EYBL Las Vegas: 2029 Standout 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 9 standout point and combo guards from the 2029 class (rising sophomores). 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 Zachary Arnold.   [player_tooltip player_id='3531699' first='Zach' last='Arnold'] (6' | PG) - San Gabriel Academy/Team Why Not   Arnold is a crafty and skilled lead guard that can create his own shots, make plays to get others involved, and can score in volume from beyond the arc. I saw Arnold during the high school season and was highly impressed with his level of play and poise for a freshman, and he continued to display his all-around impact on the game at Session 4, where he would go off for 25 points, connecting on 4 threes, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Arnold has dynamic handles, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense for openings to attack, has a good burst off the bounce to get by his defender, with shifty moves to generate separation, using the various combos of the crossover, hesitation, spin-move, and fade-away to get open looks, is accurate with the jumper from the middy to the 3-ball off the dribble, and is a creative scorer around the basket, with the euro-step and up-and-under lay-ups, as well as the floater down the lane over height in the paint. Arnold has great court vision and decision making 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 up the court to teammates ahead up the court, active hands, timing, and court awareness to jump passing lanes, deflect passes, or poke the ball out to get out and run, and moves fluidly off the ball to get open looks for the 3-ball off the catch.   Dallas Baldwin (6' | PG) - Saint Peter's Prep/NY Lightning    Baldwin is a skilled and shifty combo guard that can score from 3-levels, makes quality decisions with the ball in his hands to get others involved, and can score in volume from beyond the arc to open up driving lanes to attack. Baldwin had a stellar showing to kick off Session 4 against Team CP3, as he put up a monster stat-line of 20 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals to showcase his all-around impact on the game. Baldwin has elite handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, has a variety of moves to create off the dribble, using the crossover, wrap-behind, hesitation, between-cross, and the fade-away to get space from his defender, has a great burst of speed off dribble to get by his initial defender, is accurate with the jumper off the bounce with great body control on shots from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and is crafty scorer in the paint, using the floater, as well as the reverse and up-and-under lay-ups to evade shot blockers. Baldwin moves well off the ball, using off ball screens and constant movement to keep his defender chasing, gets to his shot spots, and is efficient with the 3-ball off the catch with range from deep, the court awareness to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass and to the diver out of the pick and roll action, and has active hands and good timing to jump passing lanes to get our in transition where he can thread the needle to get ahead of the defense.   [player_tooltip player_id='3666065' first='Will' last='Conroy Jr.'] (6' | CG) - Village Christian/Paul George Elite    Conroy is a skilled, physical, and shifty lead guard that can create for himself or for others, is a true 3-level scoring threat, and can put up points in volume quickly. Conroy has been one of the top scorers since entering the high school ranks regardless of class on the West Coast, and he had his elite scoring on full display at Session 4, going for 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 steals in a loss to Utah Prospects, as well as a 26 points showing against the E15 Champs Mokan Elite, connecting on 3 threes, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists in the loss, and averaged nearly 27 points per game at the Vegas stop of the Circuit. Conroy has a dynamic handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense to openings to attack, keeps his body low to the ground to be more explosive off the dribble, with a plethora of moves to get to his shot spots, using the various combos of the crossover, hesitation, spin-move, fade-away, and step-back to create space from his defender, can light it up with the jumper off the dribble with great body control in the air, from the middy to the 3-point line, is a crafty scorer around the basket, and has the court vision to make precise reads off the drive and kick pass, to teammates cutting off the ball from the baseline on the back-cuts, and up the court to find players in transition ahead of the defense, He has active hands, court awareness, and timing to jump passing lanes, poke the ball out, or deflect passes to turn defense to offense. Flat out knows how to score and has a Jalen Brunson feel to his style of play.   [player_tooltip player_id='2194480' first='JJ' last='Crawford'] (6'5 | PG) - Rainier Beach/NW Rotary 16s   Crawford is an electric, shifty, skilled, and athletic lead guard that has a plethora of moves to create scoring opportunities, controls the pace of play with the ball in his hands, and can catch fire from beyond the arc at a high clip. The top ranked prospects in the 2029 class only played in one game at Session 4 after coming off Team USA play and he had his full game on display as a reminder of why he holds the top spot in his class, going for 20 points, connecting on 4 threes, to go along with 4 assists to showcase his play making abilities. Crawford is electric handles, keeps the ball on a string to weave through and survey the defense, finds holes to expose and attack, with dynamic moves to shake his defender, using all variations of the crossover combos, the hesitation, the step-back, fade-away, and spin-move to get open looks off the bounce, has great body control and accuracy with the jumper from the middy to the 3-point line, and is a creative scorer around the basket, using the euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups to score among height in the paint. Crawford moves fluidly off the ball, running off screens and keeping his defender constantly moving, gets to his shot spots, and is efficient with the jumper off the catch, from the mid-post to the 3-ball, great court vision to find open players up the court, to open players off the drive and kick pass, to divers out of the pick and roll action, and cross court to open shooters. Active hands, quick lateral agility, and timing to jump passing lanes or deflect the ball to get out and push the ball in transition.   [player_tooltip player_id='2820407' first='Quali' last='Giran'] (6'2 | CG) - Millikan/Oakland Soldiers    Giran is an athletic, skilled, and crafty combo guard that can score the ball from various spots on the floor, plays with great pace and on-court speed, and is an underrated rim protector, especially in the open court. Giran has been one of the better scorers in California since coming to the high school ranks, and he had his scoring arsenal on display during Session 4 in Vegas, where he would go for 17 points and 5 rebounds against Brad Beal Elite, as well as 20 points, 7 assists, and 3 blocks against Vegas Elite, both resulting in wins and showcasing his versatile impact on both ends of the court. Giran has elite handles and keeps the dribble alive to survey the court, has eclectic moves to create shots off the dribble, using the crossover, between-cross, wrap-behind, hesitation, fade-away, and toss-cross to get his defender off balance, a burst off the bounce to get by his initial defender, is accurate with the mid-range jumper off the dribble with great body control in the air, and is a creative scorer around the basket with the floater, scoop, and up-and-under lay-ups to score among size in the paint. Giran has elite bounce, timing, and awareness to block shots at the basket going straight up or from the weak-side, as well as the pin-block when chasing from behind, and has the court vision and precise passing to find open players out of the pick and roll action, off the drive and kick pass, and the drop-off pass to his bigs around the basket when on the attack.   Malachi Hill (6' | PG) - Bartlett/Mokan Elite   Hill is a crafty and skilled point guard that looks to control the flow of play, has the moves to create his own shots or make plays for others, and is a tough on-ball defender. Hill had a strong showing at Session 4, as well as a key piece of the E15 champs, Mokan Elite, averaging 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists per game in Vegas. Hill has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the ball in a string to survey the defense for openings, the moves to get his defender off balance, using the crossover, hesitation, behind-cross, and toss-cross to get open looks off the bounce, with efficiency from the mid-range off the dribble with good body control to absorb contact in the air, and is a crafty scorer around the basket with the floater down the lane. Hill moves well off the ball, gets to his shot spots, and is effective with the 3-ball off the catch, has good court vision to make reads up the court or off the drive and kick pass to open teammates.    Demetruis Hunter Jr. (5'10 | PG) - Somerset Losee/Vegas Elite   Hunter is a shifty and skilled lead guard that plays with relentless energy, keeps constant pressure on the opposing defense, and can score in volume from various spots on the floor. Hunter had two impressive showings at Session 4 in the games I saw him play live, going for 20 points and 4 assists against ProSkills, and 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists against the Oakland Soldiers. Hunter keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense for openings to attack, has shifty moves and great body control to weave through the defense and absorb contact, has the moves to find openings and create shots, using the hesitation, various crossover combos, and the spin-move to connect on the middy off the bounce, or attack the basket with creative moves to score over height, with the up-and-under, reverse, and euro-step lay-ups to evade shot blockers in the paint. Hunter has great court vision, finds open teammates off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, and up the court to open teammates in transition, and is a good positional rebounder.    Vijay Keshaav (6'3 | CG) - Frisco Memorial/ProSkills    Keshaav is a skilled and crafty combo guard that can score in volume from 3-levels, lights it up from beyond the arc to space the floor, and makes quality decisions to make plays for others. Keshaav had a monster game at Session 4 against Vegas Elite, going for 28 points, connecting on a pair of threes, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists to display his all-around impact on the offensive end. Keshaav has solid handles and moves to create off the bounce, using the crossover, spin-move, fade-away, and hesitation to generate space from his defender, is accurate with the jumper off the bounce with good body control to connect on the jumper from the middy to the 3-point line, and has the strength to absorb and score through contact down the lane, as well as the floater, euro-step, and up-and-under lay-ups to score among height. Keshaav gets to his shot spots, moves well off the ball to get open looks, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch.   [player_tooltip player_id='3046527' first='Phillip' last='Reed'] Jr. (6'3 | PG) - Palisades/Oakland Soldiers   Reed is a physical and skilled lead guard that makes plays for open teammates, can score it from 3-levels, and plays at his pace and does not let the defense speed him up into making bad decisions. Reed had a great showing at Session 4, going for 14 points and 4 steals against Brad Beal Elite, as well as 16 points and 8 rebounds, with an average of 18 points in Vegas. Reed has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to weave through the traffic, has the strength and body control to absorb and connect on the middy off the bounce routinely, can score through contact attacking down the lane, along with the floater off the baseline or down the lane, moves well off the ball to get to his shot spots, and is effective with the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch to open up the floor. Reed is a good positional rebounder with the court vision to find players ahead in the open court, to open teammates off the drive and kick pass, or the diver out of the pick and roll action, and will be a lead guard to keep an eye on throughout the West Coast.

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 9 standout point and combo guards from the 2029 class (rising sophomores). 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 Zachary Arnold.