2023 group sending early messages
I come from watching an era where several high school teams refused to put freshmen on varsity, let alone start them because of several reasons including “parental pressure” of the new kid had to wait their turn which was stupid…
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Continue ReadingI come from watching an era where several high school teams refused to put freshmen on varsity, let alone start them because of several reasons including “parental pressure” of the new kid had to wait their turn which was stupid to me back then and it shows you some parents and players have always not seen things as they were, it’s just been amended and modernized by social media but let me start off with an old saying I actually like “the cream always rises to the top” and usually that cream has been poured by me when I see players at a young age who show me they have “it” way before some national media person or “handler” comes into the picture so it’s no surprise to me at the success of some of these players early but here
Freshmen I haven’t seen this season
Gisella Maul & Sammy WagnerSammy Wagner (SA Reagan) has been lighting it up this season and based on Twitter, is coming off an All-Tournament performance recently. Maddie Cox is on varsity at Flower Mound, she’s the younger sister of Lauren Cox (Baylor) who I also said would be in the running for #1 player in her class, I was right as usual and this was her 8th-grade year. Loghan Johnson (Tompkins) and Kameryn Phillips (Humble) are in the Houston area yet due to numerous conflicts, I haven’t seen either yet based on “good social media” they’re on fire and let me add Jacei Denley (Beaumont Westbrook) to another who I’m reading is sizzling
Freshmen I have seen this season
RyLee Grays LBCGisella Maul (Cedar Park) is making her presence felt coming off the bench in a big way as she provides “instant offense” and speaking of coming off the bench and making presence felt, RyLee Grays (Village School) has been somewhat unstoppable at times and with her frame and power, the sky is the limit. Dalanna Carter (Barbers Hill) actually went against Grays squad last night and based on the score, without being there, I know she went completely off, I’m not clairvoyant, well not totally but I just know that she is one of the top guards in the country. D’Asia Thomas (Waller) is already showing BEASTLIKE moments and the ability to take over games while Brandy Jones (North Crowley) showed at the Texas Invitational that she has already made the adjustment easily. Also from the TI, no Tiny feat for Ja’Shelle Johnson and Angel Tumberello (San Antonio Johnson) as they showed that if you didn’t know they were freshmen, their savviness and ability to handle pressure would lead you to believe they were seasoned veterans. Special S/O to Janae Tucker (Dobie) who I omitted from the 2023 Watch List but I hadn’t seen her in a few years and didn’t realize she was still in the state, that error will be rectified
Players I will see very soon
Amarachi KimpsonI saw Zeryhia Lee-Aokuso (Amarillo) a couple of seasons ago at Prime Time Nationals, and I said just like almost all of these other players named, she was a D1 Lock before entering high school. It doesn’t take a genius, well actually it does and she’s adding a lot to one of the top teams in the state, I’ll catch her at the upcoming Mansfield Spring Creek BBQ Tournament. That tournament is one of four I’ll catch December 26-28, three are on the outskirts of Dallas, one is in Waco. I’ll start opening day off with the Lady Bulldogs Classic and Amarachi Kimpson (Little Elm) will be remembered in my GPR archives as one of the most poised under pressure elementary school players I’ve seen. She’s also one of the most “clutch” players I’ve seen as well, I have stuff floating around on The Gram and I’ll catch these two and hopefully many others in a couple of weeks