Border League: Under-the-Radar in SoCal

<p>The Border League event featured many of the top programs on the west coast with state representation from teams in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and more. Games from the highest division, the Top Flight Division, were featured on ESPN 2 Sunday with the title game resulting in IMG Academy defeating Coronado (NV) led by University of Texas-commit Tamar Bates and highly-regarded center Moussa Diabate.</p> <p>The California representation featured two CIF Southern Section Open Division-caliber teams, which were not able to go by official school names due to the event being out of season, including “Big Red” based out of Santa Ana and “Husky Nation” based out of Corona. Other SoCal based programs included “Eagle Select,” “San Diego Falcons,” “MoVal Mustangs,” and “NC Mavs,” among others.</p> <p>In this piece we take a look at some of the under-the-radar California-based prospects who played well in this event.</p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="956470" first="Diego" last="Campisano"]</strong>, 2021, San Diego Falcons - We learned quite a bit about Campisano’s game from tuning into this event and the biggest takeaway was how athletic he is in space and how good of a slashing finisher he is. The wiry 6-foot-6 senior wing has good pop in his legs, runs the floor with energy and uses his length to extend to the rim and finish.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Kyle Evans</strong>, 2022, Eagle Select - Evans’ should carve out a nice role in his first season of varsity action. The 6-foot-8 forward has great touch on his face-up jumper and has soft hands and good interior footwork. Evans will need to continue to develop his defensive and rebounding presence, but he’s a intriguing big man prospect to track over the next two seasons.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Jalen McRee</strong>, 2021, MoVal Mustangs - McRee doesn’t do anything flashy or anything that’ll blow you away athletically, but his steadiness offensively and solid defensive presence makes him a guy who could be an option at the next level. The 6-foot-2 senior can knock down the open three-point shot, makes high IQ decisions and can defend both guard positions effectively.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="998476" first="Jasyre" last="Robinson"]</strong>, 2023, MoVal Mustangs - Robinson showed flashes of his potential last season as a freshman and he continued to unveil more layers of his game at the Border League. The 6-foot-8 sophomore is one of the highest upside prospects in SoCal due to his combination of size, length, mobility and fluid athleticism. Robinson showed inside, outside and transition scoring ability at this event and still has plenty of time to develop his defensive prowess both on the ball and protecting the rim.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="956465" first="Nate" last="Witte"]</strong>, 2021, San Diego Falcons - Witte should be a big time target for Division III or NAIA programs looking for a player who can come in and make an immediate impact. The 6-foot-1 off-guard has a consistent three-point shot off the catch, moves well without the basketball, has deep range and a quick trigger, but can also get to the rim in transition with the burst and pop in his legs that defenders don’t expect to see.</span></p>