It was great to see Velez with his new team at Grimsely as he’s one of the more refined scoring talents in North Carolina regardless of class. Velez’s ability to make tough shots at his size along while playing with a consistent element of toughness. This group has a lot of new pieces and it really looks like they fit well together with Velez being more than comfortable sliding in as a feature scorer. He’s comfortable operating off the ball where he can really get himself free for open perimeter jumpers as well as being an active cutter where he’s a strong finisher at the rim. Velez is a highly ranked guy in this class and did his job backing it up at team camp with Grimsley.

24p vs SKG

-Love the variance in Velez’s offensive production as a guard prospect that is growing more and more comfortable putting the ball on the floor. Velez started things off by knocking down a pair of triples off the catch, snagged a steal and drove straight down the gut for a monster 2-handed dunk, hit a movement 3 off a flare screen, executed a well-timed euro step in transition for an easy inside hand lay, broke his defender down with a wide crossover at the top of the key to then drill the 1-dribble elbow pullup, took off early to raise up and hit the finger roll over an opponenet in transition, and pushed the pace to earn several trips to the FT line. He’s developing more wiggle and creativity on his drives in the paint once he gets past his matchup to create better finishing angles or draw a foul around the basket. Velez played well with his 15u group and gave the 17u team a nice lift off the bench as they deal with a few injuries this weekend.

Jayden led his team in scoring with 18.0 PPG. A very talented wing guard for his age with a solid handle and the ability to create his own shot off the dribble. Showed an excellent pull-up game and played with a smooth, shifty style that made him difficult to defend. Has tremendous upside with high- to mid-Division I potential. A player to watch closely over the next few years as his game continues to develop.

22p 2r 1a 1s (4/8 3P) vs VA Havoc

-Velez continues to impress as a scoring guard that can really fill it up from all 3 levels. Velez probably could’ve gotten to 30 points on the night if the game wasn’t blown dead (mercy rule) with a few minutes left, showing an ability to knock down shots both off the dribble or off the ball as a movement shooter that gets into his jumper quickly off the catch. Velez threw a well-placed assist over the top to a rolling big for the AND1 bucket, took a defensive rebound C2C to score off a euro step at the rim, threw down some vicious 1-handed dunks in transition, and is playing with confidence as one of the leaders for a very deep DC Assault rotation.

-First time seeing Velez play and he impressed as a shooter that is really working hard to round out his all-around game to meaningfully contribute to winning. Velez knocked down shots off the catch in transition, used that gravity to probe the defense coming off of side or middle ball screens, used his length around the basket to score off of putbacks, and knocked down shots from all 3 levels. Liked his touch around the rim as he finished with floaters or extension layups high off the glass.