EYBL Las Vegas: 2027 Standout Lead Guards

Las Vegas - Last week/weekend, Nike EYBL held its 4th Session at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which featured 20 hardwood courts and was the final stop before the illustrious Peach Jam this week in South Carolina. The event started on Wednesday, July 7th and ended Sunday, July 12th. I was in attendance from the 7th through the 9th to catch 3 days of action, and did my best to cover the 17u, 16u, and 15u divisions, so I may have not caught every player that stood out over the event. This article takes a look at 7 standout lead guards from the 2027 class (rising seniors). This will be followed by a look at standout players by position per class.In this article you will find the following information: players name, height, position, school, club team, 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 Josiah Adamson.   Josiah Adamson (6'4 | 2027 | PG) - CATS Academy/Expressions Elite    Adamson is a skilled and physically gifted lead guard that controls the pace of play, can score from 3-levels efficiently, and draws a lot of attention with the ability to find open players. Adamson had a strong showing against Team Herro on Day 3 of Session 4, finishing with 16 points and 3 steals in the loss, and displayed his elite bounce with a one-handed tomahawk dunk in transition that got the crowd out of their seats. Adamson has a strong handle on the ball, keeps his head on a swivel to survey the floor, has the moves to shake his defender, using the crossover, the hesitation, wrap-behind, toss-cross, spin-move, and between-cross to create space from his defender, has an elite burst of speed off the dribble to get by his initial defender, gets great lift on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, with the body control to absorb contact in the air, as well as attacking down the lane, with creativity on the finish, using the reverse, euro-step, and up-and-under lay-ups to evade shot blockers at the basket, or has the strength to muscle through contact for the score. Adamson has solid court vision, makes the right reads to open teammates off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, up the court off the glass to advance the ball, has active hands and good timing on defense to jump passing lanes, deflected passes, or poke the ball out to get out and run.    [player_tooltip player_id='2112009' first='Beckham' last='Black'] (6'4 | PG) - Southeastern Prep/AB Elite    Black is a shifty and skilled lead guard that controls the flow of play, keeps his defender guessing with his ability to change direction on a dime, can score from 3-levels, and gets others involved. Black, the new top ranked player for the 2027 class, had a stellar showing at Session 4, in particular his game against PSA Cardinals, where he put up 17 points, connecting on a pair of threes, and an average of nearly 19 points per game over the 5-day event. Black has elite handles, keeps the ball on a string to probe the defense, has the moves to create space from his defender, using the crossover, wrap-behind, spin-move, hesitation, step-back, and fade-away to get his defender off balance, can light it up with the jumper, scoring in volume with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, and is a crafty scorer around the basket, with the euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups, along with touch on the floater, and the ability to rise up and take flight down the lane or off the baseline. Black has great body control when on the attack, has the vision and decision making to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, the cross court pass when the defense over pursues, and to bigs diving to the basket out of the pick and roll action. Solid on the boards, active hands and lateral foot-speed to stay in his opponents dribbling space, and turns defense to offense. Confident, poised, and can light it up from beyond the arc.   [player_tooltip player_id='2194891' first='Cayden' last='Daughtry'] (6'2 | PG) - Calvary Christian Academy/Florida Rebels   Daughtry is a skilled, shifty, and high IQ point guard that can score from 3-levels at a high clip, has the awareness to know where open teammates are for the find, keeps constant pressure on the defense, and has been the driving force on the top team in the EYBL standings, tied with Team Herro at 13-2. Daughtry put up great numbers at Session 4 in Las Vegas, averaging 33 points per game, and dropping 37 and 27 in the two games I saw him live, and was the best point guard I saw regardless of class the 3 days I was in attendance. Daughtry has elite handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, has an array of moves to create space from his defender, using the crossover, spin-move, wrap-behind, toss-cross, between-cross, and is lethal with the hesitation to keep his defender guessing and out of position, has a nice burst off the dribble and great body control to absorb contact when on the attack, is accurate with the jumper off the bounce from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and is a crafty scorer around the basket, with the euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups to evade shot blockers. Defensively, Daughtry has active hands, quick reaction, and the instincts to jump passing lanes, deflect passes, and block shots on the perimeter to get the ball out in the open court, where he is nearly impossible to stop with his array of moves. Competes on every play and his energy is contagious, lifting the level of play around him.    Micah Gordon (6' | PG) - Plainfield/PSA    Gordon is a skilled and athletic lead guard that pushes the pace of play, keeps relentless pressure on the defense with the ball in his hands, and can create for himself, as well as make plays to get others involved. Gordon has been one of the fastest rising point guards nationally over the past month and a half, with a great showing at the annual Pangos All-American Camp, followed by a great showing at the NBPA 100, and he kept that high-level of play going in his first game of Session 4 going against the nation's top lead guard, [player_tooltip player_id='2112009' first='Beckham' last='Black'], where he would finish with a game-high 29 points to go along with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals, showing off his two-way play. Gordon has dynamic handles, keeps the dribble alive to find holes in the defense, has the moves to create off the dribble, using the crossover, hesitation, fade-away, behind-cross, and between-cross to get his defender off balance, has a nice burst off the bounce to get by his initial defender, is accurate with the mid-range jumper off the dribble, with good body control to absorb contact and keep shoulders squared on the fade-away, and is a crafty scorer around the basket over height, using the floater down the lane, along with the up-and-under, reverse, and scoop lay-ups to shield off rim protectors. Gordon is a good positional rebounder that looks to push the pace in the open court, plays with on-court speed while under control, has active hands, good timing, and quick movement to jump passing lanes or poke the ball out, turning defense to offense.   Tyrone Jamison (6'2 | PG) - Calvary Baptist Academy/JL3   Jamison is a prototypical point guard that makes those around him better, is a lock-up perimeter defender, and can create his own shots when the team is in need of his scoring ability. Jamison had a strong showing at Session 4, with a near triple-double in his team's win over the Oakland Soldiers, going for 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists, displaying his all around impact on the game. Jamison has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, finds holes to attack, using the crossover, hesitation, behind-cross, and between-cross to create space from his defender, has good burst off the dribble to get paint touches, has the court vision to make precise reads off the drive and kick pass, the cross court pass to open teammates on the wing, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, to his bigs in the dunker spot with the drop off pass, and up the court off the defensive rebound to get ahead in transition. Jamison is effective with the jumper off the dribble, from the mid-range to the 3-point line, has active hands, the lateral foot-speed, and the timing to stay in front of opposing guards, gets into their dribbling space, looks to jump passing lanes, deflect passes, or poke the ball out to get out in translation and push the tempo. Good body control and makes the right play with the ball in his hands.    King Kendrick (6'1 | PG) - Caldwell Academy/Team CP3    Kendrick is a shifty, skilled, and athletic lead guard that can score from 3-levels, make plays to get others involved, and is a lock-up perimeter defender that turns defense to offense. Kendrick was one of the more impressive rising senior guards I watched over my 3 days in attendance at Session 4, where he had a great showing against Vegas Elite with 15 points, 8 assists, and 2 steals. Kendrick keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, plays with great pace and control of the flow of the game with the rock in hand, has the moves to create off the bounce, using the crossover, wrap-behind, hesitation, spin-move, fade-away/step-back, and between-cross to generate space from his defender, has good lift on the jumper with a variety of approaches to the middy, from the quick stop-and-pop jumper to the spin-fade jumper with great body control in the air, has touch on the floater down the lane, and is a creative scorer around the basket, using the reverse, euro-step, and up-and-under lay-ups to evade shot blockers at the rim. Kendrick has great court vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, the slip pass to players in the dunker spot, or cross court to open teammates when the defense over plays one side of the court, has active hands and quick lateral foot-speed to stay in front of opposing players, and the timing to deflect passes, jump passing lanes, or poke the ball out to get out and run in transition.   Mana Winitana (6'2 | PG) - Wasatch Academy/Utah Prospects    Winitana is a shifty and skilled lead guard that can light it up from beyond the arc in volume, the decision making to find open teammates, and controls the flow of the game with the ball in his hands. Winitana had his best scoring output against AZ Unity on Day 3 of Session 4, which I was fortunate to be court-side for, where he would go off for 28 points connecting on 5 threes, to go along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Winitana has dynamic handles, keeps the dribble alive to survey the defense, has shifty moves to keep his defender off balance, using the crossover, spin-move, hesitation, between-cross, and toss-cross to shake his defender, gets into his defenders body to absorb and score through contact at the basket, as well as using the reverse and up-and-under lay-ups to avoid height in the paint, and can spray the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch in volume to put up points quickly. Winitana has great court vision and decision making when on the attack, finds open teammates off the drive and kick pass, out of the pick and roll action to the diver, cross court to open shooters, and up the court in transition to get ahead of the defense.

Las Vegas - Last week/weekend, Nike EYBL held its 4th Session at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which featured 20 hardwood courts and was the final stop before the illustrious Peach Jam this week in South Carolina. The event started on Wednesday, July 7th and ended Sunday, July 12th. I was in attendance from the 7th through the 9th to catch 3 days of action, and did my best to cover the 17u, 16u, and 15u divisions, so I may have not caught every player that stood out over the event. This article takes a look at 7 standout lead guards from the 2027 class (rising seniors). This will be followed by a look at standout players by position per class.In this article you will find the following information: players name, height, position, school, club team, 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 Josiah Adamson.