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

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 1 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, Nasir “Rudy” Anderson.   Nasir Anderson (6'4 | PG) - Prolific Prep/[program_tooltip program_id='2433307' first='Atlanta' last='Celtics'] 17s   Anderson controls the pace of play, does not allow his defender to force him into bad decisions, makes pin point passes in transition or the half court setting, is a 3-level scorer, and when clicking on all cylinders, he is pure entertainment to watch on both ends of the court scoring, making plays, and locking up on the perimeter. The 6-foot-4 guard is considered by most to be the top point guard in the country and he had his full skill set on display to back that up at Adidas 3SSB Session 1. Anderson keeps the ball on a string, has the court vision and decision making to find holes in the defense, he uses various moves to get his defender off balance to create space, with the hesitation, behind-cross, toss-cross, in-and-out to change direction, between-cross, low crossover, and spin-move to get to his shot spots, is accurate with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line, with the step-back, traditional pull-up, and fade-away shot variations, with amazing body control to absorb and score through contact. Anderson makes great reads in tight windows, uses his physical build combined with the skill set to keep constant pressure on his defender, finds open teammates with the cross-court zip pass, the pass off the drive and kick, and to teammates up the court ahead of the defense, as he is a high-level positional rebounder, which allows him to grab and go to get out in transition. Anderson can score in multiple ways around the basket, with the Euro-step, the up-and-under or reverse lay-ups to evade shot blockers, is an elite perimeter defender when he is locked in on the ball, with quick hands, good instincts, and the strength to poke the ball out, jump passing lanes, or rip it from his opponent, turning defense to offense. Anderson makes the game look easy and his impact on the game overall was displayed in his near triple-double averages for the weekend of 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists.     Ja'Rye Brown (6'2 | CG) - W.E.B. Dubois Academy/Wildcats Select 17s   Brown displayed 3-level scoring, pace and feel for the game with the ball in his hands, and solid perimeter defense in the Wildcats win over the [program_tooltip program_id='2433307' first='Atlanta' last='Celtics'] on Day 2 of Session 1. The 6-foot-2 lead guard has solid handles to control the pace of play, keeps the dribble alive to get to his spots, uses the crossover, behind-cross, hesitation, and between-cross to create space from his defender, has a great burst off the bounce to get paint touches, is a crafty scorer around height at the basket, with the reverse and up-and-under lay-ups in his bag, and can fill it up with the jumper, from the mid-range to the 3-point line, getting great lift on the stop-and-pop middy, as well as the 3-ball off the bounce with the step-back in his arsenal. Brown moves well off the ball, fights off screens to get open looks, and is efficient with the 3-ball off the catch, using the pump-fake when his defender over-pursues on closeouts, opening up lanes for him to attack. Brown put up impressive numbers all weekend, with averages of 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists over the four games played.   [player_tooltip player_id='2435386' first='Hunter' last='Caplan'] (6'3 | CG) - Crean Lutheran/CA Gold 17s   Caplan has been established as one of the premier perimeter shooters on the West Coast, which he had on display on Day 2 and 3 of Session 1. The 6-foot-3 combo guard moves fluid off the ball, runs off screens, and keeps his defender chasing him around the court, gets to his shot spots, squares up his shoulders, and is lights out from beyond the arc off the catch, which allows him to use the pump-fake or side-step to clear space on closeouts and opens up driving lanes for him to attack. Caplan has solid handles, keeps his head on a swivel to survey the floor, uses the hesitation, crossover, behind-cross, and the toss-cross to get his defender off balance, finds holes in the defense to attack, and showed improved decisions and play-making to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, or out of the pick and roll action. Caplan also uses his moves to get open looks, scores in volume with accuracy on the 3-ball off the dribble, and is creative on shots around the basket, with the Euro-step, floater, and reverse lay-up to score around height in the paint.    Jalen Davis (6'4 | PG) - Bremerton/Slow Grind Elite 17s   Davis was one of the top scorers on the 3SSB Circuit last year, and he started Session 1 putting up impressive numbers over the 3-day event, averaging 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals with a personal best of 37 points to open up the weekend. The 6-foot-4 lead guard has tight handles, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, has a good burst off the bounce to attack the defense, uses the crossover, behind-cross, spin-move, hesitation, and toss-cross to get by his defender, gets paint touches routinely, where he can either score with the Euro-step, reverse lay-up, and floater over height, or make plays with the court vision and decision making to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass or to teammates cutting off the ball to open spots. Davis has a smooth jumper, is accurate on the mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble, moves well off the ball to get open looks, can light it up from the perimeter off the catch, and has the body control to score through contact in the air. Davis is a great positional rebounder, pushes the pace of play in the open court, has active hands to poke the ball out or jump passing lanes to generate steals.    Colton Fowler (5'10 | PG) - James F. Byrnes/Upward Stars 17s   Fowler was in his bag on Day 2 during the evening session, in a big win against Phenom United, as he would put up a monster stat-line of 21 points and 9 assists, averaging 16 points and 5 assists per game for the weekend. Fowler has dynamic handles, keeps the ball on a string to weave through the defense, shifty moves to shake his defender, with the hesitation, crossover, between-cross, and toss-cross to get his defender off balance, is a crafty scorer around the basket, moves fluidly off the ball to get to his shot spots, and can spray it from beyond the arc off the dribble or the catch. Fowler has a great feel for the game, plays with good pace and control, and has the court vision to find players in tight windows out of the pick and roll action, off the drive and kick pass, or cross-court to open shooters on the weak-side of the court.   Ashton Graves (6'5 | PG) - Hudson Catholic Regional/New World 17s (featured picture)   Graves had a monster showing against the [program_tooltip program_id='2433307' first='Atlanta' last='Celtics'] on Day 2 of Session 1, as he displayed 3-level scoring, high-level play making, and tough perimeter defense leading to steals and transition baskets, finishing with 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. The 6-foot-5 lead guard has dynamic handles, controls the pace of play with the ball in his hands, uses the low crossover, between-cross, behind-cross, the spin-move, and the hesitation to get his defender on his heels, has great acceleration off the bounce, picks good angles to connect on shots off the glass, as well as efficient with the jumper off the dribble from the mid-range to the 3-point line, with the body control to hit the spin-fade middy through contact. Graves has the court vision and play making to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, has good timing to jump passing lanes or deflect passes, and turns defense to offense for transition buckets. Graves averaged 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists per game and plays with great energy and effort.    Jaylen Gunther (6'2 | CG) - Youngstown/Wildcats Select 17s   Gunther was one of the top perimeter shooters in the 17u Division in Session 1, and he played an all-around quality game at the guard position against the [program_tooltip program_id='2433307' first='Atlanta' last='Celtics'] on Day 2 to help his team get its only win of the weekend. The 6-foot-2 shooting guard can score in volume from beyond the arc, moves fluidly off the ball, running off ball screens, and getting to his shot spots, is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch, uses the shot-fake to get his defender off balance, attacks the driving lanes his shooting efficiency opens up, and has the court vision to find players off the drive and kick pass, as well as finding open players in the paint when attacking off the baseline for easy finishes at the basket, and has good speed off the dribble to get into the paint with crafty shots to score around height at the paint. Gunther has active hands on defense, deflects or pokes the ball out, and looks to push the ball in transition off the steal. Gunther averaged 17 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2.5 steals per game, and shot nearly 45% from the 3-point line.      Malachi Hill (6' | CG) - Totino Grace/D1 Minnesota 17s    Hill is a skilled and shifty player that can score from the perimeter, with the moves to get to the basket, and is a solid on-ball defender. The 6-foot combo guard had his best overall game in the win over Slow Grind Elite, as he would go for 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals to showcase his solid two-way play. Hill has solid handles, shifty moves to shake his defender with the use of the crossover, hesitation, spin-move, and behind-cross to create space, gets off the bounce quickly to attack the basket, and is a crafty scorer through contact around the basket. Hill moves well off the ball, gets to his shot spots, is effective with the 3-ball off the catch, and displays good body control on the mid-range jumper, with use of the spin-fade middy to separate from his defender. Active hands on defense, instincts to deflect passes or jump passing lanes, turning defense to offense.

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 1 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, Nasir “Rudy” Anderson.