Adidas 3SSB Session 1: 2028 Standout Performers

Orange County, CA - Last 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 10 standout players from the Class of 2028 with variation on their player position. There were other standout 2028 players like [player_tooltip player_id='2484218' first='Parks' last='Weaver'], [player_tooltip player_id='2624927' first='Amare' last='Chandler'], and others that I evaluated and wrote on a few weeks ago, and can be found on this site. The sophomores in this article played in the 16u Division and the 17u Division and are players to keep an eye on the next few years. 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 Maurice Carter II.   Maurice Carter II (6' | PG) - Willow Canyon/Compton Magic 16s   Carter is a shifty, skilled, and volume scoring player that put up great numbers at Session 1, with averages of 19 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals per game. The 6-foot lead guard went ballistic in his team's final game of the weekend, as he would score 30 points in a tough loss to 99OVR. Carter has elite handles, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense to find lanes to attack, uses the crossover, between-cross, the hesitation, and toss-cross to get his defender off balance, a good burst of speed off the dribble to gain momentum, gets into his defender when attacking the basket, and has the strength to score through contact down the lane, as well as score with creativity at the basket, using the reverse and up-and-under lay-ups, and the floater with touch. Carter gets to his shots spots, hunts the mid-range jumper off the dribble with the fadeaway and stop-and-pop middy in his bag with accuracy. Carter is efficient with the 3-ball off the dribble or off the catch, with the step-back in his arsenal. Active hands on defense and good timing to jump passing lanes or deflect passes to get out in transition.    [player_tooltip player_id='2948281' first='Oumar' last='Dabo'] (6'8 | PF) - San Gabriel Academy/Dream Vision 16s    Dabo is physical and skilled, plays with relentless energy on both ends of the court, was one of the event's top rebounders overall, and put up impressive numbers at Session 1, with 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. The 6-foot-8 power forward had his best game in the opening games on Day 2, going for 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks in a loss to Team Loaded. Dabo is an elite rim protector with the wingspan, timing, and leaping ability to block and alter shots around the basket, forcing opposing players into bad shots, keeps constant pressure on the boards, with good fundamental skills to seal his opponent, gets easy buckets with touch on put-backs on the offense rebound, limits other teams to single shot possessions, outlets the ball quickly, and runs the floor well to get ahead of the defense for easy basket up the court. Dabo does a great job of getting to the dunk spot or from the restricted area, with good hands and the body control to score through contact at the basket. Love his energy and his apparent love for playing basketball.    Kingston Gould (6'2 | PG) - Burkburnett/Southern Assault 16s   Gould displayed a high basketball IQ, great skill-set to create his own or make plays for others, was relentless with the defensive pressure, and put up great numbers at Session 1, with averages of 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.5 steals, and shot over 60% from the field (including from three). The 6-foot-4 lead guard has tight handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the court, uses the crossover, hesitation, and between-cross to create space from his defender, has a good burst off the dribble to get by his initial defender, is a creative scorer around the basket, with the Euro-step, up-and-up, reverse lay-up, and floater to score over height in the paint. Gould is accurate with the mid-range jumper off the dribble, has a variety of ways to score with the middy, from the fadeaway, up-and-under jumper, and the stop-and-pop middy, with great body control and lift to score over most perimeter defenders. Gould is efficient with the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch, as he finds openings in the defense to catch and fire, sees the floor well to find open teammates in stride off the drive and kick pass, up the court in transition, and to the diver out of the pick and roll action. Active hands, instincts, and timing to jump passing lanes or poke the ball out, turning defense to offense.    [player_tooltip player_id='2965868' first='Yann' last='Kamagate'] (7' | FC) - St. Francis/Compton Magic 17s    Kamagate has a massive wingspan and length, court awareness, lives on the rim, shows signs of an emerging jumper with consistency, and put up impressive stats all weekend at Session 1, going for 11.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game. The 7-foot-1 forward/center was likely the best pure shot blocker of Session 1, with great timing, agility, length, and consistency to erase shots at the basket with power blocks, alter or deter shots around the basket with his presence in the paint, and several times showed the strides and composite to block perimeter shots without drawing fouls due to the length of his wingspan. Kamagate has active hands, deflects entry passes or jumps cross-court passes, which lead to opportunities to get out in the open court, where he has the athleticism to run the floor, get ahead of the defense, and get ready for lobs or passes up the court for some dazzling finishes. Kamagate has great hands to receive the entry pass, is effective with the mid-post or baseline jumper off the dribble, has enough handle to put the ball on the deck and attack the basket, and is a constant threat to throw it down despite heavy traffic in the lane. The upside is huge and he is already a major impact player when on the court.    Cole Kelly (6'7 | WF) - Neuqua Valley/Breakaway 17s    Kelly had an outstanding showing at Session 1 playing up an age group in the 17u Division, displaying his ability to create shots and score from 3-levels, as well as make plays for others, and had a stellar stat-line of 19 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and almost 4 threes a game. The 6-foot-7 wing/forward has great handles, keeps the dribble alive to explore his options, has the height and court vision to make precise passes from the top of the key to players cutting off the ball, up the court in stride off the glass, and to players cutting down the lane or popping out to the wing from the low-post position, as his playing making was on full display in the game I watched him live, finishing with 9 assists in the win over Garner Road. Kelly's scoring arsenal is elite with the moves to create opportunities from various spots on the floor, using the crossover, between-cross, the hesitation, and the spin-move to create separation from his defender, can light it up with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble, with the pure pull-up jumper, the step-back 3-ball, and what seemed to be his go to move, the spin-fade middy in the paint or from the baseline. With Kelly's shooting ability and handle, the pump-fake and hesitation allow him to pull his defender out to far and attack lanes that open up to get to the basket, where he is able to score with creativity using the Euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups to evade shot blockers. Big time game from the sophomore.    Parker McDaniel (6'4 | CG) - South Central Prep/Southern Assault 16s    McDaniel has the shot making that grabs your attention when he's on the court, and the sharp shooter left his mark on Session 1, averaging over 17 points a game and shooting over 50% from the field, including the 3-ball. The 6-foot-4 combo guard moves fluidly off the ball through screens, gets to his shot spots, squares his body up, and is efficient with the 3-ball off the catch. McDaniel has solid handles, the moves to create space from his defender, using the crossover, hesitation, and between-cross to get by his initial defender, gets good lift on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, and seemed to be at his best when hunting the middy, from the baseline, the wing, and off the catch, with good body control through contact in the air. McDaniel has good court vision and decision making, finds open teammates off the drive and kick pass, as well as up the court to open players ahead of the defense. He and Gould make a high powered scoring backcourt that averaged close to 40 points a game over the weekend.    Josiah Rose (6'4 | CG) - Faith Family Academy/99OVR 16s   Rose put the 3SSB Circuit on notice in its opening weekend in SoCal, as he would lead all scorers with 25.5 points per game, to go along with 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and extreme shooting efficiency, at 71% from the field and 63% from beyond the arc, which he connected on 15 over 4 games. The 6-foot-4 combo guard has a strong build combined with elite ball skill and a deep scoring arsenal, and had an impressive showing in his team's final game that I watched live, as he would go for 23 points, connecting on 5 threes, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block with an aggravated knee that kept him in and out in the first 10 minutes of the game. Rose has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense and survey the court, has the moves to get his defender back-peddling, using the crossover, wrap-behind, the hesitation, between-cross, and the spin-move to separate from his opponent, has a great burst off the dribble, can bully his way through contact to score at the basket, or score with creativity to evade shot blockers, with the Euro-step, up-and-under, reverse lay-ups, or the floater down the lane with touch. Rose has a smooth shooting stroke with range on the 3-ball, is accurate off the dribble with the step-back or pull-up three, as well as good off ball movement to get to his shot spots for the three off the catch. Rose has great court awareness with his defender, uses his physical build to backdown smaller players into the low-block, and can score it with the spin-move into the lay-up or make some precise reads to teammates cutting down the lane or popping out to the wing in stride for easy baskets. He has active hands on defense, lateral footspeed to stay in front of his opponent, timing and instincts to jump passing lanes, and alters perimeter shots on the closeout. Rose makes his presence felt on the floor in countless ways and is expected to have a monster Spring and Summer.   [player_tooltip player_id='2843567' first='Anthony' last='Smith'] (6'4 | PG) - Clovis/Lakeshow 16s (Featured Picture)   Smith is an athletic, skilled, and crafty player that can run the offense, create his own scoring opportunities, and displayed tenacious perimeter defense, as was evident in his 5 steals against K-Low Elite, and averaged 13.5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and shot over 65% from the field and over 50% from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-4 lead guard put on a scoring clinic in his team's final game against NorCal rival Team Lillard, as he would go for 31 points, connecting on 5 threes, and held close to what many at Session 1 felt was the top 16u squad on the 33SB Circuit. Smith has dynamic handles, keeps the ball on string to survey the floor, has the court vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, the drop off to players in the dunker spot, cross-court with the zip-pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, and up the court in transition. Smith has shifty moves to create space from his defender off the dribble, using the crossover, hesitation, behind-cross, in-and-out, spin-move, and between-cross to get by his initial defender, is accurate with jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, and is a creative scorer at the basket, using the Euro-step, reverse and up-and-under lay-ups, and the floater with touch, and moves well of the ball to get to his shot spots, with efficiency on the 3-ball off the catch. He can score in volume, especially when he catches fire from beyond the arc, has active hands and the lateral quickness to stay in front of his opponent, and the instincts to deflect entry passes or jump passing lanes to get out and run in the open court.       Kevin Wilson Jr. (6'1 | PG) - Tartan/D1 Minnesota 16s   Wilson had a spectacular Session 1 displaying his elite shooting, ability to get to his desired spots, is efficient with his dribbles and moves, and averaged 24 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4 assists, and was scorching on Day 2 of the event, with games of 30 and 32 points respectively. The 6-foot-1 lead guard has a tight handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, uses the crossover, between-cross, the hesitation, and the wrap-behind, with plenty of shift in his movement, to get his defender off balance, a great burst of speed to accelerate off the dribble, hunts the perimeter shot he wants, is highly efficient with the 3-ball off the dribble with range, and is a creative scorer around the basket, using the Euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups to evade shot blockers at the rim, with great body control to score through contact. Wilson is a great on-ball perimeter defender, has active hands and instincts to poke the ball out, jump passing lanes, or deflect passes to get out in transition to control the pace of play.    Jeylan Womack (6'5 | CG) - West Charlotte/Team Loaded South 16s   Womack is an athletic and physically gifted player with elite scoring moves, can defend multiple positions on the defensive end, and showed he is a player to track in the 2028 class nationally this Spring and Summer, as he would average 19 points per game at Session 1. I was able to catch the 6-foot-5 combo guard's final game against Southern Assault, and he showed consistency from beyond the arc and finished with 26 points in the loss. Womack has dynamic handles, keeps his dribble alive to survey the defense, has the moves to create space from his defender off the dribble, using the crossover, the hesitation, the between-cross, and behind-cross to shake his opponent, gets good lift on the jumper, with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, and is a crafty scorer at the basket, with the reverse lay-up and floater to score over height in the paint. Womack moves fluid off the ball, gets to his shot spots, and is effective with the 3-ball off the catch. His crossover is quick, and with his quick burst off the bounce, he is able to hunt the middy with the size to shoot over most perimeter defenders.

Orange County, CA - Last 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 10 standout players from the Class of 2028 with variation on their player position. There were other standout 2028 players like Parks Weaver Parks Weaver 6'3" | PG Folsom | 2028 State CA-N , Amare Chandler Amare Chandler 6'0" | SG/CG Livermore | 2028 CA-N , and others that I evaluated and wrote on a few weeks ago, and can be found on this site. The sophomores in this article played in the 16u Division and the 17u Division and are players to keep an eye on the next few years. 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 Maurice Carter II.