BballCO Showcase: All-Showcase Second Team

The BballCO Showcase continues to be one of my favorite events on the calendar. It's concentrated basketball with college coaches in the gym, some of the state's top talent competing against each other and very few possessions where you can afford to take a play off. What made this year's event especially fun to evaluate was how many players had legitimate stretches where they stood out. I could find something positive to write about every prospect who competed, and several made these selections extremely difficult. Ultimately, these five separated themselves enough to finish among my top 10 performers at the event and earn a spot on my All-Showcase Second Team.    It was a weird spot for me personally on evaluating Kayden's day. He has an argument for why he should've been on the 1st Team, but it looked so easy for him in his spurts that I feel that he took the foot off the gas. His first play of the game was a ferocious dunk where he dared anybody to go up with him. He also started pinning the smaller guys and finishing through contact or getting fouled and no other bigs could slow him down as well. When he wasn't on the inside finishing, he stepped out on the perimeter and shot a couple of 3-pointers, set screens that freed up teammates and showed his defensive versatility as well. It wasn't the loud performance that we're accustomed to seeing right now, but he still showed that when he wanted to he could do every single thing on the floor. So we'll pencil him into the 2nd team.     Valdez is my favorite watch in the state right now and this was the best that I seen him. He was unleashed and played freely and one of the things that I've wanted more of in his game is playing fast and downhill rather than the game manager role where he's trying to react to what defenses could possibly be throwing at him. He had chemistry with every player on his team because he's such an unselfish pass-first guard whose high IQ and so dangerous in the PnR. He was turning the corner and either shooting or dishing it to open teammates, he got out in transition and found the open man, he handles pressure and skips it to open teammates and we also finally got to see him with another true PG as well and he showed he could adapt to that as well and be dangerous in the offense. Cruz battles defensively, he forces steals, denies his man and is one of the better two-way players in the state. He's looked like the top prospect in that class to me personally for the past month and the best part is he's been doing it against the top juniors and seniors. Smoky is going to be much more improved with him a year wiser. Cruz is certified.     Brayden is a player who is starting to click and at the right time. At the showcase we saw the same things that we saw all summer and even to begin the fall, a game changer. Brayden is just so impactful on the floor and this was an outing where he wanted to score the ball. He took plenty of shots, he continued to relocate to open spots for shots and after a slower start he really got going. Once he got into the 5 on 5 portion of the day he really started to look loose. Brayden rebounds well and keeps the ball high, he goes right up after securing the board and is one of the more versatile players in this class. Brayden sees the floor well and can generate the offense at times and hopefully we see more of that this year to be the escape for that Chatfield squad. He made a pretty big jump in the rankings for some of the things that we're seeing and he was one of the top prospects at the event.     Eli has been on a mission since last offseason and the growth to his game is tremendous. We saw him have big moments this Summer, he got out to our showcase and was one of the best players at the event and at BBallCo's showcase I expected him to blend in a bit more. What we saw was a more balanced and mature game. This wasn't the primary ball-handling role that we've grown accustomed to where he's attacking the rim and finishing at the basket but we saw the jumpshot and him getting to the mid range pullup, the spacing he provided with hitting his outside shots and he also played offball but was still aggressive. Eli had a stretch where he dominated in iso. He kept getting bigger defenders on him, he held them off with his guide hand and is one of the better left hand finishers in the state. He controlled the pace, created off the dribble and also made some defensive stands. He continues to stand out for me and this should be a big big season for him and that FFC.     I like the fact that Powell got out to the event again and wanted to measure himself against the rest of the state. I feel like he's one of the top ranked players who others question how talented he is simply off where he goes to school and then he comes out and has a solid day where he shows balance, control and take over capabilities. He's a true guard who you can tell works on his game. His handle is tight and polished, he handled pressure well, finished inside amongst trees and is a sniper from deep. Every open look that he got it felt like went in. He didn't have to be the primary PG either to stay engaged. Powell showed that he could play off ball, he found gaps int he defense and made scoring moves instead of just rotating every time. He also challenged himself defensively and held his own against other solid guards, played them closely and battled. Solid day for him that answered a few questions for me on how it looks in different settings.

The BballCO Showcase continues to be one of my favorite events on the calendar. It's concentrated basketball with college coaches in the gym, some of the state's top talent competing against each other and very few possessions where you can afford to take a play off. What made this year's event especially fun to evaluate was how many players had legitimate stretches where they stood out. I could find something positive to write about every prospect who competed, and several made these selections extremely difficult. Ultimately, these five separated themselves enough to finish among my top 10 performers at the event and earn a spot on my All-Showcase Second Team.