West Coast Spring Showcase Preview
Now in its seventh year, the West Coast Spring Showcase hosted by HoopSource Basketball will feature some of the top teams in the Pacific Northwest this Saturday and Sunday at several locations in the Portland/Vancouver area. The 17U Showcase Division in particular will be extremely competitive as a couple of shoe circuit teams will be in attendance.
Washington Supreme will come down I-5 to participate in the tournament and has been competing in the UAA (Under Armor Assocation). Head coach Carl Howell has a roster filled with some of the top player in the Class of 2020 in Washington including Liam Lloyd (2020 Gonzaga Prep), Peter Erickson (2020 Enumclaw), and Maui Sze (2020 Roosevelt) but also one of the elite bigs in the Class of 2021 in Jackson Grant (2021 Olympia) who already holds an offer from washington.
Challenging Washington Supreme will be a handful of teams from Oregon – notably the Rose City Rebels, who have been playing on the Nike EYBL circuit. The Rebels are a 16U squad playing up, but they are plenty talented as Ben Gregg (2021 Clackamas) and Kaden Perry (2021 Battle Ground) already hold high-major conference scholarship offers, and others such as Darius Gakwasi (2021 Central Catholic) and Kam Robinson (2021 Jefferson) are already getting serious looks as well.
Jordan Team Fly has their top two teams in the Showcase field – and both teams feature some of the top Class of 2020 players in the state. Coach Kendall White’s squad has plenty of shooting led by Jesse White (2020 Barlow) but also some talented big guys in Joe Juhala (2020 West Linn), Aidan Clark (2020 South Eugene) and Fred Harding (2019 Lake Oswego). Coach Jeff Williams’s team also has some perimeter threats in Silas Bennion (2020 Churchill) and Drew Carter (2021 Tigard), all-around performer Payton Richardson (2020 Western Christian), and emerging big man Jasper Reinalda (2020 Corvallis).
Other in-state teams that figure to make some noise in the Showcase Division include Maeko, Team Jones Hedgecock, and Team PUSH NW Black. Hotshots Elite out of California, and Northwest Coastal and Team WA Elite are two other out-of-state squads that should be able to make an impact.
All the games in the 17U Showcase Division will be played at Mountain View High School in Vancouver and will begin on Saturday morning, with the champion being determined at 3:30 PM on Sunday afternoon.