Wright’s Next Level Showcase: Eye-Openers Pt 1
Had the great pleasure of an invitation this past Saturday out to Augusta for Coach Terry Wright’s Next Level Showcase, featuring players from the area (and into North & South Carolina) across 3 classes. He and his crew of coaches…
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Continue ReadingHad the great pleasure of an invitation this past Saturday out to Augusta for Coach Terry Wright’s Next Level Showcase, featuring players from the area (and into North & South Carolina) across 3 classes.
He and his crew of coaches ran a great event, and we got to see a bunch of guys who are normally a little outside our coverage sphere. Here is the first of 2 parts looking at standouts from the day:
Devin Pope, 6-2, SG (2021, Cross Creek)
Still surprisingly unsigned despite his dominance now in the third straight Showcase I’ve been to, much of the same last weekend with another eye-opening performance, explosiveness off the deck and to the basket, smooth shooting out well past the arc, great versatility guarding up to small forwards with pretty good length at 6-2, can handle the ball some but is a true wing attacker, without question one of the 2 or 3 best available 2021’s I’ve seen since Cross Creek finished their state championship-winning season back in March.
Ricardo Gonzalez, 6-0, SG (2022, Lakeside-Evans)
Among the day’s shooting stars with a quick, effortless stroke that landed at a high percentage, nice quickness off the bounce as well as he took it into the paint a few times with a floater game as well as all the way to the cup, good instincts and fearless in his play.
Demarcus Mazone, 6-6, PF (2021, Aiken HS, SC)
Got better as the day went on and plainly out-worked nearly everyone, erased shots at a nice clip and cleaned the boards with his good frame, was a hustler all day and had a sequence where he blocked back-to-back shots then took a charge next possession, can catch and finish in close but would need to put in some work on his face-up game from outside 10 feet, but his athletic gifts would be enough for me to give him a hard look.
Perez Bowser, 6-3, PG (2022, Franklin Prep Academy, NC)
Physical, downhill PG who posed matchup difficulties all day with his add’l length, good athlete showed his skillset when he slowed things down a bit and played more under control, when he revs up his motor he has the scoring PG chops to go with an eye for distributing as well.
Nasir Cotton, 6-4, SF, (2022, Lakeside-Evans)
Played much bigger than his size all day with a combo of athleticism and great lift, fought hard inside like a power forward but showed enough face-up versatility to be projected as a 3-prospect, was excellent on the glass and as a shot-blocker and guarded both in the post and out on the wing in different spots.
Zaveon Phillips, 5-9, PG (2022, Josey, pictured above)
Among the smallest players on hand but showed no back-down in his game, calm and composed with the ball, has great instincts as a pure PG in a pass-first mode and ran a clean break, plenty of exciting scoring chops though as he got to the basket and after he warmed up a bit showed some shooting range that still could use a little refining in the gym this summer.
Ronnie Striggles, 5-9, PG (2021, Butler)
Perhaps a shade taller than Phillips he stole the show a bit as the day wore on with his boundless energy and quickness on the blow-by, and it wasn’t just fatigued defense but a real burst that got him by people on his way to a slew of impressive finishes, confident and willing to control the game he was also on of the day’s best on-ball defenders.
Khiree Cummings, 5-10, CG (2021, Silver Bluff HS, SC)
In the top 3 for on-ball defenders on the day with a relentless, positional approach buoyed by elite quickness, later showed some offensive skill with a dribble-drive game as a lefty that was tough to handle.