The Freshman Showcase – Gamechangers

A tenatious PG who’s fun to watch. Florio caught my eye instantly. Her ability to break through the lane with a euro or step through was unmatched. Despite her size, she was able to get many buckets in the paint as she didn’t attack when it was cluttered, but rather got to the basket when there was max 2 players in the area. She has a nice touch inside, but also makes the right read on her attack. When attacking, she has a nice tight, clean handle that allows her to get by her defender easily. She shifts her defender with a combo move and uses her quick first step to get by. She understands that if help side sucks in, there’s an open man on the wing. I saw Florio do this numerous times, which caused confusion for the defense on whether to step in or let her go, since they didn’t know what she was going to do. One thing that impressed me the most about Florio was her ability to knock it down from three…consistently. She hit 4 threes in her first game from off the catch, dribble, and screen. She is deadly from beyond the arc and in the paint, so have fun trying to guard the Florio Finesse. On defense, this kid literally set the tone for her team. She picked up full court every, single, time, and it wasn’t that lame soft pressure D. Florio wreaked havoc for her defender, getting her hands in the pocket, turning them multiple times, and guiding them into another defender for the steal. If her man doesn’t have the ball, she looks to tip from behind, with her speed allowing her to track down that tip for the steal. Overall, I think you’re going to be hearing this name a lot come high school season. A prep kid at a top AA school in the Nepsac?! Yeah, don’t get tired of it.

A quick sneaky athletic PG who gets it done on both ends of the floor. Muir is a PG but can do a lot of good off the ball. She finds the holes in the defense and cuts through them to open up shot opportunities for herself or her teammates. She is quick and can beat her opponent off the first step, going all the way into the lane. Muir also has a solid smooth stroke from 3 and hit on multiple occasions. She gets on the boards at both ends and uses her athleticism to get up and pull down the ball for a kick out or put back. On defense, she is another menace that just gets the job done. She must’ve had over 20 transition points on the day (4-5 games). Her speed allows her to keep her player in front, and make them incredibly uncomfortable due to her pressure. The majority of the time Muir was guarding someone, they got rid of the ball fast, turned it over, or didn’t go to the ball to bring it up past half-court. Muir causes such a disruption due to her defensive ability, and does the same on the offensive end with her scrappy antics. Overall, I really like Muir. She is someone who can lock down another team’s best player while still being able to get it done on the offensive end. I’m excited to see what else she will add to her game this coming winter.

A shifty athletic guard who is dangerous. Burke is a major sleeper. Her ability to get downhill north to south was unmatched. Each step she took, she exploded getting to the basket with so much precision and purpose. I bet she could probably get from half court to the rim with only 3 steps. It’s sooo hard to guard because her defender just can’t keep up. In order to get into the lane, Burke uses a nice change of pace into a combo move to break down her defender. She likes the hesitation to freeze her defender and then blow right by them with a lightning first step.. and second and third and just all of them. Burke can also hit from deep off the catch, but I mainly saw her drive off the dribble. She would either go all the way, or read her defender to see if she has the PUJ. Man is that dangerous. On defense, she has active hands which lead to many steals for her. Overall, I think Burke is going to be something special. She already has the foundation to be a great basketball player, and is excelling at such a young age. Her opponents better prepare well, or they’re screwed.

A strong exciting big guard who just does it all. Just wow. I swear when watching this kid I was shocked by all that she was able to do. At first, I thought Mcclendon was a post. She was muscling her way to positioning inside, and sealing her defender for the drop step. But then, I watched her bring the ball up for her team and just attack straight off the bounce numerous times. She just muscled through everyone like it was no big deal. AND THEN, she just lets it fly from legit everywhere on the floor. A player is tight up on her, doesn’t matter, it’s up and it’s in. Transition break, she’s sprinting down the court with the ball, oh let me just stop out of nowhere and let it fly. Boom, the 3 goes in… again. This wasn’t luck either, I probably watched her knock down these kinds of shots at least 5 times a half. McClendon is LEGIT. I could say the best part of her game is her shooting, but I also think her ability to get herself into the paint was impressive as well. She’s just not the type of player that can be defined by one thing she does. She gets it done from all levels and it is so fun to watch. On defense, she uses her size and athleticism to destroy shots. The ball.. yeah it’s in the other court from her absolutely swatting it. I just loved watching this kid play. So excited to see her again.

An attacking strong PF who wants all the contact. Bousquet is a strong player who is not afraid to make or take contact. On her drives, she keeps the ball high to shoot over her defender. She uses her strength to (legally) displace her defender so that she could get the positioning she wants. A lot of the time I saw her use a clean hop step that was so effective in creating space for herself. Even with her muscling her way in, she does a great job of gathering and being in control to slow herself down for a soft touch. Bousquet also has a great step back that gives her just enough space to get her shot off. She uses it to step off to the foul line after she drives middle. On defense, she does a nice job of not biting on her player’s moves, and using her strength to keep positioning. Overall, I really liked Bousquet’s ability to get inside, and really enjoyed watching her use different moves to get the bucket.