The Renaissance at Westlake HS: Standout Lead Guards Pt. 1

This past Saturday, I attended The Renaissance Showcase at Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, which featured a 7-game schedule starting at 10:30 a.m. and going until 7:30 p.m., the start of the final game. The showcase featured some of the nation's top players, as well as some known names on the West and some up-and-comers that are making statements early in their high school careers. This article looks at 7 standout lead guards from Saturday's event, which will be followed by a Part 2 article for standout lead guards, as well as guards/wings and wing/forwards. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not in ranked order. We begin this article with Georgia Tech commit and current Eagle, [player_tooltip player_id='1956542' first='Kaiden' last='Bailey'].      Bailey is a shifty and skilled guard that can score in volume from 3-levels, and has become a true playmaker when running the offense at the point. The 6-foot-3 combo guard has a strong handle on the ball, makes great use of the hesitation, low crossover, and between cross to create space from his defender, has a nice burst of speed off the bounce, and is accurate with the 3-ball with range off the dribble or the catch. Bailey has good body control with lift on the mid-range jumper, has active hands on defense to poke the ball out or deflect passes to get the ball out in the open court, and has the strength to absorb and finish through contact en route to the basket down the lane. Bailey has made major strides running the offense, with good court vision to make tough reads off the drive and kick pass, the accuracy to make timely feeds to bigs diving to the basket off the pick and roll action, as well as making quality finds up the court off the rebound to get easy buckets for teammates in transition. The Georgia Tech commit displayed his all-around skill-set with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists in the Eagles win over Crespi.      Barnes is a crafty and skilled player that has a high basketball IQ, understands how to change the pace of play to get the defense off balance, and has a smooth jumper that extends to the 3-point line. The 6-foot-3 combo guard keeps the dribble alive to surrey the floor, uses the crossover and hesitation to get by his initial defender, has the court vision to make quality reads off the drive and kick pass to open teammates, and is effective with the mid-range shot, where he has the footwork and body control to hit the spin-fade jumper, as well as the standard pull-up jumper with consistency. Barnes plays with good pace and change of speed, looks to attack the defense to keep the opposition guessing, can space the floor with the 3-ball, and has the strength and agility to finish at the basket through contact with the up and under or reverse lay-ups. Barnes finished with 14 points and 4 assists in a loss to Santa Margarita.      Black is a crafty, poised, and high-energy freshman that plays with relentless effort, impacts both ends of the court, and can score the ball in volume. The 6-foot lead guard keeps the ball on a string to weave through the defense, uses the crossover, behind cross, and toss-cross to shake his defender, has a good burst of speed off the bounce, keeps relentless pressure on the defense to get routine paint touches, and is a crafty shot-maker around the basket, with the reverse, up-and-under, and Euro-step lay-ups in his arsenal. Black has good court vision, makes good reads off the drive and kick pass, as well as timely finds out of the pick and roll action to hit the roller in stride, is accurate with the jumper off the bounce, has active hands to disrupt his opponent's dribbling space, turns defense to offense with on-ball pressure, and plays with a fluid and controlled pace with the ball in his hands. Black had a strong showing with 25 points and 5 assists, displaying his ability to score the ball, as well as make plays for others when on the attack.      Crowe is an elite scorer that can spray shots from 3-levels from anywhere on the court, and has continued to improve as a playmaker with the amount of focus he draws from opposing teams. The 6-foot-4 lead guard has a smooth handle that he keeps alive to probe the defense, has the court vision and precision to make timely reads in tight windows off the drive and kick pass, as well as the body control to find teammates with accurate passes when he is in the air. Crowe is a great positional rebounder that looks to push the pace of play, has an array of shots from the mid-range to the 3-point line, whether it be the spin-fadeaway mid-range jumper, the stop-on-a-dime pull-up jumper, the up-and-under off the pump fake shot, or the step-back 3-ball off the bounce, there is not many shots that he cannot make. Crowe plays with great pace, feel, and change of speed, with the body control to absorb contact, and is a crafty finisher around the basket with the floater, reverse or Euro-step lay-ups, and had some entertaining dunks off the lob or in the open court. Crowe had an event single-game scoring high of 41 points, to go along with 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals to display the Missouri commits all around impact on the game. Crowe is on pace to break the all-time scoring record in California high school hoops, which was just surpassed last year by Baylor's Tounde Yessoufou.     Grant is a lightning quick and dynamic player that keeps constant pressure on the opponent, has great control playing at a fast pace, and is able to create his own offense or make plays for others. The 6-foot point guard has dynamic handles and keeps the ball on a string, has great court vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, makes good reads in the pick and roll action, with pin-point passes hitting the roller in stride, and is a tough on-ball defender with the footspeed to stay in front of most perimeter players. Grant has shifty moves to break his defender, with the crossover and the hesitation moves to get by his opponent, and elite burst of speed off the bounce with creativity on the finish at the basket, using the reverse and spin-move off the defender lay-ups, as well as touch on the floater. Grant has a quick stop-and-pop jumper, is effective with the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch, and combining his speed off the dribble and shooting ability, he is a tough match-up for most defenders. Grant had a strong showing with 18 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds in a win over Notre Dame (SO).      King is a high-level shot-maker that can spray shots from anywhere on the court and has a flamethrower from beyond the arc, as he put down one of the best performances of the day in a tough opening game loss to Legacy Christian Academy. The 6-foot-2 lead guard keeps the dribble alive to survey the defense, uses the crossover, the behind the back cross, and ball screens to get going downhill, gets into the paint routinely where he has the strength to muscle through tough lay-ups or contested shots from close range, has nice touch on the floater down the lane, and has a smooth mid-range jumper with the body control to take and score through contact. King moves fluidly off the ball to get to his shot spots, is nearly automatic with the 3-ball off the catch or the dribble, uses the pump-fake to get defenders to over-purse on the close out, where King is able to attack the core of the defense. He has good court vision and makes good decisions with the ball in his hands, plays with good pace and feel, and never looks rattled on the court. King is a pesky on-ball defender that looks to turn defense to offense routinely. Really impressive outing with 38 points and connecting on 8 threes, where he had the second highest scoring output of the day.     Miller is a lengthy and wiry player that can shoot the ball well, especially from beyond the arc, and was not intimidated by the talented and high profile Sierra Canyon roster, as he would score a team-high 16 points and knocked down 3 threes in the process. The 6-foot-1 lead guard has solid handles, shifty moves to create space from his defender, gets good lift on the mid-range jumper, and is a creative finisher at the basket. Where Miller really excelled was from beyond the arc, as he would show the ability to connect on the 3-ball off the dribble, as well as the catch, with good movement off the ball to get open looks. Intriguing young guard that is a name to track.

This past Saturday, I attended The Renaissance Showcase at Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, which featured a 7-game schedule starting at 10:30 a.m. and going until 7:30 p.m., the start of the final game. The showcase featured some of the nation's top players, as well as some known names on the West and some up-and-comers that are making statements early in their high school careers. This article looks at 7 standout lead guards from Saturday's event, which will be followed by a Part 2 article for standout lead guards, as well as guards/wings and wing/forwards. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not in ranked order. We begin this article with Georgia Tech commit and current Eagle, Kaiden Bailey Kaiden Bailey 6'3" | PG Santa Margarita | 2026 State #86 Nation CA-S .