2026 and 2027 from Pass Tha Ball's #TheSouth

JOURNEY JEFFERSON & JADA MAPLES

They traveled from Orange and Kountze, from San Antonio and Helotes, even from Donie heading 45N to around Dallas, but they also crossed state lines, from back home in Louisiana as well as Arkansas and Oklahoma just to attend The South. I explain over and over, when I cover an event, I look at everyone as much as possible, that's why you came, that's why you paid and you need to know, so unlike the sleight of hand nonsense that is prevalent, I will always keep it real, always did, my daughter has numerous WNBA highlights on here so I kind of know first hand what talent looks like so here is the deal on some of the players, not even playing middle school ball yet

Journey Jefferson-guard-Earle, Arkansas- defensive stopper, athletic and went through the drills with ease. Already understands the simple things, does a good job of creating her shot and attacking the basket not to mention finish with contact

Jada Maples-guard-Earle, Arkansas- well when you can stutter step, at this stage and change direction going full speed, at this stage, you're on to something big that's coming. Handles the ball well, under pressure and finishes multiple ways

Kaelyn Blanchard-guard-Baytown, Texas- athleticism is always good and when you combine it with long arms at this stage, things will fall into place with her work ethic. I love her upside, she gets "it" already and showed she could score

Kyndall Graham-guard- Shreveport, Louisiana- I have a saying, size don't matter, when you can play and she showed the floater and defense early but when the bright lights of Sunday's All Star game came on, coast to coast, pull-up in transition not to mention handles the ball under pressure

Delaney Arredondo-guard- San Antonio, Texas- she's ready for prime-time right now because some things you can't teach so shall I call her a D1 Lock right now? Yes because the game starts at the one, she hits teammates in traffic, understands how to control tempo and can take over offensively. BTW, I ain't been wrong yet

Faith Idowu-guard- Houston, Texas- handles the ball well under pressure, that's always a good sign because you can build on it and her basketball IQ is ahead of where it should be. Defends well, knows how to get her shot off  as well as when to take it

Nia Phillips-guard-Katy-she already possesses a lot of tools that's ahead of the game. Strong inside, she rebounds and pushes the ball the length of the court. She attacks and finishes strong and plays the passing lane. She's 5'7 now and might reach "the magic number" which is 6'0

2027

Mackenzie Teuton-guard- Richmond, Texas- this camp was open to players that were in the 6th grade  and competitive 5th graders so I was overly happy to see her performing. She was solid during the skill set but on Sunday, the gloves were taken off and to open up it up with back to back jumpers got the crowd going. She understands and absorbs so much that her upside is scary good

I didn't include 2026 Whitney Smith in this segment, she traveled from Tulsa Oklahoma and participated with her three older sisters and I did a special story on them

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