Upside 2024 by HP Events: 2025 Prospects

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are very few girls basketball prospect events outside of the PGH sphere that I will personally endorse publically, promote, encourage registration, and sacrifice time to cover in person myself: Upside is among the few.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":998379,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/09/PXL_20240915_151708315.MP_-crop-3226x2118-1726512156.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-998379" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Director William Jones speaking with prospects at Upside</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Upside by Highest Platform</strong> is a unique experience for college-motivated basketball prospects to gain perspective, skills, testing measurables, instructive feedback, media coverage, and an evaluation graphic that will provide girls with the necessary feedback to reach their recruiting goals as college prospects. Those vital elements of Upside are exactly why I prioritized the event as a college coach for Lake Michigan College. As a college coach, I want to recruit girls who are dedicated to improving their fundamental skills, strength, speed, mental toughness, etc. to become more recruitable and successful at the college level. Seeing how the girls concentrate, communicate, and respond to adversity was very informative. Very few high school athletes are ready right now to immediately start or make a profound impact at any college level in every offensive/defensive category. That means, every high school prospect has improvements to make in some area of their game, which is why Upside has great value. Not every travel coach, high school coach, trainer, or parent knows what it takes to succeed at the college level: having an informed evaluator to provide that feedback is essential to reaching your goals of succeeding at the college level. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At Upside, I greatly enjoyed having the opportunity to make an informed evaluation of all the athletes. The format gave every girl plenty of reps during the skill, physical testing, and competitive play segments to show their abilities and mindset on the court. The knowledge gained as a college coach attending Upside and the knowledge received by the prospects was extremely valuable. Coach Jones shared the simple truth that growth cannot happen inside the comfort zone, and I believe that embracing this mindset will lead to future success. I look forward to supporting and attending Upside again next year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are a few notes from my observations of 2025 prospects who attended Upside. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["998205"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":998296,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66e87f5856145"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Marina is a guard who stood out with her pace and effort during the stationary ball-handling segment at Upside. She threw accurate entry passes over defenders during competitive play and blew by a defender with a hesi to score a layup at the rim. Marina showed her range by hitting 3s from the wing during a shooting drill and worked hard on defense to create steals during 5v5. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["998207"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":998303,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66e87f58561ad"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Tamerah was a Top Performer at SkillCase and she stood out as one of the best guard prospects again at Upside. Tamerah showed off her physical strength and speed during the weighted ball toss, shuttle, and full-court sprints. Tamerah was one of the quickest during ball-handling drills, dished an accurate bounce pass during 5v5, and added a wing 3. Tamerah finished strong off two in the paint, pushed the ball quickly in transition, jumped a pass on defense to steal then score a layup, and knocked down 3s during the spot-shooting segment.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["431342"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":998390,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66e87f58561fc"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Emilie consistently shows quickness/control with her ball handling and was effective again with those skills at Upside. Emilie was one of the few girls who could execute full-speed crossovers and pull-over spin dribbles during the full-court dribbling drills. Emilie knocked down a smooth free-throw jumper off the dribble, scored a contested layup, and threw a nice loft entry pass during 5v5. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["903685"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":998335,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66e87f5856244"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Jenna is a versatile forward who has improved greatly since the spring, setting the standard once again for communication, effort, and focus at Upside. Jenna provided verbal encouragement to her partner during the ball-handling segment, called for the ball on offense, and knocked down a smooth 3 during 5v5. She worked for an offensive rebound left-handed put back off two and added another triple from the corner during the shooting spots segment. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["854689"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":998386,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66e87f585628b"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Yasmeen is a prospect who I have greatly enjoyed watching during travel and summer ball: she has leadership qualities, strong fundamentals, and is a confident speaker. Yasmeen demonstrated excellent pivoting footwork to score contested layups in the paint against a taller defender but recognized when to kick the ball out to shooters. Yasmeen had one of the most fluid and rhythmic 3 point shots off the catch. She pushed the ball coast to coast for a layup off two after securing the defensive rebound. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Upcoming Events (Registration Deadline September 19th)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"id":969797,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/08/PGHMI-ExpoBell2024.jpg?w=865" alt="" class="wp-image-969797" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://events.prepgirlshoops.com/e/1255/register/the-expo-michigan">Registration for Expo</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">At the Buzzer</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Evan Bell</strong>&nbsp;is currently a scout for Prep Girls Hoops and Director of&nbsp;<a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/program/prepare-2-win-basketball/"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/program/prepare-2-win-basketball/"><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/program/prepare-2-win-basketball/"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/program/prepare-2-win-basketball/"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/program/prepare-2-win-basketball/"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/program/prepare-2-win-basketball/"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/program/prepare-2-win-basketball/"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/program/prepare-2-win-basketball/"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/program/prepare-2-win-basketball/"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/program/prepare-2-win-basketball/"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/program/prepare-2-win-basketball/"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/program/prepare-2-win-basketball/"><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='923712' first='Prepare' last='2 Win Basketball']</strong></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong>&nbsp;. Our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prepnetwork.com/frequently-asked-questions/">mission</a>&nbsp;at PGH is to cover as many athletes with D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCO potential in the state as possible. If you know a prospect off our radar, please DM Evan through Twitter @CoachEvanBell or email him at coachevanbell@gmail.com</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->