Clovis Elks Tournament Day 2: Standout Underclassmen

This past Saturday, I headed to Clovis High for Day 2 of its annual Clovis Elks Tournament. The event features 10 teams playing in a 4-day showcase format, with each team playing in 4 games. Like all the holiday tournaments that started after Christmas, Sunday was an off day, and play resumed Monday. I was there for all 5 games played on Saturday, capped off with a great match-up between Clovis West and Justin Garza of Fresno. This article takes a look at 5 underclassmen that had standout performances on Day 2. In this article you will find the following information: player's information, my own personal recorded statistics, and a brief description of each player's skill sets and how they performed at the Elks. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with emerging sophomore forward Hunter Bradford.    The 6-foot-5 wing/forward is a force in the paint on both ends, makes quality decisions on the court with or without the ball, and every time I see him in person he looks better than the previous viewing, which was in mid-September at the Clovis West Nike Fall Shootout. Bradford's stat line per quarter is an illustration of how he looked on the court, consistent and effective from start to finish, scoring in each quarter, for a total of 17 points to go along with 9 rebounds. Bradford showed he can score it from the mid-post off the dribble or the catch, is highly effective in the screener action, as he is a threat off the pop, but even better off the roll to the basket, where he gets great positioning, and has good body control and strength to score through contact around the basket. Bradford is active on the boards, gets points off putbacks, as well as cutting to the dunker spot, alters shots around the basket with the agility to step out and contest perimeter shots, and has the court vision to make good reads from the high-post, or posting up on the low-block to find the cutters off ball. If Bradford adds the 3-ball to his arsenal and a bit more perimeter game, he could turn out to be one of the top prospects in the 2028 class.     The 6-foot-5 wing/forward has a physical and athletic build, establishes his presence in the paint on both ends of the court, has great body control through contact around the basket, and has great touch at the rim with good court awareness in tight windows. Castro has been having one of the more impactful freshman campaigns in the Section, and that was on full display in the Golden Eagles 72 to 63 win over Garza of Fresno, as he would put up 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks, and altered at least 7-8 more shots throughout the course of the game. Castro has good on-court speed and agility, especially for his class, has great awareness of where the basket is at all times, even with his back to the rim, allowing him to score off timely dives off the pick and roll action, cutting off the ball to the dunker spots, and staying active on the offensive glass for putbacks and second chance scoring opportunities. Castro crashes the boards on both ends, limits opponents to single shot possessions, has the ability to be an elite rim protector with good instincts and leaping ability, with the wingspan to play taller than his listed height, and is a constant shot blocking threat on the court, in the paint, as well as on the perimeter, having the agility and strides to close out on shooters. He can score through contact at the basket, is effective with the mid-post jumper, and has enough handle to push the ball off the glass. One of the more intriguing long term prospects in the Section and impacting the game in a big way for Clovis West from what I was able to see at The Elks.     The 6-foot-3 wing/slasher that has a solid frame, skill to operate from the perimeter, length to impact the paint, and an array of moves to score the ball within 20 feet of the basket. El Capitan found itself in a hole after a tough fought first quarter, as Hoover kept increasing its lead each quarter. However, there was one bright spot that stood out in the Gauchos loss to the Patriots, and it was the talented freshman that had a solid second half showing, finishing with 12 points. Owens has good footwork and crafty moves to score around the basket with touch at the rim, has the handle to create off the dribble from the perimeter or the top of the key to attack the paint, has good body control with the use of the spin-move to evade his defender, and creativity on shots around the basket with the reverse lay-up or the floater to score over height. Owens is accurate with the mid-range jumper off the dribble, is active on the glass, and excels in transition with the ability to push the ball or outlet and get up the court to be the recipient of easy transition buckets. Versatile defender that can guard the 1 through 4 positions and had a couple of attempts from beyond the arc that didn't fall but the shooting form was there. Interesting young prospect to keep an eye on.     The 6-foot-4 lead guard has dynamic handles, the moves to score from 3-levels, makes plays to get others involved, and is an underrated perimeter defender that can turn defense to offense quickly. Smith was in distribution mode in the win over Edison of Fresno, as he was dropping dimes and finding the hot hand, as well as looking to get his own buckets when needed, as he would go for 8 points, 8 assists, and 2 steals. I have been fortunate enough to see Smith play several times over the past 6 months in all settings of prep basketball, being high school team, club ball, and individual showcase events, and the lengthy and athletic guard has played at a high level in each setting and is one of the top 2028 prospects in the Section, as well as the Western region of the US. Smith keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, uses the crossover, behind-cross, between-cross, toss-cross, hesitation, and fadeaway moves to get his defender off balance, gets great lift on the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point with good body control through contact in the air and accuracy on the shot, and is a creative scorer around the basket to evade shot blockers, with the Euro-step, reverse, or up-and-under layups in his arsenal. What impressed me most, and is important for the Cougars to make noise in the TRAC this season, was the way Smith ran the offense and orchestrated the pace of play to set up players for open looks off the drive and kick pass, or finding players on the dive out of the pick and roll action. Smith is a great positional rebounder, which allows him to initiate the transition offense and find players up the court in stride for easy buckets in the open court. Smith is a versatile defender able to lock-up on the perimeter with his wingspan and active hands, combined with the footspeed and lateral quickness to stay in front of opposing guards, allows him to get into his opponents dribbling space, poke the ball out, jump passing lanes, and alter/block shots on the wing, as well as on the weakside in the paint. Smith continues to show he is one of the top overall prospects in the Section and is coming off a Tark Classic MVP in the respective division the Cougars played in.     The 6-foot-1 combo guard has a strong and athletic build, can score the ball effectively from 3-levels, and keeps relentless pressure on his defender to create contact and trips to the free throw line routinely. Wilson had a strong showing in the final game of Day 2, as he would go for a team-high 20 points connecting on a pair of threes in the opening quarter and timely scoring down the stretch to keep his team within striking distance, but the Guardians would come up short, 72-63. Wilson has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, with the use of the low crossover, the behind-cross, the in-and-out, the hesitation, and the toss-cross to create space from his defender, a good burst of speed off the bounce to get by his initial defender, gets great lift on the stop-and-pop mid-range jumper, with good body control to connect through contact in the air, plays with good change of pace and direction when on the attack to get his defender off balance, and is a creative scorer around the basket with the use of the Euro-step or reverse lay-ups, as well as touch on the floater down the lane. Wilson moves fluidly off the ball, gets to his shot spots, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch or the dribble. Wilson is a good positional rebounder, has good court vision to find teammates up the court, as well as in the half court setting off the drive and kick pass or to teammates diving to the basket off the pick and roll action. He is a solid on-ball defender with the lateral quickness and active hands to disrupt his opponents dribbling space and create turnovers, as was evident with his 2 steals. A lot to like about Wilson's upside and continued growth, as he was relied upon to carry the scoring load down the stretch and stepped up to the challenge.

This past Saturday, I headed to Clovis High for Day 2 of its annual Clovis Elks Tournament. The event features 10 teams playing in a 4-day showcase format, with each team playing in 4 games. Like all the holiday tournaments that started after Christmas, Sunday was an off day, and play resumed Monday. I was there for all 5 games played on Saturday, capped off with a great match-up between Clovis West and Justin Garza of Fresno. This article takes a look at 5 underclassmen that had standout performances on Day 2. In this article you will find the following information: player's information, my own personal recorded statistics, and a brief description of each player's skill sets and how they performed at the Elks. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with emerging sophomore forward Hunter Bradford.