3SSB Invitational: Versatile Forwards

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>LADERA RANCH — The adidas 3SSB circuit made its final stop of the July live period on the west coast as the majority of the shoe company's teams headed to OGP Ladera in Southern California for the 3SSB Earn Your Stripes Invitational. The event kicked off Thursday morning and droves of college coaches flooded the baselines and sidelines to watch the high-level recruits. Below we break down the most versatile forwards we watched.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Abdou Toure | 2026 | BABC (MA)</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A lot of times versatile prospects are described as those who "fill up the stat sheet" and that description didn't fit anyone better than Toure at the 3SSB Invitational. The 6-foot-6 forward is a bit undersized for his position and skill-set but he makes up for that with his elite energy, defensive versatility and explosive athleticism when getting to the rim. To show evidence of how much of a box score filler he is in one game at Ladera he had a line of 11 points, six rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals in a winning effort. The biggest thing that Toure does is impact winning at a high level.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Alex Smith | 2026 | Midwest Basketball Club (OH)</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Ohio State-commit was impacting the game at a high level offensively - both as a scorer and creator. The 6-foot-9 rising senior was best when stepping out onto the perimeter and knocking down open catch-and-shoot three's but, once opposing defenses started running him off the line with their closeouts, he showed he had the ball skills to put it on the deck and make the right decision on when to score or find an open teammate. Smith averaged just under 15 points per game over the weekend and shot 47% from behind the arc.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='2828496' first='Cameron' last='Anderson'] | 2026 | Team Lillard (CA)</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Anderson is a valuable piece on both ends of the floor because of his combination of skill, physicality and toughness. The 6-foot-7 four man is best offensively as an interior scorer where he uses his broad shoulders to power through contact and his length to extend to the rim to make up for his lack of positional size. Anderson is also a capable scorer in face-up situations where he can put the ball on the floor and drive by bigger, slower defenders.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Christopher Birden, Jr. | 2026 | New Heights (NY)</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Birden had a huge performance in the Saturday afternoon session where he knocked down a flurry of corner three-pointers in a big win over Brookwood Elite. The 6-foot-9 stretch-four type was effective when spotting up in the corners and the guards on his team knew that if they delivered and on-time and on-target pass there was a good chance Birden would knock it in. Birden is a fluid and mobile athlete with smooth jump shooting mechanics.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1782682' first='Latrell' last='Allmond'] | 2026 | Team Loaded (VA) | Pictured</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's easy to type that a prospect is a "do-it-all" guy but Allmond lets the tale of the tape prove his versatility at the four-spot. The 6-foot-8 forward looks to dunk everything around the rim when running the floor or rolling hard out of a ball screen but he also showed the ability to stretch the floor to the three-point line in spot-up and pick and pop situations. Allmond's overall athletic profile of a fluid transition runner with hands, footwork and touch makes him a tough cover at the high school level. Allmond averaged 14.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and two blocks on the weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->