Adidas 3SSB Session 1: 2027 Standout Guards (Part2)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Orange County, CA - This past weekend, April 24th - 26th, I attended Session 1 of the Adidas 3SSB Circuit hosted at Open Gym Premier Ladera. The event started on Friday morning and wrapped up Sunday afternoon, featuring 3 days of high-level basketball with teams and players from all parts of the country taking the court for some much anticipated match-ups. This article takes a look at 8 standout guards from the Class of 2027. This is Part 2 of a 2-part series on 2027 guards. I will also be looking at standout wings, forwards, and centers from the classes of 2027 - 2029. In this article you will find the following information: players name, height, position, school, club team,  how they performed, and their skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with one of the top prospects in attendance, [player_tooltip player_id='2212733' first='Siincere' last='Hudson'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2212733' first='Siincere' last='Hudson'] (6'2 | PG) - Modesto Christian/Lakeshow 17s&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hudson has been one of the top lead guards I have seen in person so far this club season, and he continued that high-level of lead guard play at Session 1 of the 3SSB Circuit, averaging 18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals per game and closing out the weekend with his best game of 28 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals. The 6-foot-2 point guard has a physical and athletic build, elite ball-skills with a tight handle he keeps on a string to survey the floor, great use of the crossover, hesitation, behind-cross, spin-move, and toss-cross moves to get his defender off balance, the strength to drive and score at the basket through heavy contact, the Euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups to evade shot-blockers, and has great body control on the pull-up mid-range jumper, that he can connect on with the traditional pull-up or spin-fade middy to keep his defender guessing. Hudson has great court vision, makes timely reads to teammates off the drive and kick pass or in-stride finds to divers out of the pick and roll action. Elite on-ball defender with quick hands, lateral quickness to stay in front of his opponent, and the power to rip the ball and turn defense to offense.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Brandon Hunter (6'3 | PG) - Silver Creek/Indiana Elite 17s&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hunter was one of the top true point guards at Session 1, as was evident with his average of 7.5 assists per game and a pair of games with 9 dimes each to highlight his decision making and control of the flow of the game with the ball in his hands. The 6-foot-3 point guard has great court vision, makes timely reads to teammates in stride, out of the pick and roll action, moving off the ball, or up the court off the glass to push the tempo. Hunter uses the crossover and hesitation to get his defender on his heels, has the physical build to get downhill, and is able to score through contact down the lane, with the footwork to use the reverse pivot to spin off of his defender to score on the reverse lay-up. Effective with the 3-ball off the catch and looks to get the ball to the hot hand.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tre Keith (6'2 | PG) - Tri Cities/AE5 17s</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Keith came in as one of the more recognized scoring lead guards for the 17u division on the 3SSB Circuit and he lived up to that averaging 23 points per game and wrapping up the weekend with a monster 35 point game, connecting on 6 threes. The 6-foot-2 lead guard has dynamic handles, shifty moves to keep his defender guessing and off balance, uses the crossover, spin-move, hesitation, wrap-behind, and between-cross to create space from his defender, probes the defense with a quick burst to explode off the bounce to slice through openings, changes pace and direction with the body control to absorb contact when attacking the paint, and can score at the basket with the Euro-step and reverse lay-ups, or bully his way to score at the cup. Keith is accurate with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble, cuts off the ball to get open looks for the 3-pointer off the catch, has elite court vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, up the court to players ahead of the defense, and cross-court zip passes on a line.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Johnny Lackaff (6'4 | PG) - Sarasota/Austin Rivers SE Elite 17s&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lackaff is a knock down perimeter shooter that creates for himself, makes plays for others, and controls the flow of the game with the ball in his hands. The 6-foot-4 point guard has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive with his head on a swivel to find openings in the defense, uses the crossover, between-cross, wrap-behind cross, and hesitation to get his defender back-peddling, gets great lift with accuracy on the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble with great shooting form, and uses the head-fake to get his defender off the ground to attack the basket, with the Euro-step, floater, and reverse lay-ups to evade shot-blockers in the post. Lackaff has the court vision and instincts to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, out of the pick and roll action, or up the court off the glass to get ahead of the defense. Lackaff moves fluid off the ball, gets to his shot spots, squares his shoulders up, and can score in volume on the 3-ball off the catch. He averaged 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists per game with his best game coming in his last game against Dream Vision, as he would go for 24 points and 7 rebounds, connecting on 6 threes.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mason Martin (6'5 | SG) - Neuqua Valley/Breakaway 17s</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Martin was one of the top shooters from beyond the arc at 3SSB Session 1, as he connected on 23 threes over the four games played, with a 32 point game connecting on 10 threes. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard displayed great movement off the ball, made his defender chase him through traffic, got to his shot spots, squares his shoulders up to be ready for the catch, and lights out from beyond the arc off the catch. Martin has a smooth shooting stroke, uses the pump-fake and side-step to get free from his defender, and shot 43% from the 3-point line.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2858723' first='Jaylen' last='Smith'] (6'2 | PG) - Amador Valley/Team Lillard 17s</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Smith and the core of the Lillard team that won the 16u 3SSB Championships last year, had a rough start to this year's Adidas Circuit facing some elite competition right out the gate. Despite a 1-3 start to the season, Smith was among a few players that stood out and played well, averaging 12 points per game for the weekend. The 6-foot-2 lead guard keeps the ball on a string to survey the defense, uses the crossover, between-cross, spin-move, and hesitation moves to create space from his defender, gets good lift on the jumper, with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble, as well as the physical build to score through contact on shots around the basket, or use the reverse or up-and-under lay-ups to score over height. Smith has active hands on defense, good lateral quickness to stay in front of his defender, and timing to jump passing lanes to get out in the open court. Smith moves well off the ball once he gets it out of his hands, finds the open spots in the defense, and is effective with the 3-ball off the catch.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2125748' first='Joshua' last='Tyson'] (6'2 | PG) - Lakota West/Phenom United 17s </strong>(featured picture) </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tyson is an athletic and skilled player that impacts the game in various ways, with the ability to score from 3-levels, draws a lot of attention to find open teammates, and applies pressure on the defensive side of the ball to generate turnovers. The 6-foot-2 lead guard has elite handles, keeps the dribble alive to find openings to expose the defense, uses the crossover, behind-cross, hesitation, and spin-move to get by his initial defender, has a nice burst off the bounce to get into the paint, is a creative finisher at the basket with the up-and-under or reverse lay-ups in his bag, and great body control to connect on the spin-fade-away middy off the dribble in traffic. Tyson has good off ball movement, uses his on-court speed and length to get open on the perimeter, and can space the floor with the 3-ball off the catch to open up driving lanes. Tyson has good court vision, makes good decisions with the ball in his hands, and finds open teammates off the drive and kick pass, as well as up the court off the glass. He has active hands, a lengthy wingspan, and the agility to stay in his defender's pocket, cause disruptions, deflects, and steals that lead to easy points in transition. Tyson averaged almost 16 points per game and had his best game against Upward Stars on Saturday evening, going for 23 points, which I was able to watch live.   </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kamari Whyte (6'4 | PG) - Vermont Academy/New Heights 17s&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Whyte displayed true lead guard play on both sides of the ball in his team's win over last year's 17u champs, Game Elite, as he had 11 points, 7 assists, and 2 steals, and averaged 16.5 points, 5 assists, and 3+ steals per game for the weekend. The 6-foot-4 lead guard has a strong handle on the ball, surveys the floor to see what the defense is giving, had great court vision and the physical tools to attack his defender, absorb contact down the lane, and make tough reads off the drive and kick pass, as well as to his bigs out of the pick and roll action. Whyte is a good positional rebounder, looks to push the pace with control and speed, makes nice reads up the court to open teammates, has the lateral quickness and quick hands to poke or rip the ball from his opponent, as well as the timing and length to jump passing lanes and deflect entry passes leading to steals. Whyte uses the crossover, hesitation, and spin-moves to get his defender off balance, welcomes contact on the drive, and has the strength to score through contact at the rim. He showed off the bounce on a power dunk put-back to start the game against Game Elite.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->