2025 Names You Need To Know from #Select40 Austin
I love tinkering with ideas and being innovative in my own way is why I decided to branch out and promote Texas basketball over a decade ago because it was not being done. Now, there’s an abundance of information, some…
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Continue ReadingI love tinkering with ideas and being innovative in my own way is why I decided to branch out and promote Texas basketball over a decade ago because it was not being done. Now, there’s an abundance of information, some of it is accurate, some is fantasy yet here are some of the players that are going to make some definite noise almost immediately when they get to high school, trust the process because at this stage, no one should be counted out. Here are 5 up and coming middle school 8th graders
Alaysia Gude-5’7 G (La Vega MS)
Gude has been on my radar for 3 years and I always talk about progression and upside which was some of what I said when she made my Tip Sheet and fast forward to now, she’s added so much but her speed with the ball in the open court, her ability to take defenders off the dribble in the half-court, her pull-up jumper from mid to long-range, are all positives that will translate over to high school but her attacking and finishing after contact against the older players set it off completely
Niyah Waters-5’8 G (Kelly Lane MS)
Waters’ energy on the defensive end overwhelmed me and watching her read the floor told me a lot. I have written numerous times about things I look for in players and a couple of them are how they “react” in certain situations like she doesn’t wait for her man to catch the ball, she’s playing the passing lane, and how they can do things “instinctively” those two things should help the novice evaluator but she is so smooth and poised right now that she’s ready for the heat
J’Lynn Orosco-5’11 P (Hillwood MS)
Orosco has impressive size and does many of the little things right now like constantly moving without the ball yet she also watches the ball come off the glass and she moves toward it and when you are doing things like that, “instinctively” that’s a huge sign but she also has that length and athleticism, remember that’s the base I use on many players because when you have that, all you have to do is fill in some blanks and as she is a shade under “the magic number” which is 6’0. she will create some problems on both ends
Aliyahna Morris-5’3 PG (California)
Morris made one play and I dropped the “mic” well my notebook because I knew right then I was observing a #BCSLock in the making. I keep saying it’s not what you do, It’s who you do it against and she went completely off against #D1 caliber high school players but her ability to take defenders with either hand and finish with contact, with either hand not to mention her jumper which is from midrange to somewhere in California where she’s from but the spins, the HEZ and step back…
HaNiya Geretta-5’7 PG (Unity) Oklahoma
Gertta is a powerful guard, she just comes right at defenders off the dribble and is an “and one” waiting to happen because she has body control, she’s strong and she stays with it but she also can apply pressure defense, full or half-court and one thing I watch is if a player waits for their man to catch the ball and then play defense she’s in deny mode constantly but you can’t deny her when she creates her shot off the dribble and her consistent mid to long-range shooting stood out