Standouts-Long & Athletic #SwaauNIT 8th Grade Division

I had a brainstorm regarding my using the long and athletic phrase and saying "that's the base" yet you don't have to fit that mold and although most of the time, size does matter, it is not necessarily a prerequisite when I'm evaluating so let me drop some others who played in the 8th-grade division of the SWAAU NIT <strong>Amari Byles (Pro Skills National 2025)</strong> Byles is smooth yet can be terrifying because she has the tools to take a game over on either end. She scores sometimes effortlessly around the rim yet on that same rim, well off of it. she can grab the rebound and go coast to coast then elevate over defenders to finish, with contact included. Her defense is strong, she plays the passing lane so well that when you factor in her ballhandling, it's usually going to lead to baskets going the other way <strong>Jacy Abii (Lady Jets Adidas 2026)</strong> Abii is, how can I put this, explosive and I'm not just talking off the dribble, that first step at this stage is definitely going to create some problems yet her jumper, she explodes off the ground and has a quick release but back to the first step, it's long and powerful and seeing her finish, not only with contact yet her body control as well as changing directions in the air, I can't make this stuff up <strong>Kamora Pruitt (Lady Jets Adidas 2026)</strong> Pruitt mixes it up nicely offensively, which includes shooting the mid to long-range with confidence and accuracy but seeing her create the shot at this stage spells TROUBLE in caps, like I just did, down the road yet her road has a long way to go before college and she's going to make plenty of noise on that journey and when you throw in that she goes after rebounds relentlessly <strong>Maya Thompson (Pro Skills 2026 National)</strong> Thompson has taken a jump but it has more to do with maturity because she realizes what I saw when I first saw her, she can play and she can be hard to defend so with that mindset, watching her create her shot while being defending and shooting the pull-up jumper or attacking the rim, either way, she understands how to score and does it plus she plays the passing lane <strong>Londyn Barrett (Pro Skills 2025 Elite)</strong> Barrett has the size to go with long and athletic and she does quite a few things well, attacks off the dribble, rebounds on both ends, plays defense inside and outside the paint, and showed she could play the passing lane yet watching her pass, especially from the high post was a very good sign as well because with the ability to see the floor, that will probably be implemented into her game when she attacks <strong>Jazlynn Powell (NTX Elite 2025)</strong> Powell's upside is intriguing for a number of reasons, primarily because she battles and goes after everything off the glass, I'm talking both ends and her ability to jump she elevates for the  boards, sometimes twice before others on the same play, that's unusual yet it's an intangible that will be recognized by many who actually know what they're looking at, I'm talking coaches at the next level <strong>N'Kiyah Burge (OK Lady Lions 2025)</strong> Burge left me speechless a few weeks ago at the Winter Jam as she drove down the court and changed hands in midair for a layup, fluidly yet effortlessly and that was the icing on the cake after her performance yet she lit the candles like she lit up the nets scoring multiple ways around the basket, showing the pull-up jumper as well as blocking shots and playing the passing lane