“Coach Speak”: Wood Elite ’28 Preview (Georgia) w/ Coach Weiss
The Wood Elite Girls team is a special group of young ladies in the Woodstock area outside of Atlanta. The team is made up of top girls from a handful of schools in the local area—all within 10 miles of…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe Wood Elite Girls team is a special group of young ladies in the Woodstock area outside of Atlanta. The team is made up of top girls from a handful of schools in the local area—all within 10 miles of the school. Their performance last year brought 30 girls from all over to tryout for the team; however, more talented players do not always been a better team. So, all the new girls to the program went to the other team which is now just as talented as last year’s team that returned in full.
Last year’s 2028 team played 69 games. They went 57-11 playing 16 games at the next higher grade, 4 games against HS varsity teams and 4 games at the USA games against playing a grade higher against teams from other states. They won 9 tournament championships and were runners up twice. This year’s team started where they left off—winning the Luck O the Irish tournament in Dalton, GA at the 9th grade level. This week they will try to play two grades up in the Gwinnett Tarheels tournament.
The special thing about the 10 players on the 2028 Wood Elite team is that everyone plays significant minutes in every game. They share the ball, have great attitudes, and take all take pride in playing defense. Our goal is for each one of them to be on their varsity teams next year as freshman.
Reagan Mulligan
Reagan Mulligan
2028 Shooting Guard Reagan Mulligan, River Ridge High School:
This young lady was born to shoot. She was the leading scorer from the team last year, scoring 822 points and hitting 117 three-point shots. Many times, teams would focus on taking her three-point shot away from her so she would simply shoot from the timeline. Reagan shot 38.2% from behind the arch and led the team shooting 53% inside the arch. This is our player that has to overcome box and 1 defense because he is all that.
Caitlyn Garcia
Caitlyn Garcia
2028 Point/Shooting Guard Combo Caitlyn Garcia and future Etowah High School player:
This young lady is the one person no opposing player ever wants to guard. Additionally, there is no such thing as a 50/50 ball when she is involved—it is more like 80/20 in her favor. Caitlyn plays with unmatched passion and does it all. She would take the best player defensively; she led the team in steals (194) and assists (150). She was also 2nd in blocks and rebounds and was third on the team with 442 points.
Kenzie Hinkson Kenzie Hinkson 5'6" | CG North Paulding | 2028 GA
Kenzie Hinkson Kenzie Hinkson 5'6" | CG North Paulding | 2028 GA
2028 Point Guard Kenzie Hinkson Kenzie Hinkson 5’6″ | CG North Paulding | 2028 GA (AKA Shorty even though she is taller than others) from North Paulding High school.
Shorty ran the point for us all year round and while she could light up the scoring column in the book and needed to on several occasions, she gladly took the lead in making all the other players better. It is no coincidence that this winner or player also led her 8th grade team to the championship of the Cherokee, Cobb, and Fulton counties basketball league with all school teams in their respective counties. Kenzie scored 599 points (2nd on team) while adding 126 rebounds, 145 assists (2nd) and 164 steals.
Mackanzie (Mack) Slater
Mackanzie (Mack) Slater
2028 Mackanzie (Mack) Slater’s PG, G, SF and PF all rolled up into one player who will be going to Woodstock High School next year.
This versality may give her the highest ceiling. Nobody outworks her—putting in the training and extra work. In fact, she has elevated her role this year and is killing it ranking among the top this year in points and assists and shooting an incredible 10 for 12 from inside the arch through the first four games this year.
Layla Davis
Layla Davis
2028 Forward/Center Layla Davis:
Layla is a rising star as she started playing basketball later than the rest and is the youngest on the team and will be attending Sequoyah High School next year: She was our inside presence all year, having to play against bigger players and give us inside scoring. She did both and because of her the team was able to play against older teams all year. She also scored 394 points on 43.7% shooting.
Brenley Mathews
Brenley Mathews
2028 Forward/Center Brenley Matthews who will be attending Creekview High School next year.
This young lady is a coaching dream, and this was before she grew about 3 inches from last year to this year. Bren plays with an edge and protects the basket like no other. She drew a charge at least every other game. Brenly also scored over 200 points and had 173 rebounds while shooting 48.8% from the field.
Hadley Hooks
Hadley Hooks
2028 Point Guard/Shooting guard combo Hadley Hooks who will be attending River Ridge High School next year:
Blue color player who has a smile 100% of the time and could start for any other local team but will do whatever is asked. Qualities are becoming rarer these days and this star guard will help in whatever capacity is needed. Last year Hadley had 147 points, 82 assists, 71 steals, and 12 blocks as well is the best offensive highlight of the season.
Elle Downing
Elle Downing
2028 Forward Elle Downing who will be attending Etowah High School.
This is another star that could play for any other local team and be much more of a featured player. She can literally play every spot on the floor and is always willing to do just that. Last year Elle scored 160 points, had 180 rebounds, 32 assists, 94 steals, and 26 blocks.
Juliana (Juju) McNeely
Juliana (Juju) McNeely
2028 Point Guard/Shooting Guart Juliana (Juju) McNeely who will attend Walton High School:
Juju is the most athletic player on the team. She goes after the ball relentlessly and is a two sport star athlete that started basketball later than the others. However, this rising star showed what she can do time and time again for her Walton High school junior team going for more than 30 points on occasion. Juju scored 100 points last year and had 72 rebounds, 42 assists, and 36 steals.
Emerson Reese
Emerson Reese
2028 newcomer Emerson Reese or EK is a 5′ 8” player who will also play every possession for us.
She joined us early in the offseason attending all our shooting session and clearly going to be an welcome addition to our 2024 team.