CCP Preview Showcase: Standout Wing/Slashers

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 10 standout wing/slashers with all classes combined in this article (class of 2027 through 2030) 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 Hudson De Groot.    De Groot is a lengthy and rangy wing/guard that can space the floor from beyond arc, excels in the open court running the lanes, and is an emerging versatile defender. De Groot had a strong showing in the Next 30 All-Star Game, as he would finish with 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist, connecting on a 3-ball off the catch to show his ability to spread the floor and open up lanes for teammates to cut through or attack. De Groot is active on the glass, releases the ball quickly, gets up the court with his long strides, and can alter shots in the paint or on the perimeter, with the wingspan to alter or deflect shots on the wing.     Douglas is a lengthy and agile wing/slasher that made his impact felt on various aspects of the game, and has the potential to be an elite 2-way player as his game develops over the next 3 years. Douglas had two solid showings, with 6 points in the Next 30 Game showing his ability to create shots off the dribble, and 6 rebounds in his first game, displaying his ability to impact the boards at a high clip. Douglas has solid handles, shifty moves to create off the bounce, with the crossover and hesitation as the moves he applies with the most confidence, gets good lift on the jumper from the mid-range, is a crafty scorer around height in the paint, and moves well off the ball to slash through the defense. Douglas has a long wingspan, active hands, lateral quickness, and the timing to deflect passes, jump passing lanes, alter shots on the perimeter, as well as on the chase down in transition, is active on the boards to get points off the put-back, and is a creative scorer around the basket.     Gonzalez is a physical and skilled wing/forward that knows how to create in the paint, as well as from the perimeter, makes quality basketball decisions, and plays with relentless energy on both ends of the court. Gonzalez had two solid scoring outputs in his two games played at the Prospect Preview, going for 7 points and 5 rebounds in his first game, followed by a 6 point showing in the Top 30 All-Star Game. Gonzalez has a strong handle on the ball, has a variety of moves to create off the dribble, using the crossover combos, hesitation, and spin-move to get his defender off balance, has the body control and physical attributes to score through contact on shots at the basket, is effective with the middy off the bounce, moves freely off the ball to get to his shot spots, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch. Gonzalez has touch on the floater, crashes the boards for put-backs off them miss, limits opponents to single shot possessions, outlets the ball quickly to get up the court to score in transition, and is a versatile defender that can hold up against bigger players in the paint, but has the lateral movement and active hands to stay in front of perimeter players, with the timing to jump passing lanes, deflect passes, or alter perimeter shots.     Hyde had a great junior season to help CVC win its league and make a run to the D3 Section Title Game, followed by a successful club season with Central Valley based Beyond Athletics 17u squad, as well as a strong month of play in June, where I saw him several times with the Cavaliers. Hyde had a great showing in his first game, finishing with a team-high 10 points, connecting on a pair of threes, and earning a spot in the Top 30 All-Star Game. Hyde has solid handles, keeps the dribble alive to survey the floor, has the moves to break free from his defender, using the crossover, spin-move, fade-away, between-cross, and hesitation to get by his initial defender, is accurate with the mid-range jumper off the dribble with the length to shoot over perimeter defenders, and is a crafty scorer around the basket with the euro-step, up-and-under, or floater down the lane. Hyde is active on the boards, has the handle to push the pace of play up the court, has the court vision to make quality reads up the court, off the drive and kick pass, and with the cross court pass to open shooters.     Jackson was the biggest surprise of the event, especially given that he was not added to the event until the night before, as one of his Hanford teammates was not able to play and Jackson filled his spot. Jackson came out aggressive from the start of the opening game of the Prospect Preview Showcase, as he would finish with an event high 20 points and 5 rebounds in the first game, followed by a Top 30 Game co-leading scorer with 12 points, for an overall over 32 points to lead all scorers. Not a bad showing for a player that was not even set to participate 24 hours before. Jackson has a lengthy and athletic frame, has active hands, lateral quickness, agility, and timing to deflect passes, jump passing lanes, alter/block shots, or poke the ball out from his opponent, is active on the boards to get points off the putback, limit the opponent to single shot possessions, and has the handle to push the ball up the court. What I was most impressed with at the Showcase was Jackson's relentless attempt to attack the basket off the dribble, using the crossover, hesitation, between-cross, and wrap-behind to get by his defender, and his length and strides to get to the basket with relative ease, and showed he can finish in a variety of ways around the cup, with the up-and-under and the reverse lay-ups.     Jackson came into the Prospect Preview as one of the top prospects in the Section, and one of the more accomplished players after being a key piece for the Cougars in its run to the D2 Section Title. Jackson had his offensive skill set and sharp shooting on display at the Preview Showcase, going for 9 points and 5 rebounds in his first game, followed with 7 points and 5 rebounds in the Top 30 All-Star Game, for a total of 16 points, connecting on a few threes over the 2 games played. Jackson has dynamic handles, does not waste dribbles, gets to his shots spots with great lift and accuracy on the mid-range jumper off the dribble, with various moves to get by his initial defender, using the crossover combos, hesitation, step-back, and fadeaway to create space, moves fluidly off the ball to get open, hunts his spots, and is effective with the 3-ball off the catch. Jackson is an underrated defender that has the wingspan and timing to deflect passes, jump passing lanes, or alter shots on the perimeter, to turn defense to offense and get out in the open court.     Leung has been one of the more slept on players in the Section since my first viewing of him last year as a sophomore at the Polly Tournament in Visalia, as well as over the Summer with both Redwood and his club team Harris Elite, and he brought his versatile and skilled game to the Prospect Preview, as he would drop 13 points and collect 6 rebounds in his team's first game, which earned him a spot in the Top 30 All-Star Game, where he would go for 7 points and 2 assists in a heavily balanced scoring distribution for both teams in the final game of the event. Leung has tight handles, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, has the moves to create off the bounce, using the variations of the crossover, hesitation, spin-move, and fadeaway to get open looks off the wing, is accurate with the jumper from then mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble, is a crafty scorer around the basket, with the euro-step, up-and-under, and reverse lay-ups to score among height, as well as the floater down the lane. Leung has great court vision and precise passing from the high-post to cutting teammates, up the court off the glass to advance the ball in transition, from the low-block to players cutting off the ball, to teammates off the drive and kick pass, and to the diver out of the pick and roll action. Leung has active hands and good length on defense to disrupt passes, alter shots in the paint and on the perimeter, and the timing to jump passing lanes to get out and push the ball in the open court.     Limbrick was a player I had not heard of before but was intrigued by his size and the film I saw of him on his IG page and the wing/slasher came to the Central Valley and played quality hoops, which earned him a spot in the Top 30 All-Star Game. Limbrick had games of 10 points and 2 assists, followed by 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 more assists in the Top 30 Game, showcasing his ability to impact both ends of the court. Limbrick is active on the glass, gets points off the missed shot, has enough handles to push the ball up the court, active hands and good timing on defense to deflect passes, jump passing lanes, and alter shots on the perimeter with his length and bounce. Offensively, Limbrick has a strong handle on the ball, the moves to get by his initial defender, using the crossover, hezzy, fadeaway, wrap-behind, and between-cross to get open looks, has a great burst of speed to get downhill, the strength to score through contact around the basket, as well as use the euro-step, up-and-under, and reverse lay-ups to evade shot blockers. Limbrick moves well off the ball, gets to the open spot, and is effective with the 3-ball off the catch.     Ormond has a strong showing this past club season with Team Build Up on the Made Hoops West Circuit, followed by a solid showing with St. Joseph in June. Ormond had a near double-double in his opening game, with 9 points and 8 rebounds, followed by 7 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in the Top 30 All-Star Game, and was one of the more intriguing next level prospects at the Prospect Preview. Ormond has solid handles, moves to create off the dribble, using the crossover, hesitation, fadeaway, spin-move, and between-cross to get space from his defender, is effective with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, uses the euro-step, pro-hop, spin-move, and up-and-under lay-ups to score among height, as well as the interior moves and footwork to get space from his defender and score in close quarters. Ormond is a great rebounder on both ends, gets points off missed shots, has the handle to push the ball in the open court, or outlet and get up the court to score in transition, active hands, good timing, and lateral quickness to deflect passes, alter shots, or jump passing lanes to turn defense to offense.     Spears is a wiry and lengthy wing/slasher that impacts the game in countless ways, which I saw him produce at the BC Team Camp in June, and he brought that same level of intensity and relentless effort to the Prospect Preview. Spears had 5 points and 5 rebounds in his opening game and earned a spot in the Top 30 All-Star Game, where he would go for 8 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist. Spears has active hands, quick lateral movement, timing, and instincts to deflect passes, jump passing lanes, alter shots on the wing, and poke the ball out to get out in the open court and push the pace of play. Spears uses the crossover, hesitation, and between-cross to get by his initial defender, creative scoring the ball around the basket, and capable of scoring the ball with the mid-range jumper off the dribble.

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 10 standout wing/slashers with all classes combined in this article (class of 2027 through 2030) 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 Hudson De Groot.