an event that has featured some of the top upperclassmen in the Section the past 4 years, and this year's event was the best one yet as far as depth of talent, size, skill, and next level prospects. The showcase was held at Bakersfield High School, in Central California, and featured 60 players from various areas throughout the Section, such as Santa Maria, Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande, Bakersfield, Fresno, Hanford, Visalia, Reedley, Kingsburg, and Lemoore. Players were placed on preset rosters and made up five teams, using NBA team names as follows: Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Suns, and Kings. Each team, or player, played in two showcase games, which was set up in a 5 game format. The event also featured a recruitment discussion with JUCO players, to provide participants with information and knowledge of what the current recruiting environment is like. This article looks at 7 standout forwards (bigs) from the Junior/Senior Showcase, and provides their scoring and rebounding statistics, as well as a brief summary of their skill sets. This article will be followed by pieces on wings, combo guards, lead guards, and best shooters from the event. The players are not listed in a ranked order, but alphabetically. I begin with the athletic and lengthy big man, Abdoul Bare Abdoul Bare 6'9" | C St. Joseph | 2026 State CA-S .