Prep Hoops MD Expo: Team One Evals

Another year of the Prep Hoops Expo in Maryland is in the books and it was an opportunity for 100 prospects to put themselves on the radar or build to their already rising stock heading into the 2025-26 high school season. For this article, we'll take a look at the prospects that made up team one of 5-on-5 play and what stood out about their individual games.    It was a productive afternoon from start to finish for Ayana, who showed off a polished overall skill set as a toolsy four-man. He used his size to his advantage on post touches operating with his back to the basket and comfortably got to his over the shoulder hooks, made a few nice passes to the weak side corner to shooters, or faced up to the rim and knocked down mid-range shots. He was no stranger to the perimeter, particularly in pick-and-pop scenarios where he knocked down his fair share of triples in both 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 play. Ayana was voted to all-first team for his performance.     A quick-twitch lead guard who got downhill with regularity, Tucker blew by his defender with ease in many cases and finished the job with craft around the rim. The southpaw guard can stop on a dime and quickly change directions with balance that creates openings in the mid-range as well. Tucker was most effective in isolations any playing in space where his quickness and burst took center stage.     Mims separated himself with his willingness to do the small things in order to gain his team an advantage. Setting good screens, being a consistent presence on the glass and finishing inside the paint when the opportunity presented itself were all boxes that he checked throughout his 5-on-5 showing.     Sanya is a physical guard who showed his chops defensively with active hands and ability to out-muscle opposing guards to 50/50s. Sanya is quick and when getting downhill, can use his frame to absorb contact on his finishes around the cup. When he's playing with pace and control, Sanya can be a tough check playing off the catch with a quick first step that covers ground.     Copes plays with a good sense of basketball instincts for the point guard position. It's always tough to establish yourself in these sort of events as your true position, but in the spurts where Copes had control of things, he demonstrated good floor vision, pace within his attack and was a threat to score from 15-feet and in when operating off the bounce.     Good overall showing from the southpaw freshman guard, who is another prospect on this team that thrived playing in space on in 1-on-1 situations where he could use his burst to gain an advantage. Carroll stood out in transition where he used his end-to-end speed to put pressure on the rim. If his defend guessed correctly and cut off his drive, he was consistently knocking down tough, contested jumpers throughout the afternoon. He'll be a good name to monitor this season for a revamped New Town roster.     Green did a nice job of playing off the action from those around him to make his impact on the games. He guarded his position well, showed multiple efforts on the defensive side of the floor and did a nice job of getting a body on his matchup before pursuing rebounds.     Blackstone provided further quick, active hands on the defensive end for Team One's backcourt rotation. If he wasn't involved in the initial action for 50/50s, he was putting his head down and sprinting the lanes to get in position for hit-aheads on the break. Showed some wiggle when he got his opportunities to attack off catches in the half court.     Schabow converted on a few triples in 3-on-3 play that later resulted in defenders closing out aggressively on his catches when play turned into 5-on-5. Schabow did a nice job of using that gravity to attack the closeout and rely on floaters or make sound kick-outs to shooters spotting up around the perimeter.     Parikh's overall skill set is improving with time and the 6-foot-5 southpaw had some plays that would support those claims. He's a guy that's going to give 100 percent on both ends of the floor and is willing to make the play that leads to the bigger play. For example, he had a few hockey assists thanks to his unselfish approach as a ball mover while also getting a few looks from 15-to-17 feet where he rose up with confidence.

Another year of the Prep Hoops Expo in Maryland is in the books and it was an opportunity for 100 prospects to put themselves on the radar or build to their already rising stock heading into the 2025-26 high school season. For this article, we'll take a look at the prospects that made up team one of 5-on-5 play and what stood out about their individual games.