Clovis West Fall Shootout: Standout Seniors Pt. 2

This past weekend, September 13th – 14th, Clovis West hosted its annual Fall Shootout at the Eagles Nest. The event featured teams from Fresno, Santa Maria, Stockton, Elk Grove, Madera, Merced, and Modesto. Teams played in a showcase game format, with led to some intriguing match-ups, none more thrilling than powerhouses St. Joseph and San Joaquin Memorial squaring off. This article is part 2 of a two-part piece that looks at 7 more standout seniors, which will be followed by a look at standout juniors and underclassmen from the event. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order. I begin this article with what I see as the top prospect in the Central Section, [player_tooltip player_id='1956462' first='Julius' last='Price'].    Price is a physical, athletic, and poised lead guard that leaves his imprint on both ends of the court in a variety of ways. Price has a strong handle on the ball, is a great positional rebound to push the pace of play, has the court vision to hit players in stride up the court, as well as precision passes to open teammates off the dribble drive and kick pass. Price is an elite on-ball defender with the footspeed and lateral quickness to stay in front of his opponent, the quick hands to rip the ball out for the steal, the timing to jump passing lanes, and the bounce to pin/alter shots around the basket, as was evident with his 4 blocks against Clovis North. Price uses the crossover, hesitation, behind the back cross, and the spin move to create space from his defender, has a great burst of speed off the bounce, gets great lift on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and the the strength to muscle through contact down the lane with touch on the floater or the use of the reverse lay-up or Euro-step finish to evade defenders around the basket. Price has the step-back jumper, the no-look dimes, and is playing above the rim more frequently, as he made it known he is the best player in the Section this past weekend at the Clovis West Fall Shootout, going for 29 points and 5 assists.     Rollins is a lengthy and skilled lead guard with good positional size to run the offense, as well as the ability to create his own offense when the defense gives him opportunities to score. I have seen Rollins numerous times but always with his Team Lillard 3SSB squad, so it was a great opportunity to see him with his high school team as the focal point of the offense. Rollins keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, has good height to be able to see over the defense with the court vision to make the right reads from the top of the key, as well as finding open teammates off the drive and kick out pass when he attacks the paint from the wing, and makes quality finds up the court to players ahead of the defense for easy transition buckets. Rollins uses the wide crossover, the hesitation, the between cross, and the hard-pound dribble to get his defender off balance, is effective with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and uses his long strides once he gets by his initial defender to get to the basket, where he has touch and creativity on finishes around the basket, using the spin-move, floater, and reverse lay-ups to evade rim protectors in the post. He is a great positional rebounder, which allows him to get out and push the pace of play, and his control of the pace of play and quality decision making is what stood out to me the most.     Sidhu is a crafty combo guard that can score the ball in a variety of ways from 3-levels, and continues to improve his play as a primary ball handler for the Panthers. Sidhu keeps the dribble alive to survey the floor and probe the defense for openings for him to attack, uses the between cross, wide crossover, hesitation, and behind cross to create space from his defender, is effective with the pull-up jumper from the elbows, is accurate with the step-back 3-ball off the bounce, uses the pump fake to get his defender off the ground, and looks to attack the basket with creativity on finishes at the basket, using the reverse lay-up or the Euro-step to evade height in the post. Sidhu has good court vision, makes good reads to open teammates when on the attack off the drive and kick-out pass, is a good positional rebounder to push the pace of play, and advances the ball up the court to open players for transition baskets. Sidhu had a huge 23-point game on Sunday at the Fall Shootout, going for 23 points in a win over defending D1 Section Champs, St. Joseph.     Spees is a lengthy and versatile wing/forward that can score in the post, as well as spray shots from the perimeter to pull bigs away from the basket. Spees had a strong showing on Sunday, going for 20 points en route to a win over St. Joseph, and a potential preview of the Section Championship this coming season. Spees crashes the boards with relentless energy, has nice touch around the basket on putbacks off the glass, limits the opponent to single shot possessions with the handle to push the ball off the glass, makes good reads up the court, or runs the floor well to get ahead of the defense when making the outlet pass off the rebound. Spees is a high-level rim protector in the paint, with the agility and length to step out and alter shots on the perimeter, uses the drop-step to evade opposing bigs with nice touch on shots around the basket, is effective with the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch, and uses the crossover to get by bigs that are forced to close out on Spees with his shooting proficiency, where he can either pop the mid-range jumper or get all the way to the basket. Spees looked comfortable playing out of the pick and roll, with timely dives off the screen where he looks to hammer it down. Spees is playing above the rim on the regular and makes quality passes from the high-post to cutting teammates.     Sandy is a shifty and strong combo guard that can create his own offense or come off the ball for catch and shoot opportunities. Sandy has a strong handle on the ball, uses the crossover, the hesitation, and the behind cross to get his defender off balance, is accurate with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, keeps the dribble low to get into the paint with touch on the floater down the lane, and has good body control with the spin-fadeaway jumper. Sandy runs the floor well in the open court to get ahead of the defense for the transition bucket, is a creative finisher around the basket with the use of the reverse lay-up, and is a tough on-ball perimeter defender.     Thomas is a shifty and poised combo guard that can make tough shots off the dribble with regularity, as well as impact the defensive end with perimeter ball pressure. Thomas keeps the ball on a string to survey the defense, uses the hesitation and the crossover to create separation from his defender, hunts the mid-range jumper with good lift on shots from the elbows or the short corner, and has the body control to absorb contact in the air and still connect on the middy. Thomas relentlessly attacks the interior of the defense, has the ability to finish through contact off the take or find open teammates with the kick-out pass, has active hands and quick lateral movement to stay in front of his opponent, looks to rip the ball or jump passing lanes to get the steal to get out in transition. Thomas can space the floor with the 3-ball, but is at his best when he is pressuring the defense and getting to the mid-range shot.     Vasquez is a quick and crafty lead guard that plays at a fast pace but has good body control to make the right basketball decision. Vasquez was cooking against Clovis North, especially in the second half, as he would attack from the left side of the court time and time again, and showed his ability to score with flair and creativity around height in the paint. Vasquez has a strong handle on the ball, uses the low crossover and the hesitation to get his defender off balance, is accurate with the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch, uses the pump fake and shifty moves to get by his defender and into the paint, where he showed the ability to finish the tough up and under lay-up to evade size in the paint. He has good court vision and routinely found players up the court or spotting up for looks off the drive and kick pass.

This past weekend, September 13th – 14th, Clovis West hosted its annual Fall Shootout at the Eagles Nest. The event featured teams from Fresno, Santa Maria, Stockton, Elk Grove, Madera, Merced, and Modesto. Teams played in a showcase game format, with led to some intriguing match-ups, none more thrilling than powerhouses St. Joseph and San Joaquin Memorial squaring off. This article is part 2 of a two-part piece that looks at 7 more standout seniors, which will be followed by a look at standout juniors and underclassmen from the event. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order. I begin this article with what I see as the top prospect in the Central Section, Julius Price Julius Price 6'2" | CG St. Joseph | 2026 State #85 Nation CA-S .