BC Team Camp: Central Cali Under the Radar Rising Upperclassmen

Bakersfield, CA - This past weekend, Friday, June 12th, and Saturday, June 13th, I attended the Bakersfield College Team Camp held at BC's New Gym and Dignity Sports Complex. The event featured teams from the South Valley and some surrounding areas, and they played in a pool play format that finished with bracket play. This article takes a look at 8 standout rising seniors and juniors (class of 2027 and 2028) from the Team Camp, to shine a light on some real hidden gems that are under the radar of college coaches, in particular JUCOs. In this article you will find the following information: players name, height, position, school, my personal stats, and their skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with Cassius Brown.   2027 Cassius Brown (6'3 | WG) - California City (CA)   The 6-foot-3 wing/guard has the skills to create his own shots, as well as make plays for his teammates, can space the floor from beyond the arc, and is a versatile defender that plays taller than his listed height. Brown had an impressive Day 2 of the BC Team Camp, with solid showings against Frontier in a win, finishing with 11 points and 5 rebounds, followed by a 14 point, connecting on 4 threes, 5 rebound, and 3 block outing in a loss to South Bakersfield. Brown has a solid handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to survey the floor, uses the crossover, behind-cross, hesitation, and between-cross to create space from his defender, attacks the basket with good pace and change of direction to get the defense off balance, moves fluidly off the ball to get to his shot spots, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch. Brown uses his length to get by his initial defender, is a crafty scorer around the basket, using the Euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups to get evade shot-blockers in the paint, has great court vision and height to find players off the drive and kick pass, as well as up the court off the defensive rebound. He is active on the glass, has the timing and bounce to block/alter shots in the paint or on the perimeter, and looks to push the pace in the open court. This was my first time seeing the rising senior and he is definitely one of the hidden gems of the Section.    2027 Malachi Davis (6'3 | CG) - McFarland (CA)   The 6-foot-3 combo guard is a versatile and elite defender, can score the ball from 3-levels, and has the skill to connect on tough shots at a high clip. Davis had an impressive showing in an overtime loss to Garces on Day 2 at the Team Camp, scoring 31 points and making shots from all over the court, as well as drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line routinely. Davis keeps the ball on a string, has shifty moves to get his defender off balance, uses the crossover, hesitation, in-and-out dribble, step-back, behind-cross, and spin-move to create space from his defender, is accurate with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce with great body control, and is a creative scorer at the basket, using the Euro-step, reverse, or up-and-under relay-ups to evade rim protectors. Defensively, Davis has a long wingspan, great instincts and timing, and is a ball-hawk on the perimeter, resulting in him being a shot blocking presence in the paint, especially from the weakside, as well as the strides and agility to close out on perimeter shooters, along with active hands to poke the ball out, deflect passes, or jump passing lanes, turning defense to offense where he looks to take flight in transition. The 3 time league MVP looked great at the BC Team Camp and is one of the more underrated prospects in the Section with his ability to play on or off the ball and impact both ends of the court.   2027 Cameron Hernandez (6' |SG) - South Bakersfield (CA)   The 6-foot-1 shooting guard can score in volume beyond the arc, is an underrated on-ball defender, and has the poise to operate at the point to initiate the offense. Hernandez had two really good showings at the BC Team Camp, scoring 16 points, connecting on a pair of 3s, in a win over Ridgeview, followed by a 15-point outing in a win over Cal City, where he connected on 3 threes after the break to help lift his team to victory. Hernandez has fluid off ball movement, gets to his shot spots, squares his body up, and can light it up from the 3-point line off the catch. Hernandez has solid handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, uses the hesitation, crossover, toss-cross, behind-cross, step-back, and between-cross to generate space from his defender, gets good lift on the jumper with body control on the mid-range off the bounce, and is a creative scorer at the basket, using the Euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups, as well as the floater down the lane or from the baseline to score over height. He has good court vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass or up the court off the rebound to get ahead of the defense. Hernandez has quick hands, good instincts, and awareness to deflect passes or jump passing lanes, and stay in his opponents dribbling space with good lateral foot-speed.     2027 Natias Jacks (6' | CG) - California City (CA)   The 6-foot lead guard has a strong and physical build, the skill set and shot making to get his own buckets, as well as the play making to get others involved. Jacks had some dazzling shots in the two games I was able to see him live and displayed tough but crafty lead guard skills that made him standout on a court with several quality lead guards on opposing teams, finishing with 12 points in a win over Frontier, followed by 8 points in a loss to South Bakersfield, connecting on 4 threes over the two games. Jacks has dynamic handles, shifty movement to keep his defender guessing, uses the crossover, step-back, hesitation, behind-cross, and between-cross to separate from his opponent, has a great burst of speed off the bounce, the body control and strength to score through contact on finishes at the basket, or the creativity to score with the reverse lay-up or the floater down the lane, and is efficient with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble. Jacks has good court vision, makes good decisions and precise passing to teammates off the drive and kick pass, cross-court to open teammates, up the court off the rebound, and to the diver out of the pick and roll action. He is a tough on-ball defender with quick hands, instincts, and timing to disrupt his opponent, gets into their dribbling space, and causes turnovers by poking out the ball, jumping passing lanes, or deflecting the ball to get out into the open court.    2027 Dominic Johnson (5'11 | PG) - Frontier (Bakersfield CA)   The 5-foot-11 lead guard had his full arsenal on display at the Team Camp and showed that he is one of the top lead guards in the Section and highly underrated. Johnson had two stellar games on Day 2 of the Team Camp, putting up 20 points and connecting on 3 threes in a loss to Cal City, and a 22 point game in a tough three point loss to Garces, connecting on 2 threes, and snagging 3 steals. Johnson has elite handles, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, has the court vision and precise passing to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, out of the puck and roll action, the slip pass to open teammates in the dunker spot opposite of the lane he attacks off the wing, and is a good positional rebounder that pushes the ball up the court to find open teammates ahead for easy buckets. Johnson has great moves, footwork, and body control to absorb contact when attacking the paint, uses the spin-move, Euro-step, up-and-under, and reverse lay-ups to evade shot blockers, makes nice use of the pivot to spin-away from his defender, and finds holes in the defense to score, uses the crossover, between-cross, hesitation, wrap-behind, and the fadeaway moves to create space from his defender, and is effective with the jumper off the bounce from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce. He has active hands, quick movement, and timing to deflect passes, jump passing lanes, or poke the ball out to get out in transition, where he showed the improved bounce with a pair of dunks in the open court. The pace of play, the shot making, the poise, and the court awareness make him one of the top lead guards in the Section.    2027 [player_tooltip player_id='2954434' first='Emmanuel' last='Medina'] (6'5 | WF) - Garces Memorial (Bakersfield CA)   The 6-foot-5 forward is making his return to the court this Summer, after missing his entire junior season due to a knee injury, and he made his presence felt in the post and the glass on both ends, looking agile and moving well. Medina had two strong shows on Day 2 of the Team Camp, helping his team earn a spot in the championship game, going for 14 points and 5 rebounds in an overtime win over McFarland in pool play, followed by a monster double-double of 20 points and 16 rebounds in a semifinal win over Frontier. Medina is relentless on the boards, gets off the floor quick and gets good positioning to control the ball off the rim, has nice touch on the put-back off the miss, limits opponents to single shot possessions, outlets the ball quickly to get up the floor for easy transition points, and alters shots in the paint. Medina has good hands, quick moves in the paint to create space from his defender, using the spin-move into the lay-up or the drop-step, and seals his opponent off well to receive entry passes on the post-up or out of the pick and roll action. Medina has good touch on the jumper and can spread the floor with the jumper to pull bigger players away from the basket.    2027 Eddie Ramey III (6'2 | PG) - South Bakersfield (CA)   The 6-foot-2 lead guard plays with great pace and feel for the game, understands when to make the right read or when to look to create his own buckets, and is an elite on-ball defender and good positional rebounder. Ramey has shown that he is ready and more than capable of taking over the scoring responsibilities, along with fellow rising senior Cam Hernandez, as he has been more of the facilitator the last few seasons. But with the Spartan graduating its top three scorers from last year's league title squad, Ramey will be called upon to be more of a scoring guard, and he has the moves and skill to be that. Ramey had games of 19 points and 5 rebounds, and followed that with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Ramey has a tight handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, uses the crossover, hesitation, spin-move, fadeaway, wrap-behind, and the between-cross to separate from his defender, is accurate with the mid-range jumper off the bounce with good body control in the air, and crafty moves to score at the basket, using the Euro-step, reverse, up-and-under, and spin-move lay-ups to evade rim protectors. Ramey has great hands on defense, the footwork to stay in front of his opponent, the timing and instincts to jump passing lanes or deflect passes, and looks to rip the ball when in his opponents dribbling space.    2027 Avery Spears (6'4 | WF) - California City (CA)   The 6-foot-4 forward/slasher is relentless on the glass, has nice touch around the basket, and can defend multiple positions on the court. Spears was a beast on the boards in the two games I watched his team play, as he put up near double-doubles in both games, going for 10 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Frontier, and 8 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to South Bakersfield. Spears crashes the boards on both ends, has nice touch on put-backs off the boards, limits opponents to single shot possessions, outlets the ball quickly to get up the court for easy points in transition, and can defend the 1 through 4 positions effectively, alter shots in the paint and on the perimeter. He has enough handle to put the ball on the deck to attack from the high-post, uses his long strides to get by his initial defender, and is a crafty scorer around the basket.

Bakersfield, CA - This past weekend, Friday, June 12th, and Saturday, June 13th, I attended the Bakersfield College Team Camp held at BC's New Gym and Dignity Sports Complex. The event featured teams from the South Valley and some surrounding areas, and they played in a pool play format that finished with bracket play. This article takes a look at 8 standout rising seniors and juniors (class of 2027 and 2028) from the Team Camp, to shine a light on some real hidden gems that are under the radar of college coaches, in particular JUCOs. In this article you will find the following information: players name, height, position, school, my personal stats, and their skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with Cassius Brown.