The 19th annual Arizona Preps Fall Showcase took place this past weekend on the campus of AZ Compass Prep and was filled with many talented prospects for this year's event - of all ages (high school and middle school). The event was loaded with up-and-coming basketball talent for the state, and there were many top performers on the day.
Here are the top overall performers that I witnessed from this year's event, from the 2018, 2019 & 2020 classes (In no particular order) . . .
Top Fall Showcase Performers - 2018 Class
Amari Hudson 6-1 SR PG Skyline Prep HS
Hudson had an excellent performance in this year's event - earning Tournament MVP honors as a result of his play. He has excellent physical strength and a nice ability to get into the lane and finish strong at the rim. He also has a nice shooting stroke from mid-range and a strong ability to operate from mid-range around defenders - a lost art among guards today. Scoring the ball is the most impressive aspect of Hudson’s game right now, as he can do it with the best of them. He can score from all three levels, but is really at his best from the mid-range, as he is most comfortable and efficient from 18 feet and in. He uses a great variety of step-backs and creates separation very well from defenders, in order for him to score so well. Hudson also uses his strong, compact frame to bully defenders while in the lane and finish strong at the rim. A native of Chicago, Hudson also brings fire and that wanted toughness on the defensive end. He is very active with his hands, which leads to multiple steals and creates fast breaks and points for himself and teammates. He is also laterally quick and is able to cut off players and defer them from where they want to go on the court. A solid all-around guard prospect that has matured nicely over the past two years and is set to have a huge senior season.
Jaden Lee 6-3 SR SG Mesquite HS
Lee (pictured) is a high-wire athlete that is a highlight reel dunker. He has better than a 40-inch vertical leap that allows him to play well above the rim. Able to finish big-time dunks in transition, while slashing to the basket or in the lane over defenders. An excellent slasher and finisher that thrives in the open floor. Has a very good mid-range game. A capable combo-guard prospect but enjoys scoring way too much to play the point position full-time. A big-time scorer. A very good ball handler that can create his own shot almost at will. An OK passer. A solid rebounder that needs to focus more in this area to maximize his potential as a player. A good defender that plays passing lanes very well. A capable lock-down defender if he focuses on it. Has star potential over time, just will need to get it done in the classroom to maximize his future on the court.
Jaylin Fleming 6-3 SR PG Arcadia HS
Fleming is very much improved and also much physically stronger, and he has yet to pick up a weight. Fleming is an excellent ball handler and passer, and is a pass-first point guard that enjoys running a team and making players around him better. He is electric off the dribble and has an explosive first step. When traveling downhill with the basketball, he is almost unguardable and is able to finish very strong in the lane. He is a strong finisher in the lane and has an ability to get to the free-throw line quite often, as a result of his aggressiveness. He also pushes the basketball up the floor to the open man, and is excellent in an up-tempo offensive style of play. Fleming is also a strong on-the-ball defender that is a capable lock-down defender over time. He stays in front of his man consistently, and forces the offensive player to almost do what he wants them to. Fleming also plays passing lanes and puts pressure on opposing passers. Fleming is also among the finest young men that you will meet - a student-athlete with very high character, on and off the basketball court.
Khot Anyieth 6-5 SR SF Peoria HS
Anyieth is a very talented and athletic combo-forward prospect that is able to play multiple positions on the floor, and, most importantly, defend multiple positions on the floor. He is a long, lengthy and rangy forward prospect with excellent toughness and a great motor. He accepts challenges on both ends of the floor and enjoys defending the opposing team's best offensive player. He runs the floor hard and is a very good finisher and scorer while slashing to the basket, or in the open court. Offensively, Anyieth can play either as a small forward or as a power forward. He is still very thin physically and will need to add more physical size and strength to maximize his potential as a player. He can score effectively around the basket with good footwork and a nice offensive skillset. He is an active rebounder and shotblocker with good timing. He is a capable ball handler and passer, that needs to continue to refine his overall skills to maximize his production over time. Defensively, Anyieth is a nice asset to any team, as he uses his superior length to contest and block/change shots. He also plays passing lanes very well, and makes it difficult for offensive players to get into any rhythm. This young man has excellent potential over time, and would be an excellent recruit for any smaller college program. He is definitely a division-I talent, so it will be very interesting to see how much recruitment he begins to attract as a result of his performance this weekend.
Lahad Adeim 6-4 SR PF Peoria HS
Adeim has excellent work ethic, and a high-energy motor that he plays with on both ends of the floor. His high motor allows him to play all over the floor, and also make plays for his team on both ends of the floor. He rebounds outside of his area, which makes him very valuable for his team. Offensively, Adeim is still a work in progress. He has a solid left-handed shooting stroke and is a solid mid-range shooter. He does not take many shots beyond the arc, but rather gets scoring opportunities primarily while slashing to the basket and in the open floor. Adeim is a very good finisher and has a long, rangy frame which allows him to make plays at the rim. He plays above the rim, so as he adds more physical girth to his thin frame, he should see his ability to finish develop. While Adeim still needs to develop his offensive skills to make himself a complete player, his activity on the floor is so glaring that he can help any team that he competes for and is an asset to his team. He is a very good sleeper prospect and has the potential to become a nice recruiting target late for a smaller college program.
Bryce Meadows 6-1 SR PG AZ Compass Prep
Meadows has worked very hard on his game, and has worked diligently to develop into a pass-first point guard that has a nice overall repertoire of offensive skillsets, which allow him to score the basketball off the dribble, and also from the perimeter where he possesses a nice shooting stroke of the basketball. He is a very good ball handler and passer that sees the floor, and is developing nicely in these two areas, which will benefit him a great deal over time. Meadows has excellent work ethic and enjoys working on his craft. Getting better daily is his goal, and he is a player on the rise as a result. Meadows is very strong physically and will have no problem over time competing at the college level, since he already possesses a college-ready body. He is a very good on-the-ball defender and plays passing lanes, with very good lateral quickness. He is working on becoming quicker to defend elite guards with exceptional quickness.
Top Fall Showcase Performers - 2019 Class
Alec Bryan 6-6 JR SF CGM Prep Academy
Bryan is a skilled and mobile wing prospect with excellent size. He is a very good shooter with nice range on his shot, and has a quick release. He enjoys playing on the wing and on the perimeter primarily, so he is a bigger wing prospect. He does not see much time around the paint, but will need to focus on finishing strong around the paint to maximize his potential as a player and as a college prospect. A very good shooter that can catch and shoot the basketball. A solid ball handler and passer. A good team player that plays with good intensity and runs the floor. Fundamentally sound and has a good overall feel for the game. Loves the game and has excellent work ethic. A prospect on the rise that will gain excellent experience this season while playing against top-rated competition. Has a good future. A solid overall prospect.
Kaleb Brown 5-10 JR PG Peoria HS
A pass-first point guard prospect that is a pure point - a rare find. A floor general that surveys the floor and takes good shots in the offense. Makes players around him better. Left handed. An excellent ball handler and passer that sees the floor and pushes the ball up the floor. A very good on-the-ball defender. Plays with excellent intensity. A solid guard prospect.
Shavere Yarde 6-1 JR SG Corona Del Sol HS
A nice shooter with excellent range on his shot. Has a pure shooting stroke. Has excellent work ethic and competes hard on both ends of the floor. A very good defender. Has a strong, compact body with good physical strength. Fundamentally sound. A good rebounder. Good ball handler and passer.
Carson Mittun 6-4 JR Seton Catholic HS
A very good shooter of the basketball with range on his shot. Fundamentally sound performer. Has a good handle of the basketball, and is able to create his own shot and finish. A good rebounder. A good passer that sees the floor. A solid defender.
Keb Summers 6-2 JR SG Corona Del Sol HS
A very good shooter with nice range on his shot. Has a nice overall skill level and is fundamentally sound. Able to create his own shot or catch and shoot, making him difficult to defend. An active rebounder. A good overall defender that competes.
Top Fall Showcase Performers - 2020 Class
Kiimani Holt 6-4 SOPH SG Rancho Solano Prep
Holt proved that he is among the very elite athletes in the West. He was amazing in the event - showcasing an ability to dunk the basketball over, around and through defenders. He has an explosive first step and gets off the ground quickly and finishes very strong at the rim. An excellent slasher and open court player that is capable of bringing the crowd to their feet at any point in the game. A very good mid-range shooter that has range on his shot, but is at his best when attacking the basket or pulling up from mid-range. A good ball handler. An OK passer. A very good defender that plays passing lanes. Has a very bright future ahead of him and will become one of the better recruiting targets in the class quickly.
Xavier Dusell 6-4 SOPH PG/SG Chaparral HS
Dusell had his coming-out-party this past weekend in the event - scoring from everywhere on the floor and competing at a very high level. This was definitely the best overall performance that I have seen from Dusell, although his shot selection was very questionable at times. He proved though that he is a very difficult guard to cover, as a result of his exceptional handle of the basketball and a unique ability to create his own shot with a series of jab steps, and shift moves that keep his defenders off balance. An excellent finisher with either hand in the lane. Has a pure shooting stroke with unlimited range. A very good passer that sees the floor and pushes the basketball up the floor to the open man. A good rebounder with good length on his body. Still growing a great deal physically. Has a very bright future ahead of him, and is one of the elite prospects in Arizona's very loaded 2020 class.
Dalen Terry 6-5 SOPH PG/SG Corona Del Sol HS
Terry is a big time talent with a nice overall feel for the game and an ability to play multiple positions on the floor. Terry is a natural point guard and has an excellent feel for the game - enjoying passing the basketball and making players around him better. He continues to show a very nice handle of the basketball and also show that he can make plays for himself and others almost at will. Terry is a very unselfish prospect that I really enjoy watching perform, and he enjoys making passes to his open teammates - even though when at times they don't even know they are open. Terry is a long, rangy prospect with huge upside and a bright future ahead of him. He has excellent length of body which allows him to make plays, but he will need to get much stronger over time and fill out to maximize his potential as a player. He is fundamentally sound and has a nice overall skillset and feel for the game. A very good slasher and finisher, that will only improve over time as he gets physically stronger. He has a nice shooting stroke with range. Has the potential to become a flat out star over time, and the potential to become one of the state's most sought after recruiting targets.
Hunter Ruck 6-7 SOPH PF Rancho Solano Prep
Ruck has a very strong, well-built physical frame, with a strong upper and lower body that allows him to overpower opposing post players around the paint. He is a superb young talent with nice size and an ability to run the floor like a guard. He is an excellent finisher in the open floor, and a strong finisher at the rim. A good shooter with range and a soft touch as well. A good low post player with good footwork and an ability to pass very well out of the post to the open man or cutter. An active rebounder and a capable shotblocker. A good low post defender with excellent toughness. Has a very bright future ahead of him as well, and looks and plays much older than he really is.
Anthony Garza 6-7 SOPH PF Shadow Ridge HS
Garza has improved a great deal over the past year, and has now developed a great deal into a very active and athletic post player with excellent length and timing for the ball. He dunks anytime he gets an opportunity, and is able to finish plays many post players cannot, as a result of his superior length and knack for the basketball. Runs the floor hard and is an excellent finisher in transition. A good post player with advanced footwork. An active rebounder and a very good shotblocker that changes shots. Has become a nice recruiting target for the 2020 class.
Griffin Lamb 6-7 SOPH PF Gilbert HS
Lamb was one of the top surprise performers of this year's event. A long, thin and lengthy forward with very good athleticism. Finished numerous plays well above the rim, and had an excellent put-back dunk in the event. Uses his length to make plays and keep balls alive for himself - making him an excellent offensive rebounder. A very good finisher that will only improve over time with increased physical strength and natural maturity over time. Runs the floor hard. An active rebounder that rebounds outside of his area on the floor. A good shotblocker that also changes shots. Has excellent potential for the future and is an excellent sleeper prospect. Should blossom nicely over the next two years. One kid I definitely want to see more of.
Jaquan Moore 5-9 SOPH PG Shadow Ridge HS
Moore is an electric and ultra-athletic gifted guard prospect with a very thin and very bouncy frame. Moore has at least a 40-inch vertical leap, and threw down numerous monster dunks in the event, including a between the legs dunk after his second game of the day. A slick ball handler that is an excellent slasher and finisher in the lane, especially for his size. A good shooter with range on his shot. Plays much bigger than his size suggests. A nice guard prospect for the class.
Tyson Legner 6-3 SOPH SG Rancho Solano Prep
Legner is a strong, compact guard prospect with an excellent shooting stroke with unlimited range on his shot. He has a very pure shooting stroke with a quick release, that allows him to make shots from almost anywhere on the floor. A very good ball handler that is capable of playing both guard positions on the floor, as needed. A good rebounder for his size. A good defender that plays hard. A good sleeper prospect in a loaded class.
Eric Blackwell 5-10 SOPH PG/SG Corona Del Sol HS
A very good combo-guard prospect that is a good scorer of the basketball with a left-handed shooting stroke. A good slasher and finisher that scores well in transition and in the lane in the halfcourt set. A good mid-range shooter and scorer off the dribble. A very good defender with quick hands and feet. Has a strong, compact frame.
Tay Bootheman 6-1 PG/SG SOPH Buckeye HS
Bootheman was an unknown prospect by our staff before this weekend's event, but that quickly changed after Bootheman immediately took the floor on Saturday. Bootheman is a young combo-guard prospect with a very nice offensive skillset that allows him to make plays for himself and others at a high rate. He is an excellent shooter of the basketball with unlimited range and a very pure shooting stroke that allows him to make shots consistently, even with defenders draped all over him. Bootheman actually made as many as (7) three-pointers in one game in the event. Bootheman is much more of a scorer at this point in his young career, but he is capable of playing both guard positons on the floor. He is at his best though when shooting the basketball, so he will need to develop in his ability to become a playmaker over time over time. But what he does well, he does very well - shoot the basketball and score the basketball off the dribble. He is a very good finisher in the lane and is able to make plays in traffic, over bigger defenders with a variety of floaters. He is a good ball handler and passer as well, but really focuses on scoring the basketball, so that may determine his level of college over time. Defensively, Bootheman has very good athleticism and lateral quickness, which allows him to play passing lanes. He has quick hands and feet and is able to stay in front of his man - a very good one-one-defender. I look forward to watching Bootheman develop as a player, and ultimately as a college prospect over time. This young man proved this weekend that he definitely has what it takes to become a serious college prospect over time.
