Big Shots' Best: Dynamic Guards

New readers: Use code Proia30     Our scouts traveled to Henrico, VA to attend a great event hosted by Big Shots and Paul Biancardi as a warm-up event, with competition across all three high school age groups (17u-15u) in addition to some good middle school bump. Our team covered a ton of ground watching local grassroots teams duke it out in front of national scouts and college coaches (non-D1) from across the country. Dynamic guards that can either score at a high level or create for others to create high-percentage looks are crucial in today's game. Let's zoom in some of the best backcourt prospects that I saw this weekend!      21p 2r 2a 1s 1b (9/12 FG) vs DC Assault   -The SKG Elite guard really put on a show with a balanced scoring effort that impacted the game from start to finish. The explosive guard started things off with a 2-handed dunk off the spin move in transition, hit floaters off two feet in the key, drove the ball C2C before landing on two and scoring off the reverse pivot, hit a crossover sidestep 3 from the left wing (his third of the day), ripped through from the wing in a straight line drive to the rim where he finished with a poster dunk, hit the roller with a shovel pass after drawing help in the paint, and finished things off with a double crossover into the downhill extension lay just past the outstretched hand of the defender. Fleming is the very definition of a Georgia athlete as he showed off blazing speed in the open court, a very quick second jump to block a shot under the basket, and was willing to throw his weight around on box-outs in the paint. The blend of aggression, lateral quickness, and + positional size allowed him to guard multiple spots throughout the contest to give his team much-needed lineup versatility. Underrated prospect to track in 2027.         -One of the most entertaining prospects I saw this weekend as Davidson flashed a Jason Williams-esque game as a creator for Bryce Radford Elite. He shields the ball with a low tempo dribble to set up crisp crossovers to get past his man, consistently breaking down the defense without over-dribbling to create high percentage looks in the halfcourt. Davidson knocked down a C+3 from the wing, scored an inside hand layup through the contact in transition, and threw 4 assists in a 3-minute stretch. The variance in his assists showed the range of his skillset as a play-maker with a baseline drive kick to opposite wing shooter, wrap around to the big, and delivering back shoulder fade-type passes to teammates in transition to set them up for easy finishes at the other end. A point guard that is that difficult to turn over and speed up with the usage that he plays with in that offense... special prospect.     15p 7r 4a 1s vs DC Assault   -The physicality from the gridiron really showed throughout the game as the two sport star left his imprint on each possession. Brown showed the IQ to move off the ball to execute backdoor cuts for easy buckets in the halfcourt, scored through contact several times in transition, got into gaps and landed on two to create at a high level for his team, and did a great job of sliding his feet to fight over ball screens to force his opponent sideline. Loved the blue collar approach that Brown took to the game as no task or defensive matchup was too small for him to take head-on as a leader for his group.     22p 2r 1a 1s (4/8 3P) vs VA Havoc   -Velez continues to impress as a scoring guard that can really fill it up from all 3 levels. Velez probably could've gotten to 30 points on the night if the game wasn't blown dead (mercy rule) with a few minutes left, showing an ability to knock down shots both off the dribble or off the ball as a movement shooter that gets into his jumper quickly off the catch. Velez threw a well-placed assist over the top to a rolling big for the AND1 bucket, took a defensive rebound C2C to score off a euro step at the rim, threw down some vicious 1-handed dunks in transition, and is playing with confidence as one of the leaders for a very deep DC Assault rotation.     6p 5a 5r 1b 2s vs MLE, 9p 1r 3a 4s vs VA Havoc   -Mason performed as one of the best defenders that I saw this weekend, serving as a pitbull POA defender or thriving as a free safety in DCA's fullcourt pressure schemes to jump passing lanes and quickly turn those turnovers into points at the rim. I saw more flashes of guard skill in the games this week as Mason took defensive rebounds up the floor quickly and made good decisions in advantage breaks for his team. Mason closed out well to block 3 point attempts without fouling, doubled down on bigs to contest shots, and stayed disciplined on pump fakes on-ball to force some tough shots in the halfcourt. Loved seeing the stat sheet-stuffing performances as his all-around impact stood out despite fouling out of the 2nd game early in the 1H for hanging on the rim.     7p 2a 3r 1s 1b vs TME   -First time seeing Butler play and thought that he made the most of his minutes as dynamic downhill slashing guard. It's always nice to see prospects playing the right way as Butler moved the ball to open shooters and hit the post to relocate to space with ease throughout the game. Butler scored off a backdoor cut, drove middle and evaded the shot-blocker to hit a hanging double clutch layup off the window, then hit a huge 3 from the wing to tie the game and blocked a shot at the rim late to preserve that lead. His activity defensively stood out as a guard that covered for his teammates well in stunts and closeouts to give his team a chance to win the game late against a very good TME group.

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