California Live '25: Central Cali’s Standout Bigs

Southern California - The 3rd Annual California Scholastic Live Period Tournament served as a capstone for June, held at OGP Ladera, an 8-court facility in Ladera Ranch, as well as San Juan Hills High School. The tournament featured over 150 high schools from California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Washington with some of the top teams in the country, as well as some of the nation's top prospects, squaring off in front of college coaches from all divisions, as well as JUCO coaches. This article focuses on the top forwards and centers from teams located in the Central Section of California, an area that has traditionally been overlooked and underrecruited. There is no ranked order to the players listed below, but are listed in alphabetical order. Below we will look at six standout bigs, which will be followed by a look at the top lead guards and wing/guard prospects.    Bare has added muscle to his frame and improved his perimeter shooting, both of which were evident at California Live. Bare is a 6-foot-9 forward/center that has a massive wingspan to control the boards, alter shots in the paint, and get his shot off over most players. Bare has good footwork and back to the basket moves to score the ball within 15-feet. Bare has a soft touch on shots around the basket, makes good passes from the high-post, and plays well off the pick and roll action. Bare, along with his two teammates discussed below, make up one of the biggest front courts in California, and his veteran play on varsity for 3 years will be relied upon to replace the interior presence of recent graduate, and all-time leading scorer in California, Tounde Yessoufou.      Daramola is one of the top emerging bigs in the rising junior class in California, and he displayed his elite athleticism and dominant play in the paint on both ends of the court at the recent California Live event in Ladera. Defensively, the 6-foot-8 forward is a high-level shot blocker and rim protector that patrols the paint, is a quick leaper, and has good timing going straight-up or coming from the weak side. Daramola has the quickness and lateral movement to close out and alter shots from the perimeter, controls the defensive glass and limits opponents to one-shot possessions, and outlets the ball quickly to get up and run the floor in the open court. Offensively, Daramola has nice touch on shots around the basket, uses his quick leaping ability to stay active on the glass for second and third shot opportunities for his team, and looks to throw down anything near the basket off the glass or the lob. Taiwo has a solid jumper from the mid-post and is improving his handles to attack the basket from the top of the key. Daramola recently picked up an offer from New Mexico State.      Harris is a more traditional big that holds down the interior on both ends and plays within his skillset, which was on display at OGP Ladera and San Juan Hills HS a few weeks back in SoCal. The 6-foot-9 center/forward controls the glass on both ends with good technique on the box out, he keeps the ball at chest level or above to avoid pesky guards looking to poke the ball out, and has nice touch on the putback or tip-in off the rebound. Harris has nice footwork in the post, has good post-moves to score with his back-to-the-basket, and is effective with the jumpshot to create space and open up driving lanes. Harris is a quality shot blocker and rim protector, has the physical build to defend against opposing bigs, and has good court awareness to find the dunker spot, opposite his teammates attacking the basket, for easy drop-off passes, which lead to lay-ups and dunks for the big man. Harris will be relied upon to anchor both ends of the floor this coming season for the Central Section D1 runner-ups looking to make it back to the championship game.      Eyita had a solid Spring on the Nike Circuit with Team Why Not 16u EYBL before heading into the month of June and the scholastic live periods in Arizona and California. The 6-foot-9 power forward has a solid frame and uses his physical presence to dominate post-play for the Knights over the 3-day event in SoCal. Eyita has nice touch on finishes around the basket, dunks with authority on putbacks and lobs, is dominant on the offensive and defensive boards, is a good rim protector, and has the strength to finish through contact around the basket with good efficiency from the free throw line. Eyita has nice touch on his jumper, gets to the elbows where he is most effective shooting the ball, and has enough handle to attack from the top of the key and get down the lane. Eyita will be the anchor for Team Why Not 16s, as it looks to defend its 15u EYBL Title from last year, as well as play a more prominent role for the Knights in the upcoming basketball season.      Sacre continues to solidify himself as the top overall prospect for the 2028 class in the Central Section, and his level of play at the recent scholastic live tournament in SoCal showcased, with Sacre proving to be the most impactful big for St. Joseph over the 3-day event. The 6-foot-8 forward is a great athlete, lengthy and agile, and has a big wingspan to defend multiple positions on the court. Sacre is active on the glass, has the height and length to defend post players, with quick lateral movement and active hands to effectively defend players on the perimeter, which leads to deflections and steals to get out in the open court. Sacre has nice touch around the basket, moves well off the ball to get open for drop off passes close to the rim, and showed some promise as a scoring threat from the perimeter with increased work on his jumper. Sacre was one of the more impressive rising sophomores at the event, and, with continued development, should find himself in the top 15-20 in the state of California by this time next Summer.     Spees left the California Live tournament as one of the hottest prospects and biggest stock risers from the 3-day event, as he would start the tournament off with a big-time showing and game winning 3-pointer over one of the nation's top teams in Sunnyslope of Arizona. The 6-foot-9 Spees has kept the buzz going with a stellar showing at the Adidas Championships in South Carolina this past weekend, putting up great stats and impacting winning for Jalen Green Elite 17u 3SSB. Spees has the moves and handles to create shots off the dribble from the perimeter, is an efficient shooter off the catch and shoot, and has proven he is a true 3-level scorer with the ability to connect on the pull-up jumper or score at the basket with touch around the cup. Spees is a premier shot blocker and rim protector, has good instincts to switch off on smaller players to alter perimeter shots, does a great job on the boards with the handle to push the ball up the court, has good court vision to make reads from the high-post to cutting teammates, and runs the floor well in the open court. Spees is a great student with a 4.5+ GPA and currently holds offers from Fresno State, Boston University, Pepperdine, and Montana with more to come.

Southern California - The 3rd Annual California Scholastic Live Period Tournament served as a capstone for June, held at OGP Ladera, an 8-court facility in Ladera Ranch, as well as San Juan Hills High School. The tournament featured over 150 high schools from California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Washington with some of the top teams in the country, as well as some of the nation's top prospects, squaring off in front of college coaches from all divisions, as well as JUCO coaches. This article focuses on the top forwards and centers from teams located in the Central Section of California, an area that has traditionally been overlooked and underrecruited. There is no ranked order to the players listed below, but are listed in alphabetical order. Below we will look at six standout bigs, which will be followed by a look at the top lead guards and wing/guard prospects.