CREI: Winners

I traveled to Kansas City this weekend to check out the Crossroads Elite Invitational event at the Home Field facility. The game had an interesting structure, with two full days of games followed by a final alignment that saw only the top 80 prospects to advance to the championship day as teams were re-assigned to compete in win-and-advance tournament style competition. With the blend of drill work in the fundamentals on day 1 and the competitive atmosphere spurred on by the top-80 concept, it was a really intriguing field to evaluate from within. I like to shine a light on players that sacrifice showing parts of their game in order to handle the little details that add up to winning. Let's dive into a few of the top guys that I thought played a winning brand of basketball!      -One of my favorite watches throughout the weekend as a high feel PG prospect that limits his mistakes at a pretty high level in a showcase setting that doesn't always see possessions and shots valued to this level. Leet makes plays like a coach's son: he sees the floor well and can deliver passes off a live dribble with either hand, doesn't miss layups (even in traffic against bigger defender), and takes care of the ball. His IQ shown through at both ends of the floor as a defender that forces his opponent to think twice about carelessly putting the ball on the floor or making crosscourt passes without the necessary zip. Loved his ability to impact the game without dominating the ball, serving as an effective off-ball movement shooter when other PGs subbed into the game.     -I don't know that there was a player in the camp that had a better nose for the basketball throughout the week as Peagler put his hard hat on to impact winning for his team. Peagler proved adept at knifing through the teeth of the defense to create around the basket, served as a super pesky offensive rebounder, and knocked down open jumpers off the catch throughout the weekend. Loved how simplistic yet effective his mindset is as he showed an ability to allow plays to develop instead of forcing the action to serve as an effective playmaker that limited his turnovers. Peagler also took on a variety of different defensive assignments as a strong prospect that leverages his size well to get under his matchup in order to make his opponent extremely uncomfortable. His willingness to kick the ball ahead in transition to collect hockey assists really stood out in a setting that saw a lot of over-dribbling.     -I really wish that I had the numbers, but anecdotally Jones was one of the better offensive rebounders in the camp. In a setting with an over-abundance of guards that could only play the 1, Jones impacted winning as an effective off-ball cutter and offensive rebounder that created great looks for his team in the halfcourt. His positional size as one of the youngest players in the camp (even for grade) speaks to his long term upside as a wing that can effectively guard 2-4 with some upside to guard the other two spots as he continues to grow and put on weight. Thought that he did a great job of putting pressure on the back line of the defense with explosive straight line drives from the wing and sneaky backdoor cuts from the corner for lob finishes at the rim.     -Zarate did a little of absolutely everything for his team en route to a championship trophy at CREI. Zarate knocked down open perimeter jumpers, was an unselfish offensive rebounder that immediately looked to kick to his shooters, guarded multiple spots, and defended with a great motor. His willingness to fly around defensively unlocked a lot for his team as he routinely guarded 3-4 different opponents on one defensive possession. Zarate stepped confidently into open looks but also showed the feel to make the extra pass or kick the ball back out to his PG when his team needed a high-percentage look at key points in the game. His willingness to throw his body at multiple defenders to jockey for rebounds or dive on the floor for loose balls really stood out as an unselfish teammate that was wiling to sacrifice to win ball games. With great positional size, a plus wing span, his two-way versatility, and his offensive skillset— he's a very intriguing prospect in the 2028 class.     -Early on into the camp setting I thought of Jaegers strictly as a movement shooter, which is an incredibly valuable skillset to have in today's recruiting landscape at 6'6. But Jaegers also served as a valuable connector from the wing that made sure to hit the slip, create a post-up for one of his bigs, or skip the ball to the opposite side of the floor to take advantage of defensive rotations. Jaegers also provided some help-side shot-blocking at the rim and was an impactful rebounder that both times his jump and has a nice set of hands to snag several boards at key junctures of the game throughout the weekend. Really interested to see if he adds more play-making flair off the bounce or simply ramps up the shooting volume from beyond the arc to impact winning for his team.

I traveled to Kansas City this weekend to check out the Crossroads Elite Invitational event at the Home Field facility. The game had an interesting structure, with two full days of games followed by a final alignment that saw only the top 80 prospects to advance to the championship day as teams were re-assigned to compete in win-and-advance tournament style competition. With the blend of drill work in the fundamentals on day 1 and the competitive atmosphere spurred on by the top-80 concept, it was a really intriguing field to evaluate from within. I like to shine a light on players that sacrifice showing parts of their game in order to handle the little details that add up to winning. Let's dive into a few of the top guys that I thought played a winning brand of basketball!