2015 Under The Radar Tip Sheet “April”
CLAUDIA CURTIS
CYPRESS, Texas- With the Houston Insiders Hoopfest and Cy Fair Invitational I had a chance to see many of the GPR Players perform and their progression is always important on their next level journeys. Here are the players and what I saw
2015
Deja Hughes-guard (Lady Houston Dominators) Hughes is by far one of the fastest players in the state with the ball, her defense is among the best in Texas at her position and her ability to control the tempo is on point
2016
Lauren O’Connell-guard (Cy Fair Premier) one of the top three point shooters in Texas, her ability to catch and shoot keeps getting and better as well as her ability to create and score off the dribble
Erin Wimberly-post (SA Islanders) physical, strong and can score inside sort of paints the picture however before it dries, she passes extremely well not to mention has shown signs of dominating the paint on both ends
Alexia Torres-guard (SA Islanders) one of the top scorers in her class meaning she simply can put the ball in the basket a number of ways. Very high BB-IQ, she loves to defend and simply can turn a game around from either the 1 or 2
Rachel Tapps-guard (AD Elite) strong, athletic and can jump out of the gym not to mention she relishes the assignments of guarding opponent’s top scorer. Flip it over and she too can score as she simply elevates over players
Beth Hawkins-wing (Houston Insiders) she’s 6’0 and can shoot the three, her length enables her to alter opponents shots and she has nice moves around the basket. Plenty of upside however she has already shown she can play at the next level
Claudia Curtis-guard (Corpus Christi Havoc) she’s a powerful guard that can turn it on. Showed the midrange over and over as well overpowering whoever was on her. Rebounds well from her position and man defense has taken a jump
AERIEL STARKS
2017
Bianca Hernandez-guard (San Antonio Stars) her arsenal continues to evolve after my initial observation of her dropping the “three ball”, improved ball-handling under pressure and court vision immediately come to mind as well as defense
Aeriel Starks-guard (AD Elite) is becoming the player I knew she would and it started with the HS playoffs. She’s an offensive machine, from mid and long range but she can also change it up with strength and body control. Defense looks good as well
Marissa Banfield-guard (Cy Fair Premier) simply one of the ’17 point guards in Texas , she’s a pass first player that can also take a game over offensively. Her ability to set her teammates up for easy baskets amazes me as well as her ability to control the tempo
2018
Katlyn Ghavidel (SA Finest Diamond) already one of the state’s top three point shooters, any class and isn’t satisfied with just being that. Off the dribble gives her a definite advantage, well that with an improved first step as she’s becoming even more hard to handle
Jordan Ott-guard (Cy Fair Premier) she’s definitely back from an injury and although not quite 100% I already see certain qualities that have jumped. I already knew she could score but she’s become more powerful on both ends and the defense has been turned up
Reagan Heun-guard (Sophia Young Elite) smart and steady but always ready to contribute and by her ability to score quite a few ways, her upside is what has me excited even more. She anticipated passes and played tough defense
Tia Tolbert-guard (Sports Prep) as good as she is now her best basketball is still ahead of her and considering what she’s doing, that’s scary. She has made jumps each season but her maturity on the floor is showing, oh yeah, she can score
2019
Jessica Esclovan –forward (Golden Triangle Elite) she’s returning from an injury and I could tell she was just getting into the groove but she was physical in the paint and her upside tells me big things are coming on both ends