CCP Preview Showcase: Standout Upperclass Guards

Visalia, CA - Last Saturday, August 22nd, I hosted the 3rd Annual Central Cali Prospect Preview Showcase, an event we held in 2022 and 2023, but had focused more on the Next Up and Junior/Senior Showcases the past 3 years. This year presented the ideal opportunity to bring this event back, where players played one game against players from their graduation class, followed by a second game in one of the two all-star games, the Next 30 or Top 30 All-Star Games. The event was held at Central Valley Christian's gym in Visalia and brought players from Fresno, Tulare, Visalia, Madera, Santa Maria, Bakersfield, Delano, Hanford, Lemoore, Modesto, and Cal City. The level of basketball played at this showcase was some of the best team basketball I have seen at an event with this type of format. This article takes a look at 7 standout upperclass guards (class of 2027 and 2028) that performed well at the event. In this article you will find the following information: the player's name, height, player position, current school they are attending, and the stats I kept from the event. We begin this article with a look at Jayden Bergman.    Bergman is a skilled and high IQ lead guard that can create his own shots, make plays for others, and has range on the deep ball beyond the arc. Bergman played more of the facilitator role, as he displayed his ball handling, court vision, and precise passing to find open teammates 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 off the defensive rebound to push the pace in the open court. Bergman has a variety of moves to create space from his defender, using the hesitation, combos off the crossover, and spin-move to shake his opponent, changes pace and direction on a dime, looks to attack the paint routinely to collapse the defense, is effective with the mid-range jumper off the bounce with good body control, and is a crafty scorer among height on the paint, using the euro-step, the up-and-under, and reverse lay-ups, as well as the floater down the lane.     Johnson had his breakout season last year as a junior, followed by a strong month of June with the Titans and solid play with Team Rampage in the month of July. Johnson carried that level of play over into the Prospect Preview, as he would score a total of 14 points in his two games, and was selected to the Top 30 All-Star Game, and one of my personal Top 10 players at the event. Johnson has dynamic handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, is a great positional rebounder to push the ball off the glass, finding players up the court, off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, drop off passes to open players in the dunker spot, and cross court to open shooters on the perimeter. Johnson has shifty moves to get his defender off balance, using the various crossover moves, the hezzy, spin-move, fade-away, and step-back to get space from his opponent, gets great lift with body control on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and is a crafty scorer around the basket with the body control to absorb contact and score with the euro-step, up-and-under, and reverse lay-ups in his bag to score over height. Johnson has active hands on defense, gets into his opponent's dribbling space, and has the timing and instincts to jump passing lanes, deflect passes, or poke the ball out to turn defense to offense.     Langenfeld is coming off a D4 Section title as one of the core players from last year's squad and one of a few prominent returners that will be called upon to take on more of a leadership role, and he looked poised and ready to take on that responsibility with his level of play at the Prospect Preview. Langenfeld was one of the top scorers at last year's Next Up Showcase, and he displayed his tough shot-making and crafty style of play that makes him tough to defend when he has the ball in his hands, accounting for 13 points over his two games, as well as earning a spot in the Top 30 All-Star Game. Langenfeld has elite handles, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, has a variety of moves to create off the dribble, using the crossover, wrap-behind, hesitation, step-back, fadeaway, and between-cross to generate space from his opponent, hunts the middy with good lift to shoot over defenders, moves well off the ball to get to his shot spots, is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch or the dribble, and is a crafty scorer around the basket, using the floater, as well as the euro-step and up-and-under lay-ups, or absorb contact and finish around the basket. Langenfeld has active hands on defense, quick movement and timing to jump passing lanes, deflect passes, or poke the ball out, as well as alter shots on the wing, looking to get the ball out in transition and push the pace of play.     McLean is a skilled and shifty lead guard that plays with a toughness and level of energy that is hard to keep up with play after play, and he made his presence felt in the Next 30 All-Star Game, finishing with 8 points and earning co-MVP Honors, helping his team to the victory. McLean has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to survey the floor, has the moves to shake his defender with his low center of gravity with the ball in his hands, using the crossover, hesitation, between-cross, wrap-behind, and toss-cross to get by his initial defender, with a good burst of speed off the dribble, effective with the jumper off the bounce from beyond the arc, and a crafty scorer around the basket. McLean has great court vision, makes good decisions with the ball in his hands, finds open players off the drive and kick pass, up the court to get ahead of the defense, and feeds his bigs with the entry pass or on the dive out of the pick and roll. He has active hands on defense, lateral agility to stay in front of his opponent, and looks to poke the ball out or jump passing lanes to generate steals.     Parks has been one of the fastest rising prospects in the Section since the start of his junior season up to now, and he displayed his versatility as a scorer, along with his ability to defend multiple positions, and make plays to get others involved, earning him league MVP and helping get his team to the D4 Section Title game. Parks came with his A-game and made a statement in the Top 30 All-Star Game, and was selected co-MVP of the game finishing with a game-high 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist to help his team get the win over Team White. Parks has great handles, keeps the dribble alive to find openings in the defense to attack, has a plethora of moves to score the ball, using the combo crossover variations, the spin-move, fade-away, and hesitation to get his defender off balance, gets good lift with accuracy on the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble, and is a crafty scorer around the basket, using the euro-step, up-and-under, and reverse lay-ups to score over height in the paint, as well as the physical build to score through contact down the lane. Parks is able to defend the 1 through 3 spots effectively, is active on the board to get points off the put-back, push the ball off the glass, and has active hands to deflect passes, jump passing lanes, and later shots from the wing.     Tucker has been known as one of the best pure shooters in the Section for some time now, but has expanded his overall skill set to become a more complete guard the last year, which he put on display at the Prospect Preview. Tucker would combine for 15 points over his two games played, and was named to the Top 30 All-Star Game. Tucker moves fluidly off the ball, runs off screens and through the defense to lose his defender, gets to his shot spots, and can light it up to score in volume with the 3-ball off the catch. Tucker has solid handles, moves to create off the bounce, using the crossover, hesitation, wrap-behind, and between-cross to get his defender off balance, is effective with the mid-range jumper off the dribble, a creative scorer around height in the paint, using the euro-step and up-and-under lay-ups, as well as touch on the floater down the lane. Tucker will be relied upon to be the primary floor spacer for the Broncos this coming season, as well as operating at the lead guard position when the time calls for it.     Wilson, the #3 ranked prospect in the 2028 class from my recent player rankings, had a great showing last year at the Next Up Showcase, a great run with Garza of Fresno last season, and a monster month of June with the Guardians, before his transfer to Clovis High for his junior season. Wilson is one of the best pure athletes in high school hoops in the Section regardless of class, and he had his high-level of play on full display at the Prospect Preview, with what I feel was play of the event, when he took flight and swatted his opponents shot clear off the court, showcasing his elite bounce. Wilson finished with a combined 15 points over his 2 games, and was a Top 30 Game selection. Wilson has elite handles, keeps the dribble alive to survey the floor, has countless moves to create space from his defender, using the crossover combinations, step-back, fade-away, spin-move, and hesitation to get his opponent off balance, has an elite burst off the dribble, gets great lift on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and is a crafty scorer around height in the paint, using the euro-step, up-and-under, or will look to punch it home attacking down the lane. Wilson is an underrated shot blocker in the paint, as well as on the perimeter, has active hands and timing to jump passing lanes, deflect passes, or poke the ball out to get out and push the ball in the open court.

Visalia, CA - Last Saturday, August 22nd, I hosted the 3rd Annual Central Cali Prospect Preview Showcase, an event we held in 2022 and 2023, but had focused more on the Next Up and Junior/Senior Showcases the past 3 years. This year presented the ideal opportunity to bring this event back, where players played one game against players from their graduation class, followed by a second game in one of the two all-star games, the Next 30 or Top 30 All-Star Games. The event was held at Central Valley Christian's gym in Visalia and brought players from Fresno, Tulare, Visalia, Madera, Santa Maria, Bakersfield, Delano, Hanford, Lemoore, Modesto, and Cal City. The level of basketball played at this showcase was some of the best team basketball I have seen at an event with this type of format. This article takes a look at 7 standout upperclass guards (class of 2027 and 2028) that performed well at the event. In this article you will find the following information: the player's name, height, player position, current school they are attending, and the stats I kept from the event. We begin this article with a look at Jayden Bergman.