South Finals: The Dominant 15U Five

I was thrilled to see a ton of 15U talent at the South Finals this weekend. Out of all the players I watched, the student athletes below put in multiple impressive performances and did it all on both ends of the court to truly separate themselves from the pack.    Sam stands 6'2", but his presence on both ends of the floor is much larger. He has a strong, solid frame that he's going to be able to build on. In many instances I witnessed, he was simply too powerful for his defender, and he made consistently dominating in the paint look easy. He's not a complainer, if something didn't go his way, he immediately focused on the next task at hand that was needed to get his team closer to victory. His footwork is fantastic and he has the ability to create his own offense whenever his team needs a bucket. He's an absolute anchor defensively, guarding the paint with force and stacking blocks and boards at every opportunity.     Taegan has an IQ through the roof and knows how to take over a game on both ends of the floor. He's calm and collected, but that doesn't mean he won't rip his opponent's heart out on the court. He's unbelievably mentally strong for his age. One of my favorite parts of the tournament was witnessing him get into the head of his opponent - not in a distasteful way - but in small, measured ways that you usually see from an athlete much older and more experienced. He steps up when someone needs to guard the biggest man on the floor and he never shows panic regardless of whether his team is leading or not. He's an excellent shooter with an impressive ballhandling ability. His long, slender frame is built for playmaking, and he can get into a dominant zone that is hard to shake him from for any opposing defender.     Eli has a long, muscular frame and he knows how to use his size and strength to his advantage on both sides of the ball. He's a commanding force in the paint, blocking and altering shots with regularity defensively and stacking rebounds and working his way into whatever shot he wants on the offensive end. He's an excellent passer on the break and has great vision for a big man - skills that will transfer nicely as he continues to put in the work and grow. He has fantastic shooting form and he's a great decision-maker on both ends of the floor. If his opponent is lazy in the slightest when boxing out, he's grabbing the extra opportunity and putting it in the hole, making it so hard for an opposing team to come back from any sort of deficit.     Jacob is a crafty, quick point guard that elevates his teammates consistently without sacrificing his excellent play individually. He's a skilled passer with the IQ to make the best decisions available at an incredibly quick pace. He has great hands and will stack steals with regularity, frustrating and exhausting his opponent on their way to a likely defeat. His hang time is impressive - he displays a nice ability to adjust his body in the air to get his shot into nearly unblock-able positions. He has a great jump shot and he stacks rebounds on both ends. His ability to quickly outlet the ball to the teammate with the best scoring position is uncanny and leads to a ton of fast break points for his squad.     Rayden is a powerful wing that can handle the center position whenever needed and he is unbelievably strong. In most cases, that will limit mobility and take a toll on footwork - but not for Hendrix. He moves incredibly well for his size, and he has the ability to consistently work his way into the best shots available. He's an imposing presence in the paint - one that dominates defensively and gets basically whatever he wants on the offensive side of the ball. He has a good rapport with his teammates, and you can usually find him finishing alley-oops off the glass multiple times per game.

I was thrilled to see a ton of 15U talent at the South Finals this weekend. Out of all the players I watched, the student athletes below put in multiple impressive performances and did it all on both ends of the court to truly separate themselves from the pack.