Colby G's Weekend Notebook: Best Available 2026 Guards

Over the weekend I was able to spend some time at three separate events, getting eyes on dozens of prospects from over a handful of states. As the dust settles from the busy three days, it's time to start highlighting some of the names that stood out and there's no better place than shining some light on available seniors. For this particular article, we'll begin with the guards.    Jackson was impressive Friday evening despite Coolidge coming up short against a tough Archbishop John Carroll (PA) team. The 5-foot-10 lead guard is dynamic both a scorer and playmaker. When he's on an island, he can create space with step backs or an array of crossovers to get his defender on their heels before letting it fly from three. When he looks to attack, his quick twitch ability makes it easy to gain advantages on his matchup and establish paint touches to help create shots for others. In this particular game, Jackson was more aggressive as a scorer with his team trailing and did a nice job drawing contact on drives where he went 9-of-12 from the free-throw line. He led Coolidge with 29 points including four threes. Jackson received two offers from Virginia Union (DII) and Washington Adventist (NAIA) respectively. He should be on radars of programs at those levels moving forward.     Ralls stole the show for Carroll in their 75-62 win over Coolidge on Friday and it was all due to his lethal long-range shooting. The 6-foot-1 guard seemed to always make the react as soon as his defender turned their head to help defensively and when his teammates found Ralls standing on the perimeter, he got his shot up quick to avoid any clean contest. He was super efficient with his shot selection as indicated by his 29 points on just 14 attempts from the field. He knocked down 6-of-9 from three and also accounted for a couple of steals as a result of active hands in the passing lanes.     The Carroll backcourt was led by both Ralls and Williams, two seniors with plenty of experience playing in big games and intense environments. Williams got started quickly teeing off from three to set the precedent for the rest of the game as he demanded hard closeouts and did a nice job of attacking them, playing off two feet in the paint and finding guys on the perimeter or along the baseline. Williams' vision was apparent in transition where he delivered advance passes to streaking teammates in stride for easy looks at the rim. Despite his lack of size, Williams doesn't hesitate to crash the glass and get in the mix. As a result, his stat line was packed to the tune of 11 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, and three steals.     Shoultz was one of the true stock-rising 2026 prospects for me throughout the weekend due to his long list of translatable skills now that he's finding his niche within this DeMatha team. A transfer out of Ohio, Shoultz was finding his way this summer with the Stags during the June scholastic live period and while he had flashes, the consistency wasn't there. Fast forward to now and he looks much more comfortable within the offense and where he'll get his shots. His athleticism was on full display in the open floor where he threw down a few eye-popping dunks that caught the crowds attention. His defensive makeup is something that should have Division I programs' attention with the blend of length, twitch and versatility in the backcourt positions. DeMatha absolutely dominated in their Friday night game against Fayetteville Academy (NC) 90-65 and then had a tough matchup the following afternoon against Santa Margarita (CA) where they let go of the rope in the final frame. Shoultz reached double-figures in both contests.     During my stop at EPL, I caught Swinson and his game was very aesthetically pleasing to watch. He's a 6-foot-2 southpaw combo guard who plays with mature pace that you can tell will translate to the DI level. Massanutten pulled out a big win over Western Reserve on Sunday afternoon and Swinson was part of the 1-2 punch that made it possible. He scored 18 points (7/14 FG) and dished out five assists in just 19 minutes of action. He gets to his spots off the bounce with tremendous balance and there's a beauty in the fluidity that he get into his shot that makes it look effortless. He showed good ability off the ball as a mover and good command when he was initiating offense as the pace slowed down.     Perry had a nice showing on Friday in their loss to Carroll as a floor-spacing off-ball presence that the defense couldn't forget about. As much of the attention was turned toward Jackson, Perry forced his defender to stay somewhat glued to him after making a couple early shots from the corners. He'd go on to score 13 points, 12 of which came from three. Perry seems like a name that could potentially emerge as a DIII prospect in some sense.     There isn't ever going to be a game where Meeks doesn't look to make his mark with his ability to get buckets in bunches, but it was good to see in their lopsided win over Fayetteville Academy on Friday his adjustment to spread the wealth. He'd score a team-high 19 points, but really used the second half to frequent the paint and reward his bigs with dump-offs or quick swings to the strong side corner for spot-ups to shooters. He ended the game with six assists as his night ended a bit early playing just 23 minutes with the game being firmly secured after the first quarter thanks to DeMatha's energy.     Badea caught my eye with his smooth, compact shooting stroke from three. Playing for AOA in the EPL, Badea has a nice frame that should allow for a smoother transition to the college level than a lot of those that he competes against. He only needs a split-second to get his shot off and is capable of rattling off consecutive triples to change the course of games. Scholarship level programs that are in need of a shooter with toughness could benefit from looking into Badea sooner rather than later.     Chinnia has added to his frame and his game since graduating from John Carroll and embarking on his post-grad prep year at AIA. It has resulted in increased physicality that is initiated by himself on drives and presents opportunities for stop-and-pops in the mid-range or bullying his way to the rim maintaining balance through the contact. He plays a balance on on ball and off ball for AIA, but in his senior season, his number was called on more often to orchestrate things as the point guard. Chinnia led AIA in their win over Perkiomen Sunday with 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.     Obieke was the catalyst for AOA despite a tough loss to a well-oiled machine in Highland School. The 5-foot-11 point guard can break his man down in 1-on-1's and maneuver his way to the rim for quick scoop layups before the rotating big can slide over for the block. He also showcased soft, controlled touch on his floaters and ability to shoot the long ball as he knocked down two three's en route to his team-high 18 points on an efficient 6-of-9 from the field. Obieke dished out five dimes and hauled n three boards in the effort as well.

Over the weekend I was able to spend some time at three separate events, getting eyes on dozens of prospects from over a handful of states. As the dust settles from the busy three days, it's time to start highlighting some of the names that stood out and there's no better place than shining some light on available seniors. For this particular article, we'll begin with the guards.