Central Cali’s Class of 2029 Player Rankings (6-10)

This is the initial round of these player rankings for the Class of 2029, as this list has been compiled over the past six months. This first round of 2029 player rankings were compiled looking at play in the month of June, over the Spring and Summer Club portions of the year, and most recently in team and individual events in the Fall portion of the basketball calendar, like our Next Up Showcase for example. This initial list includes 20 players from the class of 2029 from the Central Section. This list of players was compiled using my own evaluations, along with feedback from knowledgeable media, coaches, and other relevant basketball personnel from the Section, to make up the top 20 freshman prospects for this first round of player rankings for the 2028 Class. However, the order of players on this list is my own. I will update these rankings by the end of the high school season and will expand to include any players that I see that need to be a part of these rankings. This list takes into consideration two key factors in determining where players are ranked, and will be the same criteria used each time this list is updated. The criteria for these rankings are as follows: current skill level and production on the court, as well as future projection at the collegiate level. The depth, size, talent, and skill of this class so far could lead to some impactful moments as freshman on varsity, as well as impressive statistics and numbers that will set some on track to achieve key milestones and even school records. This article takes a look at the next five prospects from the 2029 graduation class, #6 through #10, and will be followed by 2 more articles in waves of 5 players, the next being #11-#15. Given that many of these players are unknown or not well known beyond the Central Section as freshmen, I wanted to elaborate more on each player. In this article, you will find the following information: current rank, the player's name, height, player position, and current school attending, as well as a brief discussion of their skill set. We begin this article with the intriguing forward from Bullard, Kingston Sligh.   6. Kingston Sligh |6'5| WF (Bullard Knights-Fresno)   Sligh is a fundamentally sound and skilled forward that controls the glass, plays to his strengths, and comes in at #6 in this initial list of 2029 player rankings. I was fortunate to see Sligh several times throughout the month of June, as well as in several team events in the Fall, and the key takeaway each time was consistency in his level of play, which is rare for most freshmen. Sligh crashes the boards, has nice touch on putback shots off the glass, keeps the ball at shoulder height to prevent smaller players from poking out the ball, runs the floor well in the open court, and has good timing on dives to the basket off the pick and roll action, with good hands to receive the ball and the body control to finish at the basket through contact. Sligh is effective with the mid-range jumper, has enough handle to put the ball on the deck and attack from the mid-post area, alters shots in the paint, as well as the ability to step out and alter perimeter shots, and is capable of defending smaller players on switches off ball screens. Sligh is poised for a productive freshman season and will be a part of the core rotation for the Knights.   7. Phillip Fletcher |6'4| WF (Central Valley Christian Cavaliers-Visalia)   Fletcher is a skilled and sharp shooting forward that can score the ball from 3-levels, is active on the glass, can defend against bigger players in the post, and comes in at #7 in these player rankings. I got my first look at Fletcher at the 5th Annual Next Up Showcase, hosted at his home school and he made his presence felt with impressive shot making and good size, as his confidence soared over the course of his two showcase games. Fletcher scored 10 points and connected on a pair of threes in his first game, followed by an 18 point and 7 rebound showing in his second game, making some tough perimeter shots in the process. Fletcher crashes the boards on both ends, gives himself multiple putback opportunities off the rebound, uses his length to alter shots around the basket, has enough handle to push the ball up the court, as well as good at outletting the ball and getting up the court, as he runs the floor well with an understanding of floor spacing and getting ahead of the defense. Fletcher has the handle and moves to create off the perimeter, moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch, is accurate with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and has nice touch and creative finishes around the basket, with the strength to score through contact. Fletcher's skill set reminds me a lot of recent graduate Caden Lloyd, with more skill at this age, and if he can get close to the 6'9 frame of Lloyd, he could be one of the top prospects in the Section by his senior season. A player to keep an eye on in this class for sure.     8. Asaph Akouete |6'6| WF (St. Joseph Knights-Santa Maria)   Akouete is a lengthy and bouncy wing/forward that can score in a variety of ways, can defend multiple positions, has the ideal build to be a high-level wing/slasher over the next few years, and comes in at #8 in this round of 2029 rankings. I got my first look at Akouete at our 5th Annual Next Up Showcase, and he would leave a big impression on me and some of the other high school coaches in attendance, going for a monster 23 point and 10 rebound opening game followed by an 18 point showing in his second game, and was one of the top scorers at the event. Akouete uses his long wingspan and height to block/alter shots in the paint with the agility to switch off on smaller players and alter perimeter shots, has active hands to deflect entry passes into the post, as well as poke the ball away from perimeter players and the timing to jump passing lanes, which allows him to get out in the open court, where he can throw down some dazzling dunks. Akouete moves well off the ball, gets to the open spots on the floor, and is effective with the 3-ball off the catch, has enough handle and the moves to create off the bounce, gets good lift with accuracy on the mid-range jumper, does a solid job on the boards for putbacks or outlets off the defensive rebound to get up the court for easy transition buckets. If Akouete puts in the work, especially on his handles and moves off the perimeter, he could be one of the top prospects in the Section for this class by the end of his high school career.    9. Malique Davis |5'6| PG (Bakersfield Drillers)   Davis is a shifty and skilled lead guard than can spray shots from beyond the arc at a high clip, scores in volume, spaces the floor, and comes in at #9 in this list of player rankings. Davis is a player I have seen more than most in the 2029 class since middle school, and he has always been one of the more dynamic guards in his class. Davis solidified the reputation of being a lights out shooter from deep at the 5th Annual Next Up Showcase, as he would go for 14 points and 15 points respectively, connecting on 7 threes over the two games. Davis keeps the dribble alive to survey the floor, has a quick burst of speed off the bounce to get paint touches, plays low to the ground and weaves through the defense to find holes to either make tough reads to open teammates or score in creative ways around the basket, has nice touch on the floater down the lane, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch or the dribble with range from deep. Davis plays with good pace, has good body control, and keeps pressure on the defense staying in attack mode at all times.    10. Larry Sain |6'3| WF (Hanford Bullpups)   Rounding out the top 10 is Sain; a wiry and lengthy wing that can score the ball, is a versatile defender, and excels in the open court. I first saw Sain in June at the Clovis West Summer Shootout, and his style of play caught my attention quickly with his length and build. Sain participated in our 5th Annual Next Up Showcase, where he had games of 10 points and 5 rebounds and 6 points and 3 rebounds respectively. Sain has the length and lateral quickness to defend the 1 through 3 positions at a high level, uses his wingspan to alter shots from the weakside at the basket, as well as alter/deflect shots on the wing, and is solid on the boards to get the ball out and get up the floor. Sain has the handles to get by his defender, gets good lift on the jumper, has good feel on the floater, and uses the reverse and up-and-under lay-ups to score around the basket. Sain is one of several young but talented players that will keep the Bullpups expectations high the next few seasons.

This is the initial round of these player rankings for the Class of 2029, as this list has been compiled over the past six months. This first round of 2029 player rankings were compiled looking at play in the month of June, over the Spring and Summer Club portions of the year, and most recently in team and individual events in the Fall portion of the basketball calendar, like our Next Up Showcase for example. This initial list includes 20 players from the class of 2029 from the Central Section. This list of players was compiled using my own evaluations, along with feedback from knowledgeable media, coaches, and other relevant basketball personnel from the Section, to make up the top 20 freshman prospects for this first round of player rankings for the 2028 Class. However, the order of players on this list is my own. I will update these rankings by the end of the high school season and will expand to include any players that I see that need to be a part of these rankings. This list takes into consideration two key factors in determining where players are ranked, and will be the same criteria used each time this list is updated. The criteria for these rankings are as follows: current skill level and production on the court, as well as future projection at the collegiate level. The depth, size, talent, and skill of this class so far could lead to some impactful moments as freshman on varsity, as well as impressive statistics and numbers that will set some on track to achieve key milestones and even school records. This article takes a look at the next five prospects from the 2029 graduation class, #6 through #10, and will be followed by 2 more articles in waves of 5 players, the next being #11-#15. Given that many of these players are unknown or not well known beyond the Central Section as freshmen, I wanted to elaborate more on each player. In this article, you will find the following information: current rank, the player's name, height, player position, and current school attending, as well as a brief discussion of their skill set. We begin this article with the intriguing forward from Bullard, Kingston Sligh.