2028/29 Standouts: Cy Fair Premier Showcase

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cy Fair Premier</strong> founder, director, and head coach<strong> Chris Johnson</strong> and I go back probably right at 20 years and some of the top players in Texas have come through his program. With the countless platforms in Texas, his Individual Showcases have been useful for me to catch players I haven't or probably won't see so last weekend, I covered his teams for this upcoming season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='563691' first='Sofia' last='Read']</strong> was on a visit to Texas Tech while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1092109' first='Taiya' last='Kikunga']-6'1 C</strong> is preparing for the <strong>State final 4 with her Summer Creek</strong> school squad so let me start with the younger ones</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2028</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='757924' first='Olivia' last='McKinnon']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>McKinnon is "long and athletic" which will always be the base yet her upside is intriguing because she does things instinctively. She showed nice hands and footwork around the basket as well as nice timing to block shots. I also liked her going after the ball off the rim, on both ends along with scoring on putbacks. Throw in she stands above "the magic number" which is 6'0 so ...</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='864720' first='Hailey' last='Neal']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Neal is showing signs of "being the deal" and with a very nice first step to get to the basket coupled with body control ahead of her years, she finished after contact. Her pull-up jumper in the set and her "stop and pop" in transition were nice but she elevates on her jumper which is a big plus in itself. She also creates her shot under pressure and shows body control on her finishes yet she also showed #sizedontmatter as she outrebounded taller players </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Dusti Verron</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Verron is heady and shows she can stay under control and make good decisions while being pressured. Her deceptive first step was nice, it kept the defender off balance and helped her get to the basket to either score or dish yet her court vision in the set as well as the open court were also nice. She understands positioning and rebounded as well</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jordan Erickson</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Erickson gets the #THROWBACK hashtag for doing something I love to see and that was watching her "follow her shot" which has become somewhat of a lost art. She played within herself and showed she could get hers "in the flow" by setting the defender up to attack the basket from multiple angles. She also did a good job on the defensive end</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2029</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='967019' first='Meredith' last='Walton']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Walton comes from a long line of talented ballplayers and observing her sisters over the years showed me she has been absorbing what she has seen. Her quick hands immediately stood out as she came away with steals, she also handled the ball and saw the floor under pressure. She has a nice first step to attack the basket but what was also impressive is that she did all of this playing against older players </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->