Fresno State Team Camp: Pool Play Standout Guards (Part 2)

Fresno, CA - Last weekend, Friday, June 5th through Sunday, June 7th, Fresno State hosted its Second Annual Team Camp, which featured teams from Bakersfield to Fresno, as well as few teams from NorCal. The event featured a pool play format for the first two days and wrapped up with bracket play on Sunday. I was in attendance for Pool Play on Friday and Saturday, and was focused on games in the North Gym only, but there were also games at the Valley Athletics Facility. This article takes a look at 6 standout guards from the classes of 2027 and 2028 (rising seniors and juniors), which is Part 2 of a two-part article on standout guards from the Team Camp. In this article you will find the following information: players name, height, position, school, and their skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with AJ Pedro.   2027 AJ Pedro (5'8 | SG) - Clovis (CA)   The 5-foot-8 shooting guard can spray shots from deep beyond the arc, has shifty moves to create off the closeouts, and is a pesky perimeter defender. Pedro has solid handles, uses the crossover, between-cross, hesitation, and behind-cross to get his defender off balance, is a creative scorer around the basket with the reverse, Euro-step, and up-and-under lay-ups in his bag, as well as the floater to score over height in the paint, moves fluidly off the ball, hunts the open spot, and can score in volume with the 3-ball off the catch or the dribble to open up the floor. Pedro uses the pump-fake to get his defender out of position on the close-out, attacks the paint, and has the court vision to make reads off the drive and kick pass, and up the court to advance the ball in transition. Active hands to poke the ball out, deflect passes, or jump passing lanes, turning defense to offense.    2027 Inpong Phakonekham (5'9 | CG) - Clovis (CA)   The 5-foot-9 combo guard makes plays for open teammates, can score it from 3-levels, and can space the floor from beyond the arc with range. Inpong has solid handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, uses the crossover, between-cross, hesitation, wrap-behind, and spin-move to create space from his defender, has great body control on the mid-range jumper and the floater down the lane with touch on his shot, moves fluidly off the ball to get open looks, is accurate with the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch, and is a crafty scorer around the basket. Inpong has solid court vision and makes good decisions with the ball in his hands, finds open teammates off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, and advances the ball ahead in transition to get ahead of the defense. Inpong is a good positional rebounder, has quick hands to poke the ball out or deflect passes that turn defense to offense.   2027 [player_tooltip player_id='2932601' first='Ty' last='Schalk'] (6'2 | CG) - San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno CA)   The 6-foot-2 combo guard is one of the best sharp shooters in the Section, has limitless range on the deep ball, and has made major strides as a primary ball handler, showing the play making and decision making needed to facilitate and run the offense. Schalk put on a 3-level scoring display in a win over Hanford that showcased touch on the jumper, consistency from beyond the arc, crafty buckets in the paint, and had a monster showing with 34 points, connecting on 5 threes in the win. Schalk has tight handles, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, his head on a swivel to find openings in the defense to expose, attacks with good pace and change of direction, uses the crossover, behind-cross, hesitation, spin-move, and the wrap-behind to get his defender off balance, gets good lift on the jumper with accuracy to score in volume, from the mid-range to the 3-point line, opening up driving lanes for him to attack, and is a creative scorer around basket, using the Euro-step, reverse, up-and-under, and spin-move into the lay-up to evade shot blockers in the paint. Where Schalk continues to show improvement every time I see him play is at the point guard spot, displaying the court vision and precision needed to make tight reads off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, or up the court off the glass to get ahead of the defense. Schalk's bread and butter is still his efficiency with the 3-ball off the catch or the dribble, and he will be called upon to be the main floor spacer for the Panthers.    2027 [player_tooltip player_id='2932197' first='Jaxson' last='Silverstrom'] (6'2 | WG) - San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno CA)   The 6-foot-2 wing/guard is a swiz army knife on the basketball court, with versatility on the defensive end to guard multiple positions, the athleticism that allows him to play bigger than his listed height, and plays with relentless energy and effort on both sides of the ball. Silverstrom is a high-level on-ball defender, with quick hands, great lateral quickness to stay in front of his opponent, gets into his opponents dribbling space to cause disruptions, has the timing to poke the ball out, jump passing lanes, or deflect the ball to get out in transition, has elite bounce to alter shots on the perimeter, as well as from the weak-side in the paint, and can rise up in the open court, turning defense to offense routinely. Silverstrom has the handles and moves to create off the dribble, uses the crossover, between-cross, hesitation, and wrap-behind to get by his initial defender, gets great lift with body control to score through contact on the mid-range jumper off the dribble, and is a crafty scorer at the basket, using the Euro-step, reverse lay-up, and floater to evade length in the paint. Silverstrom moves fluid off the ball, gets to his shots spots, and can light it up from beyond the arc.   2028 Josiah Wilson (6'2 | CG) - Justin Garza (Fresno CA)   The 6-foot-2 combo guard is a physical and athletic player that can score from 3-levels, is a versatile defender, and is capable of making tough shots off the bounce. I saw Wilson back to back weekends at the Clovis North Summer Showdown and then at the Fresno State Team Camp, and he showcased his lead guard skills, shot making ability, and remains a top 10 prospect in the deep 2028 class of players. Wilson has dynamic handles, keeps the dribble alive to survey the defense, has an array of moves to create space from his defender, using the crossover, spin-move, hesitation, wrap-behind, step-back, and toss-cross to get by his initial defender, has a quick burst of speed off the dribble, is a creative scorer around the basket, with the Euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups to score over height in the paint, and is accurate with the jumper off the bounce, from the mid-range to the 3-point line, with great body control to absorb contact when attacking the basket or on the jumper in the air. Wilson has active hands, the instincts and timing, combined with the bounce, to alter shots on the perimeter, gets the chase down block often, deflects passes, and jumps passing lanes to get out in transition, where he looks to take flight for some stylish dunks. Garza moves well off the ball to get to his shot spots, is efficient from beyond the arc with range, controls the flow of the game with the ball in his hands, and has good on court speed that is controlled but explosive.    2028 Hideo Yamaura (5'11 | PG) - Hanford (CA)   The 5-foot-11 point guard controls the pace of play, changes speed and direction with the ball in hand to keep his defender guessing, and can create his own shots or make plays for others. Yamaura was with Sierra Pacific this past season, but will be transferring to Hanford and brings the Pups more consistency at the lead guard spot, allowing teammates like [player_tooltip player_id='2273494' first='Zander' last='Jensen'] and Lawrence Moore to play off the ball more, as well as a floor spacer. Yamaura has tight handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, has the court vision to find teammates off the drive and kick pass, out of the pick and roll action, or up the court to create transition scoring opportunities, the moves to shake his defender, using the crossover, between-cross, hesitation, and behind-cross to create space, is effective with the jumper off the dribble, and moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch, where he can score it from beyond the arc. He will add depth and quality lead guard play for a Hanford team that should be in the mix by the time we get to the D2 Section playoffs next season.

Fresno, CA - Last weekend, Friday, June 5th through Sunday, June 7th, Fresno State hosted its Second Annual Team Camp, which featured teams from Bakersfield to Fresno, as well as few teams from NorCal. The event featured a pool play format for the first two days and wrapped up with bracket play on Sunday. I was in attendance for Pool Play on Friday and Saturday, and was focused on games in the North Gym only, but there were also games at the Valley Athletics Facility. This article takes a look at 6 standout guards from the classes of 2027 and 2028 (rising seniors and juniors), which is Part 2 of a two-part article on standout guards from the Team Camp. In this article you will find the following information: players name, height, position, school, and their skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with AJ Pedro.