Excitement Opens Up Texas Invitational

Robinson has been a joy to watch over the years, I probably caught her when she was around 10 or 11 and dropped the #D1Lock on her yet the University of Texas Arlington showed up and out on day 1 with a mixture of dropping the mid to long-range, stop and pop in transition included, as well as scoring off the dribble yet none of that surprised me because I’ve caught her working out with her parents numerous times and it’s the little things that were tweaked that have helped make her game complete. Her court-vision, rebounding and defense were all on point

Sneed was another #D1Lock at around the 6th grade when her dad hit me up inquiring about the All Eyez On Me camp and with him being a Texas legend, I had to catch her in action so it didn’t take me long to know she would be making waves with her weaving around defenders and speaking of waves, she signed with the Tulane Green Waves so her mere poise under pressure helped sell me early and her ability to take over games whenever she wants had me smiling. Her first step, her body control and acrobatic finishes were on full display, so was her mid to long jumper as well as seeing the floor in the set as well as in transition

Forestier is taking the show on the road and I’m not sure when I first saw her, maybe the 7th grade yet her mannerisms grabbed my attention as she not handled the pressure being applied from older player heading to the next level, she wanted the shot down the stretch and nailed it. She had growth spurts, on and off the court which is one of the main reasons she signed with USC, well her unlimited range factors in that as well, but her mere court presence had much to do with her team winning it all at the Texas Invitational as she falls into that “makes those around her better” group

King gave me the “are you paying attention” look after her freshman season when I omitted her from the Watch List yet it was technical error on my part as I forgot to hit save which  is a great word. I started paying attention when she had been on vacation, plane had just landed and she rushed to a tournament to drop a 3 to win the game, i can’t make this stuff up yet I made up the error and listed her yet she’ll be bumped up even more after her performance. Her ability to “find ways to put the ball into the basket” had me smiling as the mid to long-range, the attacking and finishig as well as putbacks, yes she rebounded on both ends, all stood out

Egbuna has continuously taken her game to different levels since I caught her in middle school so I knew he power in the paint would be a problem because she had a college ready body even then and that, coupled with strength and size told me a lot. What I enjoyed was her showing she was more than a “back to the basket” player and watching her not only control the boards on both ends and showing interior defense was her stepping outside the paint

Vaughn had me smiling as I remember her watching her aunt dominate games with our squad when I was still coaching at observing her taking in everything told me she would fall into that “student of the game” group. Well she has been teaching a whole lot recently and watching her control the tempo for her squad has been a joy as she set her teammates up nicely for gimmes in the set. She also saw the floor in transition but dropping the jumper as well as scoring off the dribble kept the defenders guessing, yet on the flip, her on the ball pressure was also very nice