A Look Back: California Live 2028 Standout Guards

Rocklin, CA - At the end of June, NorCal hosted the 4th annual California Scholastic Live Event with Whitney High School as the main gym used for the top teams and games. This article takes a look at 7 standout point and combo guards from the 2028 class (rising juniors) that performed well at the event. In this article you will find the following information: players name, height, position, school, stats from the event, and a breakdown of their skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with [player_tooltip player_id='3172969' first='Tristan' last='Beechler'].    Beechler is a skilled and physical lead guard that can create his own shots, as well as make plays for others, controls the pace of play with the ball in his hands, and can space the floor with the 3-ball to open up lanes to attack. Beechler is more of a play maker with the ball in hand, but had his top scoring output in the only loss delivered to Brentwood of Los Angeles at the Cali Live event, scoring 10 points to help his team earn the win. Beechler has great handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, has the moves to create off the bounce to get by his initial defender, using the various crossover combinations, the hesitation, fade-away, spin-move, and step-back to get space from his defender, is accurate with the mid-range jumper off the dribble with body control to absorb contact in the air, and is a creative finisher around the basket, using the euro-step, up-and-under, and reverse lay-ups to evade shot blockers. Beechler has great court awareness and vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, cross court to the open shooters, and up the floor to find the open player in transition. Beechler is a great positional rebounder, moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch, and is a versatile defender that can guard the 1 through 3 positions.     George is a skilled and crafty lead guard that can score from 3-levels, has the awareness to make plays for others on the court, and plays with pace and control with the ball in his hands. George had a strong showing in one of the opening games of the event against Mitty of San Jose, and finished the event out with 19 points in a loss to Sacramento in the 3rd place game of its bracket. George has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense for openings to attack with a good burst off the bounce, uses the variations of the crossover combos, the hesitation, and hard-pound dribble to get his defender off balance, is accurate with good body control on the mid-range jumper, is a crafty scorer around the basket, using the reverse and euro-step lay-ups, as well as the floater to score among height, and moves fluidly off the ball to get to his shot spots, where he is an elite shooter off the catch from three. George has active hands and timing on defense to jump passing lanes, poke the ball out, or deflect passes to get out in transition for dunks and easy points.     Kirksey is a wiry and athletic combo guard that can space the floor from beyond the arc, plays with good pace and flow for the game, and has the bounce to impact both ends of the court. Kirksey had a strong showing at Cali Live with an average of 14 points per game, and a personal best of 18 points, connecting on 4 threes, in a loss to Bakersfield Christian to close out Day 1 of play. Kirksey has dynamic handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the defense, has the moves to create off the bounce to attack openings in the defense, using the crossover combos, hesitation, jab-step, and fade-away to get open for open looks, has a great burst off the dribble, is accurate with the mid-range to the 3-point line with good body control through contact in the air, and is a crafty scorer in the paint, with the kiss off the glass, euro-step into the step-through, and up-and-under lay-ups to evade rim protectors in the paint. Kirksey moves fluid off the ball, gets to his shot spots, has a quick but effective release, and can light it up from the 3-point line with range, and makes great use of the pump-fake to attack open lanes when defenders over-pursue.     Paul is a skilled and shifty lead guard that can score from a variety of spots on the court, is a tenacious defender to disrupt opposing players, has the awareness to find open teammates, and can space the floor with the 3-ball to create lanes to attack. Paul had a sensational opening game at Cali Live against Dougherty Valley and had over 30 points, which I watched in person, but no official stats can be accessed, and finished the weekend with 21 points, connecting on 5 threes, to cap off a bracket title and an undefeated weekend of play. Paul has elite handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor to find openings in the defense to attack, has savvy moves to create shots off the dribble, using the various crossover combinations, the hesitation, spin-move, fade-away, and step-back to generate space from his defender, has great body control and lift on the jumper with accuracy on the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, and is a creative scorer around the basket, using the floater down the lane, the euro-step, up-and-under, and reverse lay-ups to evade shot blockers at the basket. Paul has great court awareness, vision, and decision making to make precise passes off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, cross court to open shooters, and up the court to open teammates ahead in transition, has active hands and quick movement to jump passing lanes, poke the ball out, and deflect passes to get out and push the pace of play, and plays with great control and feel for the game.     Simmons is a physical, skilled, and high IQ lead guard that has great court awareness, makes precise passes all over the court, and can get a bucket when needed at will. Simmons has continued to show he is one of the top play makers on the West Coast, as well as one of the most underrated players in the national class of rising juniors, which was on full display at Cali Live, averaging over 21 points per game, with a single game high of 24 points in a win over Brentwood in pool play. Simmons has dynamic handles, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense for openings to attack, has a plethora of moves to create off the bounce, using the crossover combo variations, the fade-away, spin-move, and hesitation to get his defender off balance, is efficient with the jumper with great body control from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, and is a crafty scorer at the rim, using the euro-step, spin-move, up-and-under, and reverse lay-ups to shield off shot blockers, as well as bully his way through contact en route to the basket to draw fouls and get and-one opportunities. Simmons sees the whole court, makes precise reads to open teammates in tight windows off the drive and kick pass, cross court to open shooters, to the divers out of the pick and roll action, and is dominant on the glass to get points off the put-back, along with pushing the ball off the glass to find open players up the court. Simmons is a versatile defender with the strength and size to hold up against bigger players in the post, as well as the agility and lateral quickness to stay in front of opposing perimeter players, with the timing to jump passing lanes, deflect passes, or poke the ball out to get out and push the pace of play.     Sullivan is a crafty and skilled lead guard that can create for himself or for others, can score in volume from beyond the arc, and controls the flow of the game with the ball in hand. Sullivan had a strong showing at Cali Live running the offense and playing off the ball to get open looks, with a single game high of 22 points against Pittsburgh, and averaged 17 points per game. Sullivan has solid court vision and decision making to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, up the court to open players ahead of the defense, has active hands and timing to jump passing lanes, deflect passes, or poke the ball out to turn defense to offense. Sullivan has the moves to create space off the dribble, moves well off the ball to get open looks, gets to his shot spots, and is highly efficient with the 3-ball off the catch or the dribble, and is a creative scorer around the basket with the euro-step and reverse lay-ups to evade shot blockers.     Walker is a lengthy, athletic, and skilled combo guard that can score from 3-levels, is a versatile defender, and has the court awareness to make plays for fellow teammates. Walker had a strong showing to open up play against Campbell Hall of North Hollywood, where he would display his ability to score in volume and catch fire from beyond the arc. Walker keeps the ball on a string, has the moves to create off the dribble, using the crossover, wrap-behind, fade-away, hesitation, and toss-cross to get space from his initial defender, is efficient with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and is a creative soccer around the basket. Walker moves well off the ball, gets to his shot spots, squares up his shoulder to be ready, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch, has active hands and instincts on defense to jump passing lanes or deflect passes to get out in the open court to push the pace of play, is a good positional rebounder to get points off the put-back, and keeps constant pressure on the opposing team.

Rocklin, CA - At the end of June, NorCal hosted the 4th annual California Scholastic Live Event with Whitney High School as the main gym used for the top teams and games. This article takes a look at 7 standout point and combo guards from the 2028 class (rising juniors) that performed well at the event. In this article you will find the following information: players name, height, position, school, stats from the event, and a breakdown of their skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with Tristan Beechler Tristan Beechler 6'4" | PG/CG Lincoln-Stockton | 2028 State CA-N .