Clovis North Nike Fall Shootout: Standout Junior Guards

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fresno, CA - This past weekend, Saturday, October 3rd, and Sunday, October 4th, Clovis North hosted the Nike Fall Shootout, which featured teams from Fresno, Clovis, Bakersfield, Merced, Tracy, San Francisco, Folsom, Stockton, and Visalia in a Pool Play format on Day 1, followed by Bracket Play on Sunday. I was in attendance for both days and was able to cover a good amount of games before I headed out the gym Sunday early afternoon. This article takes a look at 7 standout junior guards from the class of 2028 that performed well at the Shootout, which will be followed by standout players from other positions and grad classes. 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 rising junior lead guard, Elijah Banuelos. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["3791000"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":3791002,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6acafc649a941"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 6-foot-2 lead guard has a versatile skill set, can score in volume, make plays for others at a high level, and can space the floor from beyond the arc. Banuelos had a big time scoring performance in a tough buzzer beater loss to Liberty of Brentwood, leading the T-Wolves in scoring with 21 points, showing off his 3-level scoring ability. Banuelos keeps the ball on a string, has tight handles to keep the ball from his defender, has great court vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, cross court to open shooters, up the court off the glass to players ahead of the defense, and moves fluidly off the ball to get to his shot spots, where he is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch. Banuelos has a variety of moves to create space off the bounce, using the crossover combos, hesitation, spin-move, fadeaway, and the jab-step to get open looks, has good body control and lift on the mid-range jumper with accuracy, has a good burst of speed off the dribble to get paint touches, great footwork and use of the pivot to find openings in the defense to get his shot off, and is a crafty scorer around the basket, using the euro-step, up-and-under, and reverse lay-ups to evade shot blockers. Banuelos has active hands, good instincts, and the lateral footspeed to deflect passes, jump passing lanes, or dive on the ground to snatch the ball from his opponent, and is a great positional rebounder to get out and push the pace of play. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["3791009"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6acafc649a976"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The 5-foot-9 sharp shooting guard can light it up from beyond the arc, scores in volume, and showed he can attack off the wing when his defender over-pursues on the close out. Chatman had a huge game for the Bengals in its final game of the Shootout, as he would put up 11 points, connecting on 3 threes, showing he is the perfect compliment on the wing to space the floor playing along-side play-makers [player_tooltip player_id='2954272' first='Sier' last='Harbin'] and Dasani Davis. Chatman moves fluidly off the ball, running off screens, using back-cuts and v-cuts to get space from his defender, and forcing his defender to chase him from one side of the court to the other, squares his body up with good control, and can fire from beyond the arc at a high-clip with accuracy on the 3-ball off the catch. Chatman showed improved handles and court awareness to use the head-fake, pump-fake, or the hesitation moves to freeze his defender or get them in the air, and displayed a confident mid-range jumper off the dribble in the open space of the floor. Chatman also looked more comfortable pushing the ball up the court when needed and playing with the ball in his hands. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["3791010"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":3772748,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6acafc649a9a0"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The 6-foot-3 lead guard has been one of the fastest rising prospects from the Central Section over the past two months, putting up some monster scoring numbers, with a 40-point showing at the Clovis West Nike Shootout in mid-September. Davis displayed his play making in the Bengals win over Clovis East to close out the Shootout, dropping 7 dimes to go with his 8 points and 2 steals to highlight his overall impact on the game. Davis has elite handles, keeps the dribble alive to find openings in the defense to attack, has great court vision and court awareness to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, cross court to open shooters, and up the court off the glass, as he is a good positional rebounder. He made some great reads despite not shooting as efficiently the past 5 or 6 times I have seen him play in the past 3 to 4 months. Davis has the moves to create off the bounce, is a true 3-level scorer that uses the crossover combos, hezzy, step-backs, and fadeaways in his scoring arsenal to create space from his defender, moves fluidly off the ball, gets to his shot spots, and can light it up from deep to score in volume, but this one game showed he can adapt and use his overall skill set to impact the game when not dropping 25 plus a game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["3791011"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6acafc649a9c2"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The 6-foot-1 combo guard has the moves to create scoring opportunities, makes plays for others, and is active on the glass. Gutierrez had a great showing in a tough loss to Redwood of Visalia, but he did his part with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals and will be a key factor for the Mustangs this season, coming over from Bakersfield High. Gutierrez has solid handles, has the moves to get open looks off the bounce, using the crossover, wrap-behind, fadeaway, and hesitation to get free from his opponent, is accurate with the mid-range jumper off the dribble with good body control, and is a crafty scorer around the basket with the euro-step, floaters, or up-and-under lay-ups to evade shot-blockers. Gutierrez crashes the boards on both ends, has the handle to push the ball off the glass, has good court vision to find open players off the drive and kick, from the top of the key to cutting players, cross court to open shooters, and up the court to open players ahead of the defense. He has active hands, lateral quickness, and timing to deflect pass or jump passing lanes, and looks to push the ball routinely. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["3758276"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6acafc649a9e3"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The 6-foot-4 wing/guard has a variety of moves to create scoring opportunities, is a true 3-level scorer, and has the decision making to be a high level play maker with the ball in his hands. Leung had a monster showing against Stockdale of Bakersfield to close out varsity play on Day 1 of the Shootout, with no Jacob Wheeler in action, Kendrick went to work early and often, finishing with 24 of the team's 57 points to help the Rangers get the 4 point win, and that was accompanied by 6 assists and 2 steals, showing why many that know his game see Leung as one of the best prospects in the junior class. Leung has a solid handle on the ball, various moves to create off the bounce, using the crossover combo, hesitation, step-back, fadeaway, spin-move, and one-legged jumper to get space from his defender, is accurate with the jumper off the bounce from the mid-range to the 3-point line, has great body control when on the attack, is a creative scorer around the basket with the euro-step, up-and-under, and reverse lay-ups to evade rim protectors, and moves freely off the ball to get to his shot spots, where he is effective with the 3-ball off the catch. Leung has solid court vision and good decision making to find open players off the drive and kick pass, cross court to open shooters, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, and to open teammates up the court off the glass in transition. Leung has active hands, good timing, and the lateral movement to stay in front of his opponent, deflect passes, jump passing lanes, and alter shots on the wing, as well as in the paint, showing he highly impacts the game in countless ways. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["2843541"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6acafc649a9ff"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The 6-foot-4 lead guard has been the hottest commodity in the Section since his standout Summer with his ability to create shots for himself, make plays for others, and emerged as a true 3-level scorer that leaves his imprint on both ends of the floor. Smith and Clovis handled both opponents it played on Day 1 of the Shootout, as it was only playing in games on Saturday, and Smith continues to simplify the game, which is allowing him to control the pace of play and turn the game in his favor. I was most impressed with his full court pressure and perimeter defense, displaying great footwork, lateral quickness, active hands, and timing to deflect passes, jump passing lanes, and swarm his opponent to poke the ball out, turning defense to transition offense routinely. Smith has elite handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, has the court vision and precision to make tough passes in tight windows, has a variety of moves to create space from his defender, moved well off the ball to get to his shot spots, is accurate with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and is a crafty scorer around the basket. Smith's action on the glass and his coast to coast bang out down the lane showed that he still has more to add to his game, which is scary for the opponents. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["2915953"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6acafc649aa1b"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The 6-foot-4 wing/guard makes quality decisions with the ball in his hands, can score from 3-levels at a high-clip, and has limitless range from beyond the arc. Sweeney was side-lined during the Spring portion of the club season, after a foot injury, and made his full return at the Shootout, and his impact on the Bears roster was immediate, as he made plays, hit some shots, and displayed the moves that show why I have him in my Top 10 for the 2028 class. Sweeney really impressed with his play making, keeping the ball on a string, using his height and precise passing to thread the needle to open players cutting off the ball, to teammates off the drive and kick pass, or to shooters open cross court, as well as to players ahead in transition off the rebound and push. Sweeney has a variety of moves to get open, using the crossover combos, hesitation, step-back, and spin-move to create space from his defender, is accurate with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble, moves freely off the ball, gets to his shot spots, and can fire it from deep off the catch to score in bunches. He will be a key piece for the Bears this season, and it was great to see him back in action. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->