Fresh Faces From Texas Invitational

Murphy laid down the LAW when I caught her and since she stands right at “the magic number” which is 6’0 and is also “long and athletic”, she immediately grabbed my attention the same way she was grabbing rebounds on both ends of the court.  I enjoyed her energy as it stayed the same throughout the game yet her “hands and footwork” in the paint helped her score but she also did a good job of scoring on putbacks. She played tough interior defense but she also showed she could step outside and defend

Lopez is also “long and athletic” and I’m guessing on her height yet watching her shootaround before the game started told me a lot as I observed her form and release, one more time, I’m a REAL EVALUATOR, so she did a good job of not only creating her shot under pressure but dropping it with a hand in her face, I’m talking mid to long-range. She also scored off the dribble, saw the floor and hit the boards on both ends. Her timing and defense also needs to be mentioned as she did well on both

Klausmier has me guessing on her height yet the eyeball test has me close but I didn’t have to guess at all about her college ready frame as she did a good job of positioning on both ends of the court. She scored around the basket, did a good job of dropping the midrange yet she was strong defensively inside the paint and ran the floor on both ends

Woodson is a move-in from Louisiana and watching her movement away from the ball was nice as she found ways to get open and when you factor in her powerful first step to attack the basket coupled with her UPS made her hard to contain. Her body control was solid, she finished strongly after contact yet those UPS also helped her elevate over defenders for the jumper, as well as battle for rebounds

Victorian was tough inside the paint on both ends of the court and she too has that “college ready frame” along with standing at “the magic number”. The magic really starts as she’s able to get the #THROWBACK hashtag for DESIRE, something you can’t each and watching her BATTLE for everything off the rim was refreshing. Her defense was also solid and she scored around the basket

Byrd flew by players off the top yet her being “long and athletic” which is the base, gave her numerous options. She scored off the dribble, attacking the basket from multiple angles with either hand and she finished strongly. Her first step is deceptive and she adds the crossover to keep the defender off balance yet she also created and dropped her shot while being defended, from mid to long range. On top of all that, she did what I love to see and that’s “playing the passing lane”

McCleod falls into that “tweener” group because over her size and ability to play multiple positions effectively. She rebounded strongly on both ends, scored around the basket, putbacks included, also handled the ball after rebounding. She understands how to use her athleticism on both ends of the court, she did a good job defending “on the ball” as well as inside the paint. She also showed she could drop it from outside, her “catch and shoot” was really nice as were her powerful finishes off the dribble

Jessel was another “long and athletic” player that stood out at the event and her defense grabbed me initially as she was able to show she guard on the perimeter, as well as inside the paint. She showed good timing to block, alter and (or) deflect shots, she also showed good court vision but she attacked the basket strongly off the dribble, and scored around the basket as well. Nice form on her shot facing the basket and she hit the boards on both ends