The Expo: Guard Standouts

New readers: Use code Proia30     We held our Prep Hoops Expo this past Sunday at the Athletic Republic in Upper Marlboro for select prospects in the 2027-2029 classes. Players were split up into different groups to compete in drill work, 3 on 3 competition, and live 5 on 5 play. Our scouts getting a chance to see over 100 prospects compete in these different settings allowed for a very holistic viewing of the talents that they bring to the floor on an individual basis. In this article, we'll break down several of the top-performing guards from the showcase!      -Guthrie really stood out in 5 on 5 play as an absolute blur of a floor general in the open court. A quick twitch ball handler, Guthrie kept things simple and attacked the top foot of defenders that closed out on him too hard to blow past them and into the teeth of the defense to make plays from especially vulnerable spots on the floor. Guthrie threw a beautiful dime off the spin move to the corner shooter to give his teammate a wide-open look, scored off of several bump n lays through the contact at the rim, had beautiful timing on the backdoor cut from the corner for the inside hand finish, and come up with several huge long rebounds for his team to stretch their lead in a tight game.     -I thought that Frempong served as one of the top guard defenders in the camp as a young prospect that takes pride in forcing turnovers--even in a showcase setting. Frempong uses a quick set of hands to turn his man over for both live and dead ball turnovers, shades his man to the sideline well while still having a hand in the gap to swipe away crossover attempts, and anticipates changes in direction exceptionally-well to force tie-ups in the halfcourt. Frempong also took advantage of his opportunities to take his man off the bounce from the wings throughout the afternoon and made good decisions in traffic.     -Brannigan played exceptionally well in 3 on 3 competition as an off-ball guard that continues to show his play-making chops on the ball as a versatile guard that can do a little bit of everything. Brannigan attacked closeouts well from the wings, knocked down jumpers off the catch and off of stepbacks, and showed some improved moxie to come up with offensive rebounds in traffic in the key. With his blend of IQ, ball skills, and a more creative/aggressive mindset when probing the defense-- I think he is set to be one of the biggest surprises in the WCAC as an X factor for an experienced DeMatha team that graduated its backcourt.     -By far, and I mean by far, the most improved player that I saw not only at The Expo but probably the entire offseason. A polished scorer that could really fill it up from the midrange and in the paint with drives to the rim last season for a very good John Carroll JV team-- Brown showed off an improved vertical that makes him an even more devastatingly-efficient finisher in the halfcourt. Brown made several plays above the rim, showed a great first step and sees the floor well OTB, walked into an NBA 3 in the secondary break, and pushed the pace in transition really well throughout the course of the afternoon. If this weekend is any indication, the Patriots should have a nice replacement for graduating all-time leading scorer Aiden Able in the lightning-quick sophomore guard.     -The southpaw floor general put on for AA county as a good vertical athlete that made plays at both ends of the floor for his team. Anjorin started things off by racing in transition to pin a layup attempt off the glass, showed great burst with the ball in his hands as a clever slashing PG, and moved the ball well around the horn to find his team the right look. His ability to rebound over bigs in the paint guard multiple spots, and put pressure on the rim should be huge for Arundel this season.

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