Central Cali Prospects Next Up Showcase: Standout Guards

Last Saturday, August 23rd, Central Cali Prospects hosted its 5th Annual Next Up Showcase, which has been the event where the next wave of high school hoop talent from the Central Section shows growth in their game or jumps on the radar. The showcase was held at Central Valley Christian High School in Visalia, CA, and featured 60 players from various areas throughout the Section, such as Santa Maria, Bakersfield, Fresno, Hanford, Visalia, Reedley, Kingsburg, and Madera. Players were placed on preset rosters and made up five teams, using college team names as follows: CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly, Fresno State, CSU Northridge, and UC Santa Barbara. 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 guards (scoring, lead, and point) from the Next Up Showcase, and provides their scoring and rebound statistics, as well as a brief summary of their skill sets. This article will be followed by pieces looking at more guards and wings that stood out at the event. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order. I begin with a new name to high school hoops, one of the best thing about this event, Andrew Awad of Fresno Christian.     Awad is a lead guard that can create for his teammates, as well as get his own scoring opportunities, which he displayed at the Next Up Showcase. Awad had games of 6 points and 7 points in his two showcase games, connecting on 3 threes in the process. Awad has a solid handle, keeps the dribble alive to survey the court, has the moves to weave through the defense, and the court vision to find open players cutting off the ball. Awad moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch, showed he can knock down the 3-ball off the dribble or the catch, and will be part of a young but promising roster at Fresno Christian this coming season.       Contreras is a crafty combo guard that showed the ability to score quickly, as well as solid on-ball defense at the Next Up Showcase. Contreras had a strong showing in his first game, as he would go for 14 points and a pair of threes. Contreras has a tight handle on the ball, a good burst of speed off the dribble, has touch on the floater down the lane, and is a creative finisher around the basket, as was evident with the smooth up and under lay-up to get space from his defender. Contreras moves fluidly off the ball to get open looks off the catch, is accurate with the 3-ball, and displays good court vision and decision making when attacking off the dribble drive to find open teammates.      Bergam is a crafty and skilled lead guard that can make plays for his teammates, as well as create his own scoring opportunities. Bergman connected on a couple threes, but took on more of the play maker role at the Next Up Showcase, as he was finding teammates with the hot hand, and showing he is a good positional rebounder, with 8 boards in his second game. Bergman has a smooth handle on the ball, makes good use of the hesitation, the crossover, and gets into his defender's body to use the spin move to evade his defender. Bergman is accurate with the 3-ball off the dribble or the catch, is a crafty finisher at the basket, and has the court vision to find players in tight windows. What impressed me most at the showcase was Bergman's defensive prowess, as he displayed active hands to disrupt his opponents dribbling space, poked the ball out a few times to turn defense to offense, and showed the timing to jump passing lanes to deflect the ball out. Bergam is poised for a big sophomore season, and will be the catalyst for the young and talented Cavaliers.      Davis is a lights out shooter with deep range on the 3-ball, as well as shifty handles to get open for the jumper, and he did not hold back at the Next Up Showcase. Davis was one of the top 3-point shooters at the event, as was evident with the 7 he connected on over his two showcase games, going for 14 points and 15 points respectively. Davis keeps the ball on a string, keeps the dribble alive to weave through the defense, has nice touch on the floater over size, and is a crafty finisher around the basket. He has shifty moves to create space from his defender, and can knock down the 3-ball with frequency off the dribble or the catch, with range from deep. Despite his smaller stature, he plays with great pace and control, and is fearless on the court, staying in attack mode.      Johnson is a physical and athletic combo guard that impacts both ends of the court, as was evident in the Next Up Showcase. Johnson had two impressive outings in his two showcase games, putting up 12 points and 8 rebounds in the first game, followed by a 16 point game to wrap up the event. Johnson has a strong handle on the ball, makes good use of the crossover and between cross to get by his initial defender, has a nice burst of speed off the dribble to get down hill, has the strength to finish through contact at the basket, has nice touch on the floater down the lane, and great body control on the mid-range jumper. He showed he can hit the tough spin-fade jumper, has active hands on defense to rip the ball from his opponent, and has the bounce to get up and alter or block shots around the basket, as well as on the perimeter. Johnson crashes the boards, which allows him to push the ball up the court, where he excels in the open court. A player to keep an eye on and could get some varsity run for the Panthers this coming season.      Steinback is a combo guard that can run the offense, as well as knock down shots at a high clip. Steinback quietly had a really impressive showing at the Next Up Showcase, going for 18 points and 6 rebounds in his first game, followed by a near double-double of 10 points and 9 rebounds. Steinback keeps the dribble alive to survey the floor, has the court vision to make the right reads to open teammates, and is a good positional rebounder, which allows him to push the pace of play in the open court to either find players up the court, or pull the transition jumper. Steinback makes good use of the crossover, the hesitation, and the behind the back cross to create space from his defender, moves well off the ball to get open looks, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch. Steinback plays with good pace and feel for the game, does not let the defense get him in bad positions on the court, and can score in volume.     Yamaura is a shifty and tough noised combo guard that impacts both ends of the court, and can make tough shots on the regular. Yamaura has a solid handle on the ball, uses the wide crossover to get his defender off balance, has a good burst of speed off the bounce to get into the defense, is a crafty finisher around the basket, and is effective with the 3-ball off the dribble. Yamaura has active hands and good footwork on defense, which allows him to press up on his opponent and look to poke the ball out to create steals. Yamaura plays with a fast but controlled pace, and uses the hesitation to freeze his defender in transition, and looks to get to the basket. Yamaura had 15 points and 6 rebounds in the opening game of the event.

Last Saturday, August 23rd, Central Cali Prospects hosted its 5th Annual Next Up Showcase, which has been the event where the next wave of high school hoop talent from the Central Section shows growth in their game or jumps on the radar. The showcase was held at Central Valley Christian High School in Visalia, CA, and featured 60 players from various areas throughout the Section, such as Santa Maria, Bakersfield, Fresno, Hanford, Visalia, Reedley, Kingsburg, and Madera. Players were placed on preset rosters and made up five teams, using college team names as follows: CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly, Fresno State, CSU Northridge, and UC Santa Barbara. 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 guards (scoring, lead, and point) from the Next Up Showcase, and provides their scoring and rebound statistics, as well as a brief summary of their skill sets. This article will be followed by pieces looking at more guards and wings that stood out at the event. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order. I begin with a new name to high school hoops, one of the best thing about this event, Andrew Awad of Fresno Christian.