Young Studs on the Circuit: Florida Travel

From gritty guards to Point-Forwards with elite-level skillsets, these players will turn some heads for years to come. [player_tooltip player_id="216440" first="Kailani" last="Merrell"] 5’10 2026 Calvary Christian Merrell is a stud, and a name to remember on a national level. At 5’10, she can defend the perimeter which college coaches will love, and just has a build that screams high level. The idea that she can be capable of consistently putting it on the floor and attacking off the bounce is eye-opening. She holds her form very well on her jumper and when she locks in from deep, Merrell shoots it with the best of them. She can score on all three levels, and it speaks to the development of her game by her coaches and her father, who she trains with as well. I can just picture post-fades over smaller defenders, and facing up the slower-footed bigs that try to stop her. A match-up nightmare with an extremely unique skillset, super high ceiling. [player_tooltip player_id="248347" first="Nina" last="Green"] 5’4 2024 Wharton Green is a floor general with elite court vision who can handle it as good as any guard at her level. The CD4 product will knife through defenses and set teammates up for easy finishes, and she plays with an edge to her that I enjoyed. When she gets things going creating for herself, Green is able to show how complete of a guard she has the potential to become. She will shoot the midrange, will finish through contact, and can hit from deep off the bounce. Defensively she makes good reads and will initiate the break and make the right play after steals. Green is crafty in the lane and polished for her age, I watched her do a side step into a mid-range pull-up and was sold. [player_tooltip player_id="166174" first="Maia" last="Lewers"] 5’5 2023 Brooks DeBartolo Lewers plays with great pace and has a great hesitation move where she makes the right decisions after freezing defenders. I liked how active she plays, the Sophomore is a part of a very solid program in Brooks DeBartolo who made a deep state playoff run a season ago. Lewers played with a group led by [player_tooltip player_id="91581" first="Jaela" last="Davis"] and [player_tooltip player_id="145103" first="Amarie" last="Godwin"], who are great talents to learn from. She has good touch around the rim and will use the floater in the lane. Lewers has a high arching spot-up 3 that she does a good job of releasing. With Godwin and [player_tooltip player_id="145105" first="Brionna" last="McClinton"] on their way to the next level, Lewers should have a good chance at stepping into a bigger role for the Phoenix. Jadah Toombs 5’6 2024 Fort Meyers Toombs is a flat-out blur. When you talk about end-to-end speed, Toombs definitely comes to mind. She has an elite-level understanding of playing in the open court and finding teammates who fill the lane. Defensively she anticipates very well. My favorite thing is that she will stop on a dime, and shoot the pull-up with ease. I think developing the left hand will be big for her, and if she continues to hit the 3-ball consistently with the way she can play downhill, Florida is in trouble. [player_tooltip player_id="221610" first="Karolina" last="Ramirez"] 5’5 2026 Martin County In the words of her coaches, Ramirez is “beyond her years” and I couldn’t agree more. She has elite-level ball control and understands concepts that coaches stress. She will drive and kick to set teammates up for open looks and can create for herself the way premier guards do. Defensively she will hound other guards and not allow them to be comfortable. Ramirez is a flat-out playmaker, even with the best talent some days you get different versions of a great player, she impressed me every time she stepped on the floor and backed up every ounce of hype behind her name. The program that has her at the helm for four years will be lucky to have landed her. [player_tooltip player_id="248262" first="Maria" last="Newman"] 5’6 2024 The Masters Academy Newman is a knockdown shooter with a great passing ability and I was sold by how scrappy she plays. Somewhat of a lost art, the Masters rising Sophomore wants to defend, her grittiness really impressed me. I wanted to label her as “All Hustle Team” but she does so much more on the floor, Newman works, on both ends. She does great with getting the ball to her shooting pocket and holding her follow-through on her release. I liked the way she surveys the floor even when she’s under pressure, she never seemed to be too sped up. The more she adapts to the high school level, colleges will come knocking.