Just Play 14U #HoustonSummerSlam

 All I can say is WOW as I close out the 8th grade Division because there are definitely some heavy hitters coming up but just as important, countless players with next-level potential. In case you missed a loaded San Antonio Minez squad, you can read about them on Prep Girls Hoops but here ya go

Kate Earnest (2030) I was speaking with a parent before the game and he told me how well she could shoot the long ball. She dropped her first 2 and he just smiled at me. I don't know how many she hit but I know she will probably set some records she also scored off the dribble and saw the floor, her upside is very good

Ella Clark (2030) showed she could score around the basket multiple ways as well as off the dribble after contact but she saw the floor not only in the set but in transition too. Her defense was solid and she played  the passing lane

Reese Nguyen (2028) rebounded strongly on both ends but seeing her handle the ball afterward to start the break was nice. So was her seeing the floor or just keeping it to score by attacking the basket. She does a good job of creating her shot and drops it from mid to long-range

Maddie Bennett (2029) scored off the dribble from multiple angles using a deceptive first step but she also did a good job inside the paint by scoring around the basket or rebounding on both ends

Ahnoe Campbell (2028) showed me some progression since I first saw her a year ago and her interior defense has gotten better but so has her lateral movement to guard her man outside the paint. She scored inside the paint, rebounded strongly on both ends, and even battled for loose balls on the floor 

Houston Lady Roadrunners 2029 #HoustonSummerSlam

 I get tickled watching these young ladies grow up right before my eyes so Tasharion Robinson reminded me that her younger sister Tia was playing. I'll never forget watching big sister for the first time in the 5th grade and knew big things were waiting, she starred at Clear Sprigs and then SFA but guess what, the BABY IS COMING as well

Tia Robinson (2029) is a "long and athletic" guard who left me speechless showing her pull-up jumper from very deep. She's going to be hard to handle because she's explosive off the dribble, has nice body control on her finishes, and has good court vision. Her defense was also solid plus she played the passing lane

Rhianna Washington (2029) uses her athleticism well on both ends and her pressure defense helped to create turnovers while her scoring off the dribble after contact was also nice, but so was her playing the passing lane yet with her being "long and athletic" with a jumper, oh my

Alexis Mars (2029) gave me a little bit of everything quickly as she showed she could do damage in the paint, on both ends starting with rebounding. She also scored around the basket, putbacks included, and gave me a nice turnaround jumper. She even stepped outside and dropped it

Abigail Flores (2030) proved #sizedontmatter when you can play and first of all, she's heady and stays under control but she also applied pressure defensively as well as attacked strongly off the dribble. Another big thing was her being able to drop the jumper from deep

Lady Thunder Blue #HoustonSummerSlam

 Lady Thunder Blue rhymes with I SEE YOU and that has nothing to do with one of my favorite NPR shows yet the NPR acronym means something special, NEW PLAYERS RISING and I can always count on my dear friend for putting players I probably would never see in front of me and here are some of them 

Kynnedi Heslip (2028) Kynnedi rhymes with energy and she brings plenty of that on both ends of the court. She does a good job applying pressure on the defensive end, she attacks the basket and finishes strongly but her court vision is nice, oh yeah, she plays the passing lane

Aaliyah Childress (2030) not sure if she can sing but I heard several tunes from this #sizedontmatter guard because she can play. I guess her being "feisty" and creating havoc around the ball grabbed my attention first but she also brought "on the ball" heat. She attacked the basket fiercely and scored after contact

Brooke Hopkins and Kate Hopkins (2028) are twins and one of two sets of sisters but these 2 are a couple of inches shy of the magic number, which is 6'0. Their games mirror each other, they're both "long and athletic" which will ALWAYS be the base, they score from the wing, as well as around the basket and they rebound on both ends. Here's the kicker, the midrange looks better each time I see them and since they both play the passing lane, their upside is scary

Victoria Fobbs (2029) and Destiny Fobbs (2030) are the other set of sisters, Victoria showed she could score off the dribble and finish after contact, nice body control played a part in that but both understand positioning and did a good job rebounding as well as playing solid interior defense. They were both playing up meaning they have good upside 

Adriana Liscano (2028) understands how to create her shot under pressure and get it off while being defended. Her deceptive first step gives her options to attack, which she does and scores but it also gets the defender off balance for her to knock down the mid to long-range jumper

Houston United 2028 #HoustonSummerSlam

 Several players stood out on the Houston United 2028 squad however just as importantly, many showed me potential and it this stage, you never know where you'll land so here ya go

Autumn Randle is one of two players on this squad that I watched both her mom and aunt star on their teams and made noise in the area and she too is on her way because she's "long and athletic", scores off the dribble and plays the passing lane. Her "on the ball defense" is tough baseline to baseline, nice upside

Jayda Hart was barely walking when I was watching her sister go through the city with abang yet Hart is on the verge of breaking out in a big way. She is also "log and athletic" and scores off the dribble but her energy is second to nonce and it shows after watching her go AFTA everything off the rim or even on the floor. She scores off the dribble and plays the passing lane

Makaila Nard is an athletic guard that not only scored off the dribble, she also showed good court vision 

Mikaela Wilson has plenty of potential, she's athletic, made good decisions and did a good job defending. I coached her mom who was one of the top long ball shooters in her class while her aunt was one of the top point guards in  hers so I see Wilson has picked up things from both, good upsdie

Addison Little creates her shot and handles the ball under pressure, she also creates separation to get her shot off and the pull-up jumper looks nice, so did her court visionb

AER Silver #AllEyesOnShe 7/8th Grade Division

 The only team that turned in a roster from this division name might be Silver but they're on the verge of striking GOLD and not just because I'm writing about a couple of their standouts. For the novices who are new to this, be prepared to be misled by people on what you need to do and who you need to listen to. I am the FIRST person to cover girls in Texas, on a NATIONAL level, you can go back in the archives from 2009 and see, yet I started even before that with Fullcourt and Scout.com in 2008

I was also a club coach, INDEPENDENT, who coached his daughters, the younger wound up having over 100 D1 offers, that's her with Obama on the picture after winning a National Championship at Texas A&M and with over 10 years in the WNBA, back to back championships with Las Vegas, I'm perplexed at the nonsense yet "the hare be real, the love be fake" so I have NO AGENDA whatsoever other than identifying potential next level players so with that being said

Scotti Beseda is a long and athletic guard who does a good job creating her own shot under pressure and showed she could knock it down from outside while being defended. She also scored off the dribble, had nice body control on her finishes, and rebounded strongly

London Broussard is also a long and athletic guard and watching her go coast to coast to score or dish several times had me smiling. Her energy on both ends trickled down to her teammates, she showed she could attack the basket from multiple angles and finish after contact. She also did a good job defending "on the ball". 

I'm looking forward to watching these young ladies "on the court " progression as quite a few are on the verge of breaking out

5/6th Grade Division Top Peformers #AllEyesOnShe

 

At the end of the day, the top two teams battled it out in the Platinum Championship with MBA holding off LH Swoosh 32-30. Even more importantly, both teams turned in their rosters as well as DS Lady BBall so here are the standouts

Brielle Montalvo (MBA) has an amazing upside because she's a 4th grader and she's playing up and handling the pressure with ease. She handles the ball and sees the floor in traffic, she also reads the floor on the defensive end and plays the passing lane. She created her shot to attack the rim or drop the jumper

Abrielle Garcia (MBA) already gets at it as she not only creates her shot, but she understands how to create separation but her deceptive first step was huge because it had the defender leaning so she could attack and score, well or dish. She also showed she could drop the mid to long-range jumper while being defended but her "catch and shoot" had me smiling, and so did her playing the passing lane

Emma Vaughan  (LH Swoosh) showed she understands the game starts at the 1 and she's already showing she can control the tempo, meaning when to push it and when to slow it down yet she also does a good job of getting her teammates involved early and setting up for good looks. She scored off the dribble, and she also did a good job dropping from outside yet her "catch and shoot" 3 is going to create problems 

Kennedy Keel (LH Swoosh) created her shot nicely under pressure yet she played within herself meaning "nothing out of the ordinary" She's also heady and made good decisions on who to give the ball to and when to give it so the court vision is there. She also does a good job of getting hers "in the flow" however don't get it twisted, her pull-up jumper from mid to long-range was effective 

Jianna Billings (DS Lady BB Club) hit the boards hard on both ends and even showed she could handle it after rebounding. She scored around the basket, putbacks included yet her court vision in the set as well as in transition had me smiling. She's a "long and athletic" guard with some impressive upside and watching her set the defender up in the set and blow by them to score spoke volumes

NOTABLES

Gia Moreno (MBA)

April Valle (MBA)

Sophia Cantu (MBA)

Abigail Filler (LH Swoosh)

Dylan Hanson (LH Swoosh)

Rowan Parra (LH Swoosh)

2024 JR WNBA Standouts #simmiecolsonclassic

 

I started covering the younger division early when I decided to do this because my primary purpose was not only for exposure but to also give players encouragement and although along the way much of this has become twisted, I ain't changing so here were some of the standouts in JR WNBA Division. Please note that Houston Lady Nets Zoe Whitaker (2032) was already dropped on PGH Texas

HOUSTON UNITED

Autumn Randle (2029) is "long and athletic" which will always be the base and watching her energy on both ends, along with being coachable equates to something positive down the road. She attacked the basket strongly, nice body control on her finishes but she also hit the boards and defended well

Riyanna Benson (2030) is also "long and athletic yet playing the guard spot, she showed she could rebound and handle the ball afterward yet her attacking the basket from multiple angles was solid, so was her seeing the floor but she also played strong defense and played the passing lane

GULF COAST LEGACY

Peyton Garcia (2030) played the passing lane numerous times and handled the ball afterward to either score or dish but she also showed she could score off the dribble in the set. The defense was solid, and so was her rebounding 

Lianna Trinh (2031) falls into that #sizedontmatter group I love to hashtag because she can play and when you're this young and can handle the ball as well as "see the floor" under pressure, big things are coming. Her changing of pace is nice yet when she spun in traffic to score, I just smh

Jaylin Wilson (2031) had me smiling because she understands how to create her shot while being defended but she also comprehends the simple things and showed she could knock down the pull-up jumper 

TEXAS THUNDER

Ariana Raeissi (2031)  already comprehends that "the game starts at the 1" yet she also falls into that #sizedontmatter group because she can play and when you factor in she's "heady" and controls the tempo, well at this stage, that's huge. She did a good job seeing the floor yet also scored off the dribble

Bariah Lott (2030) Wow is all I can say as I watched her older sister star in the area for years and baby sister is on her way. She's long and athletic, and that will ALWAYS be the base, but her "on the ball" defense was tough, and so was her rebounding yet she showed she could score around the basket as well as facing it

Cniyah Parker (2030) was yet another "long and athletic" player and not only do I love evaluating that profile, but so do next-level coaches. Her timing to block, alter, and (or) deflect shots is going to be a problem and so is her going after EVERYTHING off the rim. She scored around the basket, putbacks included 

Brooklyn Bourg (2031) showed she could get to the basket using a deceptive first step but watching her attack with either hand was the kicker. She finished while showing solid body control but she also had a knack for being around the ball to come away with steals, oh yeah, she too played the passing lane

HOUSTON LADY NETS 12U

Krissy Cross (2031) is, here we go, long and athletic, so she does a good job defending baseline to baseline as well as playing the passing lane. Yeah, she can handle the ball after the steal, she also showed she could do that attacking the basket from various spots, nice upside 

Jayde Joseph (2031) appears to be reaching "the magic number" soon, that's 6'0 by the way yet her being long and athletic to go with it will have her on next-level shortlists down the road, and here's why. She has that "you won't outwork me" mindset and watching her battle for everything off the rim as well as loose balls spoke volumes 

Zoe Aliniz (2031) is a "long and athletic" guard, which is also the base, and her showing solid body control on her finishes after contact was a plus yet so was her showing the jumper. She did a good job applying heat defensively and saw the floor 

E.P.I.C. Tournament 5th/6th Grade Standouts

 Off the top on opening day, I saw some talented younger players who showed a lot of potential. 

The Native Queenies #42 showed the pull-up jumper as well as played the passing lane strongly, something I love to see, yet she also understands how to get hers in the flow. #21 has solid court vision which is ahead of her years, she also showed a nice crossover in transition. Her upside is high because she's heady, showed the FLOATA, and even followed her shot.

#30 has good size and scored around the basket, rebounded on both ends, and ran the floor but she's also long and athletic, which will always be the base. 

Several players on this squad saw the floor well and #35 was one of them yet her ballhandling under pressure, along with handling the ball after rebounding was nice yet her court vision in the open court was impressive, and so was her attacking the basket off the dribble

Here are some of the other STANDOUTS

SAVAGE STORM

Eternity Running Rabbit hit the boards hard and went coast to coast to score quite a few times on opening night yet her rebounding on both ends helped her score on putbacks. She understands how to get positioning around the basket, she scored off the dribble and she dropped the midrange

Maya St. Clair also went coast to coast yet her court vision in transition as well as in the set was nice, and so was her using a deceptive first step to score off the dribble. She also rebounded on both ends of the court

Naudia Smith created her shot in the set to knock down the jumper but she also showed the pull-up in transition 

Koryahana Stwyer did a good job defending baseline to baseline, her pressure helped to create turnovers and she played the passing lane

TULALIP UNITY

Shianna Valentine grabbed my attention immediately after diving on the floor for loose balls. She played the passing lane, showed solid on-the-ball defense, and scored from outside. Her court vision was also nice, in the set and in transition and she played the passing lane

Kaylee Martin is heady and showed she could score both off the dribble and with the jumper from outside. She handled the ball and saw the floor under pressure, yet her crossover was a problem to defend. She rebounded and scored on putbacks against taller players

Kristina Williams hit the boards on both ends and watching her go after the ball off the rim over and over falls into that DESIRE category that you can't teach. She also scored off the dribble and saw the floor both off the dribble and in the set

Other key players for the 2nd place team were Shanna Cortez, Madison Williams, Paulie Namee, and Sienna Chanel Greene

LADY AZ NEWEST

Peyton Moore just kept showing me MORE every game I caught her. She's showing some impressive things at her age, and her poise under pressure is one of the main reasons I see big things coming. She has good body control and scores off the dribble, she can not only shoot the ball from outside but can "catch and shoot". Her court vision is solid, and so is her HEZ and crossover

Chanoah Charley falls into that #sizedontmatter hashtag I use because she can play. Her first step is nice, and so is her body control as she finishes after contact. She also saw the floor and dropped the jumper yet her "on the ball" defense and playing the passing lane were also solid 

Tiana Edison impressed me immediately by playing the passing lane, which is something I love seeing players do. She scored off the dribble, her first step and body control are solid, and she dropped the jumper yet her passes in traffic were very nice as she threaded the needle several times to give her teammates good looks. Her defense and playing the passing lane were also pluses

Rayea Edison also did a good job playing the passing lane. She rebounded on both ends, played good defense, and showed she could score both off the dribble and from outside with the jumper

Other players who contributed to Lady AZ Newest winning the championship were Shandin Bia, Cambree Thompson, and Morgan Upshaw

E.P.I.C. Tournament 3rd/4th Grade Standouts

 In case you aren't familiar with me, I am the FIRST person to cover girls' basketball in Texas. I used to complain about what the National Media was not saying about my state, so I threw in the towel and started doing it myself. 

INTERVIEW

My mission has always been to give those who may not have a chance to be seen, that chance because one thing I know is #talentiseverywhere so I don't play politics, I have no agenda whatsoever and I have been through this as a parent, my daughter plays in the WNBA, a club coach and now as a scout/evaluator so here are some of the BABIES I had a chance to evaluate 

TULALIP UNITY

Kris Williams was one of the standouts in the division, I watched her dive on the floor for loose balls and go after rebounds on both ends of the court but her FLOTA was nice as she scored off the dribble and she came away with steals using her quick hands. 

#2 was probably Rylee Tom and she does what I love seeing players do at any age and that's play the passing lane. She handled the ball under pressure and also showed she could score off the dribble

Shawn Cortez did a good job of handling the ball and seeing the floor, but she also understands how to create her shot while being defended

Good defense from Mari'Anna Valencia, who also rebounded strongly, Nayeli Valencia, and Tenya Robinson who scored off the dribble and I'm guessing  #11 is Alexis Williams who also defended well

YOUNG WARRIORS

I have an old saying, not just because I'm old but SIZE DON'T MATTER when you can play and both Nani Tulee and Journey Johnson showed just that as their DESIRE just stood completely out

Temi Meninock did a little bit of everything as she was overly impressive in an abundance of areas like crossover dribble, her pull-up jumper, and her ability to catch ad shoot at this stage tells me a lot about what's coming. She also scored off the dribble, as well as on putbacks because she rebounded strongly, on both ends

Strong ballhandling and court vision from Annabelle Corone to go along with her pull-up jumper were nice, she even showed she could drop it from deep but her teammates Tatyana Wesley and Millie Palmonteer also showed they understand how to get their shot off from outside and drop it. Palmonteer also did a good job playing the passing lane 

2030 Girls Jr Phenoms Top Performers

I enjoy watching the younger players as much as I do the older players yet the eagerness and desire to learn was overwhelming for me as I spotted an abundance of talent and have already recognized not only next-level potential from this group but players who I have already dropped my #D1Lock on but always remember at this stage, your future is in your hands so keep working

Addison Brown did a good job of not only handling the ball under pressure but creating her shot while being defended. Her deceptive first step enabled her to get the defender off balance for her to attack the basket off the dribble and she finished strongly

Blake Hamsmith immediately showed she could defend and her on-the-ball pressure both in the set, as well as "baseline to baseline" was solid because it helped to create turnovers. She also did a good job attacking the basket plus she showed good court vision 

Chloe Madison-Davis has already been locked in at D1, she showed me that when I first saw her a couple of seasons ago yet her BB-IQ coupled with her skill set is so far ahead of her years that she makes it look easy. Mid to long-range, off the dribble, and understanding how to set her teammates up for gimmes makes her a multiple threat

Emilee Synatschk is heady and plays within herself yet she also showed she could get hers in the flow. Her shot selection was nice and she knocked it down with a hand in her face but she also attacked the basket with either hand and saw the floor.

Kennedy Liu also brought heat on the defensive end off the top and at times, it was over the top as she came away with steals doing what I love to see and that's playing the passing lane. She also made good passes and scored off the dribble

Madison Colaizzi was another player that did a good job playing the passing lane her handling the ball afterward to attack the basket was nice, and so was her court vision but she also scored off the dribble and finished plus she created her shot from outside

Makayla Jefferson her ballhandling and understanding of how to control the tempo will be huge throughout her career. She saw the floor, made good decisions, and has a very nice crossover to get by defenders both in the set as well as in transition. She scored off the dribble and with the jumper 

Myah Bolden also had a nice crossover but her FLOATA will be an issue to deal with. Her first step is very nice, she already understands how to create contact when attacking the basket yet her pull-up jumper in the set as well as in transition was really nice, and so was her defense 

Ry'Leigh Harris

Harris is another "long and athletic" guard that played the passing lane off the top and that JUST DID IT for me. She has good court vision in the set as well is in the open court but her explosiveness off the dribble is very good, especially in transition as she blows by the defender with ease. She gave me a few acrobatic finishes and showed she could score from outside but her defense was smothering at times