Central Cali Prospects Next Up Showcase: Top Scorers

This past weekend, on 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 the 2028 and 2029 grad classes, representing 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 the top 9 scorers from the Next Up Showcase, and provides their scoring statistics, as well as a brief summary of their skill sets. This article will be followed by pieces on wing/forwards, lead guards, and combo guards from the event. The players are listed in order of top scorer to the ninth scorer, so in a ranked order. I begin with the sharp shooter, [player_tooltip player_id='2915953' first='Rhead' last='Sweeney'].    Sweeney entered the Next Up Showcase coming off an impressive showing at the California Live Scholastic Tournament in late June, where he led the Bears in scoring over the team's 4 games. Sweeney displayed his elite shooting and scoring ability on Saturday at the showcase with games of 25 points and 7 rebounds, followed by an event-high of 33 points and 10 rebounds, and was the overall leading scorer at the Next Up Showcase over his two games. Sweeney has solid handles, makes nice use of the crossover and between the leg cross to create space from his defender, gets good lift on the jumper to shoot over most perimeter defenders, use his long strides to get by his defender, and is a crafty finisher at the rim, with some tough up and under lay-ups. What really stood out in his game was his elite 3-point shooting, as he connected on a total of 11 threes over the two games, and showed he can be effective off the dribble, as well as the off-ball movement to get open looks off the catch. Sweeney plays with good pace, is a great positional rebounder, as was evident with his 17 rebounds over 2 games, and looks to push the ball up the court off the glass. Sweeney will be a vital piece for Buchanan this coming season, and from what I witnessed this past weekend, he is capable of taking that step to be the team's go-to scorer.      Olanrewaju came into the Next Up Showcase as one of the top prospects in the 2028 class in the Central Section, and he lived up to that billing and then some. Olanrewaju was assertive and aggressive early and often, looking to go at whoever was guarding him, and he carried that mentality throughout both of his showcase games. Olanrewaju scored 29 points and 10 rebounds in his first game, followed by 20 points and 8 rebounds in his final game, and displayed 3-level scoring ability with a variety of moves to create shots. Olanrewaju has a solid handle on the ball, the moves to create off the bounce, makes great use of the crossover and hesitation to get his defender off balance, has a good burst of speed to attack the basket, and has the physical build to finish through contact around the basket. Olanrewaju is accurate with the 3-ball off the dribble or the catch, has a smooth stop on a dime mid-range jumper, and has the body control and footwork to spin away from his defender or fade away for the jumper. Olanrewaju has good lateral footspeed to stay in front of perimeter players, the length and timing to alter shots in the paint, and deflects the ball in passing lanes to create turnovers. He is solid on the glass and has the handle to push the pace of play in the open court. He made a strong case for the top spot in the upcoming 2028 player rankings, and will be a huge factor for the Panthers this coming season.      The Bears have to be pleased with how their two standout sophomores played at the Next Up Showcase, as DeManby would show that he is more than a role player, but can fill it up from the perimeter, as well as getting to the basket. DeManby was cooking from beyond the arc in his first game, as he knocked down 5 threes in the 2nd half and scored a team high 25 points. He followed that up with a monster double-double of 21 points and 17 rebounds, and scored all but 2 points after halftime. DeManby moves fluidly off the ball, gets to his shot spots for open looks off the catch, makes great use of back-cuts to get open for shots within fifteen feet, he is a crafty finisher over height around the basket, has touch on the floater, gets nice lift on the jumper off the bounce, and has a nice wide crossover to create space from his defender, and open up the court to attack the paint. DeManby has good footwork to stay in front of his defender, active hands to disrupt his opponents dribbling space, and is a great positional rebounder with the handle to push the pace of play in the open court. He and [player_tooltip player_id='2915953' first='Rhead' last='Sweeney'], will be two key pieces that the Bears should look to use to fill the scoring gap from last year's TRAC MVP Conner Sheets, now in college.      Wilson was one of the top scoring freshmen last season in the Central Section, as he led the Guardians in scoring at nearly 14 points per game. Wilson did not disappoint at the Next Up Showcase, as he would drop 24 points in his first game, followed by an 18-point performance in his second game, and he showed he can score the ball in a variety of ways from 3-levels, as well as lock-up on the defensive end. Wilson keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, has the court vision and precision passing to make reads in tight windows, is solid on the glass, which allows him to push the tempo in transition or find players up the court . He is a solid on-ball defender that looks to poke the ball out or jump passing lanes to get easy buckets in the open court. Wilson has the moves to shake his defender, with the behind the back cross, the hesitation, the double crossover, and spin move to create space, and a variety of shots he can hit with frequency. Wilson has a great burst off speed off the bounce, the body control to absorb contact down the lane, gets up on his jumper to shoot over most defenders, and has a smooth shooting form. Wilson moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch, can spray shots off the dribble from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and displays elite bounce going at the rim in transition or down the lane. There were not many shots that Wilson was not capable of hitting with consistency and he is poised for a huge sophomore season with Garza.      Langenfeld was one of the biggest stock risers of the Next Up Showcase, as he was not just one of the top scorers, but one of the more efficient 3-point shooters on display. Langenfeld put up 23 points in his first game, and followed that up with a solid 19 points, and connected on 3 threes in the 2nd half of both games for six total. Langenfeld has a strong handle on the ball, the moves to break down his defender, with nice use of the low crossover, the toss cross, and the hesitation to create space from his defender, and has a quick release on the jumper with accuracy on the 3-ball. Langenfeld has active hands on defense to poke the ball from his opponent, turns defense to offense and gets out in transition off the steal, has good body control when taking contact on finishes at the basket or on the mid-range jumper, moves well off the ball, and finds the corner for the open look off the catch. Langenfeld will be a key piece for the guard heavy and fast past playing Highlanders of McLane this coming season, and will be critical in helping space the floor and open up the court.        Akouete was one of the top athletes at the Next Up Showcase, but displayed much more than raw athleticism, and was arguably the top two-way player at the event. Akouete had a huge first game double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, followed by an 18 point showing in his second game. Akouete moves well off the ball, was effective at hitting the 3-ball off the catch, crashes the boards to provide second chance points, has the handle and moves to create off the perimeter, and had multiple power dunks. He is able to finish on shots around the basket through contact in the paint, with good touch around the basket, and had some big time blocks, with a long wingspan to alter shots in the paint, and the agility to step out and alter shots in the wing. Akouete runs the floor well in the open court, makes himself available for easy transition buckets, plays with a relentless motor, and leaves his imprint on both ends of the court. Given the depth of the Knights this season, I am not sure what his minutes will look like, but he is definitely a key piece for St. Joseph the next 4 years.      Smith had his silky smooth game on display at the Next Up Showcase, and exhibited his elite mid-range pull-up jumper that he makes look effortless. Smith would score 20 points in his first game, which was followed by a 22-point outing in the final game of the event, and did it all without hitting one 3-ball. Smith has a dynamic handle, keeps the ball on a string to keep his dribble alive, looks to attack his defender with the use of the crossover, the in-and-out dribble, the behind the back cross, and the hesitation to get his opponent off balance, which allows him to get to the elbows, where he gets great lift on the jumper. Smith has a nice burst of speed off the bounce, is a creative finisher around the basket, makes timely use of the Euro move to evade height in the post. He has touch on the floater down the lane, is a ball-hawk on defense, reads the court well to jump passing lanes, and routinely turns defense to offense. Smith is effective with the 3-ball, off the dribble or the catch, and plays at his own pace and controls the flow of the game with the ball in hand.      Jeronimo was one of the players I was most looking forward to seeing at the Next Up Showcase, as I had heard good things about his game leading up to the event, and he did not disappoint. The 6-foot-4 lead guard showed the ability to score the ball in a variety of ways, with good pace and feel for the game. Jeronimo got off to a relatively slow start, but went to work in the second half of his first game, as he would score 12 of his 16 points after intermission. Jeronimo turned it up another notch in his second game, scoring 21 points and pulling down 8 rebounds, and hit some of the toughest shots of the event. Jeronimo has good size and length at the lead guard position, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, with the court vision to find open players moving off the ball, and is solid on the boards, which helps him push the ball off the glass and get out in the open court. Jeronimo makes great use of the wide crossover, gets into the body of his defender where he uses the spin move to evade his opponent, with great body control and creativity on shots and lay-ups around the basket. Jeronimo showed he can space the floor with the 3-ball off the catch, but was at his best when being assertive and attacking his defender with a variety of moves to score from the mid-range to the basket, which was evident with the one-foot fade middy that got me out of my seat. He has a scorer mindset, but the awareness to find the open man when the defense collapses on him. Defensively, Jeronimo has active hands, length, good positional size, and foot speed to defend multiple positions effectively.      Smith has been one of the more dynamic players in the class of 2028 in the Central Section, and has continued to gain notoriety throughout California and the West Coast. He came into the Next Up Showcase as one of the top prospects and he lived up to the hype at the event. Smith had 15 points in the opening game of the event, and really got going in his second game with 22 points and 8 rebounds, making some tough shots in the process. Smith has elite handles, uses the crossover and between cross to get his defender to lose focus, has a great burst of speed, with long strides, off the dribble to get by his defender, has lift on the pull-up jumper, uses the pump fake to get to the basket, where he uses his bounce to score in creative ways around the basket. Smith moves well off the ball, as well as creates space with the dribble, with accuracy on the 3-ball. Smith is a good situational defender, and jumps passing lanes and gets out in the open court, where he can make plays for others or get his own buckets. He will be a big factor for the new look Cougars and he is capable of handling the moment.

This past weekend, on 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 the 2028 and 2029 grad classes, representing 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 the top 9 scorers from the Next Up Showcase, and provides their scoring statistics, as well as a brief summary of their skill sets. This article will be followed by pieces on wing/forwards, lead guards, and combo guards from the event. The players are listed in order of top scorer to the ninth scorer, so in a ranked order. I begin with the sharp shooter, Rhead Sweeney Rhead Sweeney 6'4" | CG/SF Buchanan | 2028 CA-N .