Capital City National Showcase: Friday's 2026 Standouts

The Capital City National Showcase tipped off last night at Coolidge High School (DC) in a three-game slate featuring programs from DC, Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Saturday's schedule for the event is LOADED and our team will be on site yet again to take in the action. As for Friday and for this article, we'll spotlight the 2026 prospects who stood out amongst the rest.   Results:   Springdale (MD) over Phoenix Montessori (NC) 88-50.   Archbishop John Carroll (PA) over Coolidge (DC) 75-62.   DeMatha (MD) over Fayetteville Academy (NC) 90-65.    Dominant performance around the rim at both ends for the Siena pledge. Thet finished this game with over a handful of dunks, two of which were one-handed posters on back-to-back possessions. He runs the floor with a purpose and is always either looking for a lob on the offensive end or looking to make a statement block chasing down the opposition. Thet took home game MVP honors thanks to a double-double of 22 points on 11-of-16 from the field, 11 rebounds and five blocks in just 22 minutes of action.     Ralls had himself a night and Archbishop Carroll needed every bit of it early on to stay within striking distance of the hosting Coolidge team. Standing around 6-foot-1, Ralls' range extends well beyond the high school three-point line. He started the game with two triples and spent the rest of the first half making defenders pay for wild closeouts by attacking and getting to the rim for scores or fouls. In the second half, Ralls found openings while hovering around the perimeter, especially once Coolidge flashed some zone defense. He'd go on to put up 29 points on a super clean 6-of-9 from three in 28 minutes of play.     Alongside Ralls in the backcourt was Williams, a steady combo guard who spent most of this game providing further floor-spacing with his outside shooting ability. Williams is a small, but sturdy senior guard who brings good feel when he's asked to initiate the offense in the half court, but the fluidity and compact mechanics on his jumper whether it came off the bounce or off the dribble is what caught my eye. When he wasn't knocking down shots from outside, Williams was getting paint touches looking to spray it out to Ralls as he got going in the last two frames. He'd go on to finish with a packed stat line of 11 points, 10 assists and six rebounds in the win     Jackson Jr. was a fun watch despite Coolidge coming up short against a good Archbishop John Carroll (PA) group. It was the type of performance that will certainly boost his ranking in the next update as he's one that has always slept a bit under the radar due to his size. What he lacks in height, Jackson Jr. makes up for with advanced twitch, an endless bag of counters off the bounce, and supreme confidence in gaining separation for his own looks. He isn't a tunnel vision driver, but for this Coolidge group Jackson will need to be aggressive as a scorer to keep them in contention with elite competition. He showed he's well equipped and in my opinion, should be on the radars of DII and JuCo programs of all levels. He's the type of guard who would thrive in the right JuCo situation. Jackson finished with 29 points, three rebounds, and three steals.     DeMatha delivered a knockout punch from the jump in their dominant showing against Fayetteville where they'd go on to win by a final score of 90-65 in a game that was never close. As usual, Meeks steered the ship from the perimeter as a scorer, but this Stags group overall seems to be coming together quickly and playing with great cohesion. The lead guard keeps pressure on this defender at all times with his deep range, quick first step to get into the lane, and creativity as a bucket-getter around the rim. He did a nice job of taking his foot off the gas pedal as a scorer as the game progressed to set up others and display his playmaking as indicated by his 19 points and six assists in 23 minutes of action.     Shoultz's name was certainly trending around the gym as DeMatha put the paws on Fayetteville. The 6-foot-4 guard set an early tone that lasted throughout the evening with high-flying finishes that added salt to the womb for the opposition. He's a legitimate two-way presence who is dialed in defensively as a communicator and did an nice job of maintaining correct positioning as an off-ball defender. Shoultz brought great energy and it showed in how he sprinted the lanes where he was used as a lob threat in transition. One of the plays of the evening happened when he had the ball at the three point line on a fast break where he took one dribble, spun past a reaching defender and immediately exploded off two feet with an emphatic two-handed flush. Shoultz should be on DI radars. He finished with 11 points (5/7 FG) and three assists.     One of the bright spots for Fayetteville was the Georgetown pledge. With two coaches from the Hoyas in the stands, Caldwell would finish with a double-double effort of 21 points and 11 rebounds. His team came out with a lack of energy and while some of DeMatha's size in the frontcourt really disrupted Caldwell's operating on the block, he'd adjust and use his strong frame to command space and create angles to showcase his soft touch. While DeMatha came out the gates with their hair on fire, it was good to see the resilience in Caldwell to not go down easily.     Other than Caldwell, Al-Jurhanni was the other prospect on Fayetteville that caught my eye as a guy who had some pride in his effort. He's a well-built, lead guard with a tight handle and quickness to control the tempo, but also can knock down jumpers with intriguing fluidity. Going against a stout DeMatha backcourt, there was consistent pressure put on him throughout the game and there were a few times where he allowed it to speed him up into some bad decisions, but overall he looked like a solid college prospect who could develop into a really nice DII player. His frame will translate immediately to the collegiate level. Al-Juhanni followed Caldwell with 15 points while knocking down four of his five attempts from three.

The Capital City National Showcase tipped off last night at Coolidge High School (DC) in a three-game slate featuring programs from DC, Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Saturday's schedule for the event is LOADED and our team will be on site yet again to take in the action. As for Friday and for this article, we'll spotlight the 2026 prospects who stood out amongst the rest.