2021 I-35 Showcase (San Antonio) MS Tip Sheet
I get a kick out of catching young talent and visualizing the future, yes I have a crystal ball but it doesn’t work yet I also have an eye for talent, and let me say this, every player I have ever called a #D1Lock has been just and I’ve been doing it for way over a decade and guess what, I saw some at this event, yes I’m a genius at this, but I also players who can play so, somewhere at the level depending on their progression so the important thing is to not get caught up in foolishness as well as things that are meaningless, remember I am a genius, been there, done that and more importantly #ThereIsNoMe
2026
Brittney Anderson-upside continues to impress me because of what she does right now, starting with athleticism and UPS as she elevates over defenders to release jumper or grab rebounds yet she has a very nice first step and explodes to the basket to finish, with either hand. Her defense makes me sweat watching her, she’s on the ball and plays the passing lane plus she dives on the floor for loose balls
Beya Chase-court vision is already ahead of the game and watching her zig zag through the defense in the open court says a lot right as well as her zipping the ball to teammates for assists but she also creates her shot very well under pressure, has a nice pull-up jumper and attacks the basket strongly off the dribble. Very good upside
Arianna Davis– gave me a very good first impression a few weeks ago yet this was a lasting impression as she just added more. The pull-up is legit, she’s going to create major problems because she can mix it up and explode off the dribble and finish with either hand but her body control, I actually opened my water and took a sip while she hung in the air and then she showed the step-back and dropped a 3
Mackenzie Donald– showed some nice fakes in the open court as well as in the set but she understands how to create her shot under pressure and either drop the jumper with a hand in her face or take the defender off the dribble with either hand and score, with either hand. I also enjoyed watching her in the open court, she handled the ball nicely while being defended and her stop and pop in transition was one of the best all-day
Aysia Gholston-she asked me if she has improved, the answer was a huge YES, and let me tell you something, with that mindset, with her desire, with her strength and power, all of that mixed with her diving on the floor for loose balls as well as her defense, I haven’t used this in a while but everything else is gravy yet pour this on the rice, she took defenders strongly to the basket and finished and she dropped the pull-up jumper
Alissa Hilario– heady ballplayer that plays within herself and understands how to score in the flow yet she also does things you may not catch on a stat sheet like understanding how to trap which leads to turnovers as well as knowing how to switch but she also did a good job of taking the defender off the dribble as well as play some solid defense
Payton Obringer– continues to elevate her game in a big way as she’s falling into a category I love and that’s “she’s finding ways to put the ball in the basket” and the numerous off-balance jumpers after the lick for and one opportunity were nice but she also does a good job creating her shot to either attack off the dribble or just drop the jumper
Rosanelly Pastrano-her pull-up jumper was nice, either in the set or in transition but her ability to see the floor and make the correct pass was equally important as she just made things happen. She attacked strongly and finished after contact yet she also finished with either hand but let me not leave out she made the pass off the dribble as well while attacking the rim
Rebecca Robinson– showed me a whole lot, yeah I knew she could shoot it, I’ve seen that several times in games so the mid to long-range came at no surprise but she has a very nice step back that will give her numerous options as defenders try to get a read on her but read this, she dropped pone of the best spins of the weekend to score off the dribble, yeah she can do it the regular way but the spin just grabbed me
Jordan Rosenthal– tough as nails as she took a hard hit late in the event yet came back and competed but compete is the major word because she has that mindset that I love, well she also has that nice pull-up jumper yet watching her set the defender up to attack the rim is very nice as she finishes strongly, after the hit, no pun intended and her defense is solid
Jerra Salters– attacks the rim strongly, with either hand and finishes after the lick, with either hand but she is one of those “never takes a play off” type of players as her defense “on the ball” baseline to baseline is very good at this stage, so is her reading the floor and playing the passing lane but watching her drop the jumper from mid to long-range after creating her shot was also nice
Yasmeen Schmidt– it’s enjoyable for me to see progression, yeah she’s long and athletic and can drop that picture-perfect jumper with ease yet she ain’t gonna ease up on “coming at you” and seeing her extend on the lay-ups was very nice, so were her finishes, sometimes acrobatic yet off the dribble she’s becoming harder to handle and watching her play the passing lane just made me smile
Camden Shields– when you understand how to create contact while you’re attacking the basket, that speaks volumes right there, especially at this stage but she attacks the rim and just sets the defender up to overly commit which gives her “and-one” opportunities. She creates her shot under pressure, showed she could drop the jumper as well, and did a good job defending
Aniyah Shields– diving on the floor always gets my attention, as well as spinning on the offensive end in the open court, well she did it in the half-court as well but she takes the defender off the dribble and finishes after contact. She also hit the outside shot but she was equally impressive with her defense as she applied pressure either half or full court
Janea Walls– scary impressive just watching her mannerisms, she is way ahead of her years, so is her stutter-step in the open court so when you see her burst into turbo off the dribble and hang in the air to finish, that says a lot but not all because her jumper is solid, in transition or in the set but that body control just did it for me, so did her defense
2027
Bailey Burns-when I talk about progression, here’s a perfect example because she already shoots the long ball nicely but she’s understanding how to use her size and score off the dribble better. She not only finishes after contact, but she also finished with both hands and elevating her defense stood out, so did her rebounding as well as running the floor
Nilah Esperaza-understands some very important things including how to score in the flow. She showed she could attack and finish yet she doesn’t force anything. She handled the ball in the open court, saw the floor, and made some good decisions in transition yet her defense was nice, she’s tough “on the ball” either in the open court or half-court
Addison Perez– the pull-up jumper was on display early, yeah she creates her shot under pressure to use it yet she also showed it in transition as well as coming off a screen, I see everything, but creating her shot also enabled her to score off the dribble, which was nice, so was her court vision and she zipped some nice passes through traffic
Amariah Ruiz– also had a nice pull-up jumper and seeing her create her shot while being defended set the stage because she attacks the rim so hard and finishes under control and after contact so that helped keep the defender guessing on what she was going to do because the jumper was consistent so you have to guard her closely yet that opens the door for her taking it off the dribble