New England Basketball League Awards Part 2

The New England Basketball League has concluded its 2025-2026 season, and the Newman School came out as champs. If you missed it, I covered the finals this past weekend, which you can read <a href="https://prephoops.com/2026/02/nebl-finals-weekend-standouts/">here</a>.   I've also decided to do some NEBL awards. I'll have 12 awards total—offensive skills, defensive skills, and intangibles—over the next two days. To be clear, I didn't ask any coaches or scouts what they think. These are all my thoughts and my thoughts only. My DM's are always open for things I missed.   The first part of my awards can be read <a href="https://prephoops.com/2026/02/new-england-basketball-league-awards/">here</a>. The second and last part is below.   Most Underrated: [player_tooltip player_id='2759593' first='David' last='Gaymon']   Others in consideration: [player_tooltip player_id='1560936' first='James' last='Sanderson'], [player_tooltip player_id='2696669' first='Brady' last='O'Connell']   Despite being a starter for Putnam Science and consistently doing it all on both ends, Gaymon doesn't seem to get the credit he deserves. The 6-foot-3 wing is a jack of all trades and can do anything you ask of him—he can create some offense off the dribble, he can make shots from the mid range and three, he can finish at the rim, and he can play without the ball as a cutter and spacer. Defensively, he uses his strength and length to guard both guards and wings, and he's even tough and intelligent enough to switch onto bigs when he needs to. He won't necessarily wow you with any one skill he has, but he does a little bit of everything on both ends, which is incredibly valuable in a role player. He should be getting D1 looks, and he is.   I've long talked about how underrated O'Connell is, but he just picked up a D2 offer, so perhaps schools will start coming around. Sanderson runs the show for New Hampton and always impresses me with his quickness and IQ, though his size is probably limiting his exposure and recruitment.   Best Point-of-Attack Defender: [player_tooltip player_id='1438849' first='Jah' last='Hatchett']   Others in consideration: [player_tooltip player_id='2341317' first='Jaylen' last='Hunter-Coleman'], [player_tooltip player_id='2696669' first='Brady' last='O'Connell']   Hatchett is a remarkable point-of-attack defender who changes the game any time he's inserted into it. Though he's only 5-foot-11, the senior guard gets up in ball handler's business and turns them at will, often plucking the ball away for steals or beating them to the spot and making them pick up their dribble. He may struggle at times at the rim and in the paint because of his lack of size, but in terms of picking up players on the perimeter and making life difficult for them, I don't think there was a more effective player in the NEBL this season doing so. His lateral quickness—combined with his active hands and toughness—are quite special, and he should be able to translate those skills to Fairfield next year.   Hunter-Coleman has been injured for a bit, but he slides his feet unbelievably well and probably would've been the winner of this award had he played more games towards the end of the year. And despite O'Connell's physical profile, he takes an immense amount of pride on that end and is ridiculously effective as point-of-attack guy.   Most Switchable Defender: [player_tooltip player_id='2553499' first='Adama' last='Tambedou']   Others in consideration: [player_tooltip player_id='2915911' first='Jalen' last='Taggart'], [player_tooltip player_id='1532411' first='Timmy' last='Bollin'], [player_tooltip player_id='1440697' first='Atticus' last='Richmond'], [player_tooltip player_id='2470887' first='Elliot' last='Erickson']   This award was a pretty easy one to pick. Though there are a number of guys who can guard all five positions in the NEBL, nobody does so nearly as effectively as Tambedou. The 6-foot-7 big man is as good of a perimeter defender as you'll see for his size; he slides his feet incredibly well and has long arms and active hands. He's also ridiculously strong and sturdy in the paint, even against far larger players who try to bully his with their size. He's aggressive in the passing lanes, he's smart and instinctive on the help side, and he's smart in terms of understanding tendencies and skill sets. Tambedou is one of the most versatile defenders I've seen at the high school level, and I think that'll translate quite well in his first year at Maryland.   Taggart also has excellent switch-ability and is SO much stronger than he looks. Bollin is one of the toughest defenders in the NEBL, Richmond is underrated in terms of his strength and quickness, and Erickson has guarded SO many different guys this season.   Most College Ready: [player_tooltip player_id='2638999' first='Lucas' last='Morillo']   Others in consideration: [player_tooltip player_id='1440697' first='Atticus' last='Richmond'], [player_tooltip player_id='2553689' first='Louis' last='O'Keefe'], Caspian Jones   This was a fun award to think about, but I came away pretty convinced that Morillo's skill set is awfully translatable to the college level. He has great size, strength, and toughness, so he'll be able to defend and rebound at the next level even though he's not a great vertical athlete. Offensively, he already processes the game at such a high level and will be able to pick apart defenses in college the same way he does for Newman; he does such a good job using his size to see over the defense and make on time, on target skip passes. His shooting improvements in the past year also make me confident he'll keep improving there and will be able to round out his offensive game in that way.   Richmond looks like a college player right now physically and can shoot it beautifully from three—he'll walk into minutes at Columbia. O'Keefe has the size, athleticism, IQ and skill set to play right now, and he'll be excellent at Princeton. And same with Jones, who somehow doesn't have a college home right now but should walk into minutes wherever he lands.   Little Thing King: [player_tooltip player_id='1532411' first='Timmy' last='Bollin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2553689' first='Louis' last='O'Keefe']   Others in consideration: [player_tooltip player_id='2696669' first='Brady' last='O'Connell'], [player_tooltip player_id='2470946' first='LaDanion' last='Payne'], TJ Allen   I simply had to reward both [player_tooltip player_id='1532411' first='Timmy' last='Bollin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2553689' first='Louis' last='O'Keefe'] with this award, because you can ALWAYS count on both guys to play as hard as they possibly can and do whatever it takes to win for the entirety of the game. They'll both crash hard for offensive rebounds but also be the first back in transition, and they both run the floor on the offensive end like madmen. They also use their physicality, quickness and IQ to hunt down loose balls and somehow find a way to always be around the rock. I love watching these guys play, and they're both integral parts of Newman's success.   Best Long-Term Prospect: [player_tooltip player_id='1532640' first='Quinn' last='Costello']   Others in consideration: [player_tooltip player_id='2638999' first='Lucas' last='Morillo'], Cristopher Birden   Costello is committed to Michigan next season, but I think of him more like a JP Estrella type of guy (and perhaps he'll prove me wrong); I think he needs another year to gain some more strength to compete on the boards and in the paint at such a high level. But the combination of shooting touch, size, and athleticism is hard to come by, and if he just gets a little bit better at driving closeouts and operating with the ball in his hands as both a scorer and facilitator, he could be unbelievably special. He has made some improvements as of late there, and I think more will come—it just might take some time.   [player_tooltip player_id='2638999' first='Lucas' last='Morillo'] is going to be excellent next year, and though he seems like more of a finished product than Costello, he still has improvements to be made in the shooting category, both on the move and off the dribble. And Birden is really interesting here. The 6-foot-10 wing is relatively raw but has outside shooting touch, great athleticism, and a pretty good handle and wiggle to his game. His ceiling is unbelievable if he can put it all together.

The New England Basketball League has concluded its 2025-2026 season, and the Newman School came out as champs. If you missed it, I covered the finals this past weekend, which you can read here.