Baseline “Drive” Club Report: Atlanta All-Stars 15U
The Atlanta All-Stars organization has been busy this summer boasting 3 teams under its umbrella, including a 16U team that has caught the eye of many a scout such as myself and a 17U club filled with names we might’ve…
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Continue ReadingThe Atlanta All-Stars organization has been busy this summer boasting 3 teams under its umbrella, including a 16U team that has caught the eye of many a scout such as myself and a 17U club filled with names we might’ve heard and who’ve added to their value this summer.
Here we’re looking at the 15U’s, a group of particularly well-coached and drilled hustlers and workers who will be on display at this weekend’s loaded Battle for Georgia tournament at LakePoint and who will undoubtedly be making notable contributions to their varsity teams this winter.
Mason Etter Mason Etter 6'5" | SF Etowah | 2023 State GA (6-4, CG/SF, Etowah) – Etter highlights the group due to his special versatility, bigger and stronger this year he was a notable contributor to the Eagles varsity last year and will be one of its leaders this year despite being just a sophomore, knockdown shooting ability all the way out to the arc, improved movement off the bounce, more physicality, as clever and creative a driver of the ball as you’ll see at his age, improved rebounder as that body improvement has given him more confidence to mix it up in the trenches, a terrific prospect at this stage and his upside is special, he’s just one part of an exciting young nucleus at Etowah that includes backcourt mates smooth fellow 2023 Brandon Rechsteiner and 2022 riser Dajuan Devonish.
Tayden Owens Tayden Owens 5'9" | PG Cherokee | 2023 State GA (5-9, PG, Cherokee) – It will be hard to keep Owens out of the Warrior rotation this winter, he’s just too sound, too smart with the ball, too explosive off the dribble, and can shoot it from any spot with an advanced and fluid stroke, despite his size he still gets to the basket at such a high proficiency in the Chris Paul-mold, great speed all over the floor also benefits his defense as he’s as good an on-ball defender as I’ve seen in the 15U ranks, a true floor leader in the classic mold, while not the mega-recruit his class of 2021 older brother Taihland is this Owens is a terrific young talent that as he matures his body his game will be on the radar of next-level programs for sure.
Brigham Rogers (6-7, PF, Blessed Trinity) – Similar to the likes of River Ridge’s Braden Pierce Braden Pierce 6'11" | C River Ridge | 2022 State GA , Etowah’s Josh Hughes, LaFayette’s Aidan Hadaway Aidan Hadaway 6'6" | SF Lafayette | 2022 State GA and Centennial’s Wade Kahl, Rogers has been one of the summer’s breakout big men, possessing both a post understanding as well as the skills of a face-up 4 he poses all kinds of problems for 15U opponents, he has a catch and finish array of moves inside but also range as far out as the 3-point line, he’s got terrific natural hands and a nose for the ball making him a highly efficient rebounder at both ends and astute rim protector, also a terrific passer he can ignite the break or find the cutter or open shooter, a great fit at Blessed Trinity he’s sure to be impactful this winter alongside the likes of wing star Jax Bouknight Jax Bouknight 6'1" | PG Blessed Trinity Catholic | 2021 State GA .
OTHERS to watch:
Either playing with or spelling Owens at the point, Model’s 5-11 Carson Cole is a well-schooled backcourt man with a smooth handle and a serious shooting eye, he can push the pace or recognize the time for patience, that skill-set and shooting prowess allows him also to effectively slide over and play off-guard and affect a game with his long-range shooting, another Blessed Trinity riser is 6-1 CG James Connolly who seemingly always appears to be playing bigger and tougher than his size would indicate often guarding opposing forwards and finding himself battling in close, that battling nature to go along with an aggressive dribble-drive and evolving perimeter game means he too will be a versatile and valuable addition to the coming Titans lineup, during early glances in tournament play it was hard to miss the innate skill of Braden Koneman, the 6-4 Christian Heritage forward moves really well and has a nice all- around set of skills highlighted by his finishing ability at the cup and soft touch from the perimater, he continued that impressive-looking play with his Lions teammates when the LakePoint Fall League opened Aug 20 and he again was hard to miss, Furtah Prep forward Kalil Humphrey had an excellent workout when I saw the All-Stars practice recently and I really liked how he makes use of his full 6-0 to create scoring opportunites in close, he’s got a strong frame and finds openings well be it as a cutter or positioning himself in the paint and is an athlete who can guard 4 positions.