Prep Hoops Maryland Expo: Team 5 Notables

We continue with coverage from this weekend's Expo as we move on to Team 4 evaluations. See links for the other team evals below!   <a href="https://prephoops.com/2026/09/the-expo-maryland-team-1-notables/">Team 1 evaluations</a>   <a href="https://prephoops.com/2026/09/the-expo-second-team/">Team 2 evaluations</a>   <a href="https://prephoops.com/2026/09/the-expo-maryland-team-3-notables/">Team 3 evaluations</a>   <a href="https://prephoops.com/2026/09/prep-hoops-maryland-expo-team-4-notables/">Team 4 evaluations</a>    Part of my evaluation process is to judge a player's activity when he doesn't have the ball or maybe his shot isn't falling as much as it typically does. For Kramer, you could tell that he was used to making the majority of shots that didn't fall his way on Sunday, but what I liked most was his energy in other areas. He pursued rebounds at both ends as if the ball belonged to him and him only. He made multiple efforts on the defensive end to help generate stops and if he couldn't close down the possession himself with a rebound, he was looking to tip the ball out to a guard and spark the fast break. There are still plenty of positive ways to impact a game without scoring and Kramer proved to me that he has the know-how and ability to do just that.     Maguire is a smooth shooter from distance and it take a split-second for him to get it off, especially on kick-outs where he squares up with perfect timing to receive the ball in his shooting pocket and immediately get into his release. As long as both his feet are set or he's able to get into a 1-2 coming off a pin-down action, there's a good chance Maguire is going to drill it. He approaches transition the way shooters typically do and flares out to the wing, allowing the ball handler to have ample space to operate in the middle of the floor. This allowed teammates like Chaplin, Parikh and Washington to drive without the worry of Maguire's defender digging down.     Another prospect on this team who will suit up for Oakdale this season, Brooks brings nice size as an off-ball guard with long-range shooting capabilities. Brooks spent his freshman season at St. John's Catholic Prep, but will transition to the Frederick County program who has consistent success within the public school landscape. The rising sophomore can fill it up from the corners in particular and the 3v3 portion of the event was proof, but in the 5v5 he had to find the smaller ways to impact the game and I thought he did that with impact. He filled the lanes in transition, stayed true to his strengths and used his size to disrupt jumpers on closeouts as a defender.     Parikh is a southpaw guard/wing who has seemed to put on some muscle over the past year to his 6-foot-5 frame and he knows how to use it when he gets downhill en route to score at the rim. If his defender cuts off his drive successfully, Parikh can turn and back them down to his liking in the mid-post while maintaining good floor vision as defender slide to help in the middle. He made some nice reads as a passer in ball screens or DHO's where he showed patience and manipulation to open up the window necessary to feed his cutting teammate. He brings positional size, IQ and defensive versatility at the high school level.     Lyons did a lot of the ball handling throughout the day for his team. Between he and Washington, the two controlled the pace and got it moving quickly once they broke down pressure. He has good end-to-end speed with the ball and showed he can tap into another gear on the fly to create driving lanes where he drew two defenders and found the right man for a clean look. Lyons showed his unselfishness with his willingness to make the extra pass as defenders scattered to closeout on his catches from the perimeter.     Washington stood out with the type of play you want out of a point guard. A table-setter who drives with the purpose of creating for others, the 5-foot-9 junior brought breath of fresh air to the event with the way he reads the game. Lost arts such as post entry passes, simple drive-and-kicks after Washington established who his shooters were and forcing his man to turn multiple times while bringing the ball up the floor are all valuable things that aren't emphasized enough in development. Washington can call his own number and get a bucket. He knows how and when to react to others touching the paint to free himself up around the perimeter and when he gets inside himself, he can convert high-arching floaters with regularity.     Farrar showed some wiggle off the bounce when he had his man in space and good burst coming out of his crossover. On a few occasions, Farrar would lean on his long crossover and force help defenders to dig, where he drew fouls as a result of his aggression. When Farrar found the slight creases in his drives, he used long step-throughs or stop-and-go's to slice through and convert with either hand. Defensively he guarded his position well and was consistent in coming back to close out possessions rebounding outside of his area.     Chaplin was another prospect voted to the First Team for this event and it had to do with his two-way presence that, especially in the first 5v5 game of the afternoon, was nothing short of dominant. He tee'd off from three at the top of the key, used his long strides when operating in isolations to establish an advantage against his man and whenever he had a clear path to take off he rose above the rim and flushed it home. Chaplin made his presence felt early defensively with multiple blocks both when chasing down others in transition or rotating over from the weak side. Setting the tone early on that end made forced others to hesitate and locate Chaplin on proceeding takes to the cup.

We continue with coverage from this weekend's Expo as we move on to Team 4 evaluations. See links for the other team evals below!