Gold Nuggets From Dahlonega

Seeing a young player for the first time or a kid that geographically makes it nearly impossible for me, makes this job fun and keeps things exciting. Several players who I had not seen before and kids who I had only heard about it made big impacts for their respective teams and stood out from the hundreds of other players at North Georgia's team camp. A couple I had seen for a few minutes here and there at other events and games, but had not watched for an extended period of time. Each of these players made a big impression and I look forward to seeing each of them again.    Tobi was in total control with the basketball in her hands each time Norcross had possession on offense. The precision with which she operated with was surgical in nature and she was one of the better shot makers at the camp. She was extremely skillful off the bounce keeping the ball low and getting quickly to her spots for pull up jump shots and showed touch scoring around the basket. Owolabi was very good shooting the ball in catch and situations as well as off the dribble from beyond the three point line as well. She has elite ball handling ability that rivals anyone in Georgia, something she has clearly worked hard to achieve. Defensively she had quick and active hands and feet and did a good job keeping everything in front of her.     Miya showcased one of the better overall performances, stuffing the stat sheet while making game changing plays for her Union County team, of any of the players at camp. She is one of the excellent young players in the UC program that after seeing them compete with "big dogs", definitely will have a chance to get to Macon next season. She is very quick and plays with great intelligence allowing her to pick the ball from dribblers, jump in the passing lane for steals, and be an active rebounder on the defensive end. Offensively she is very skilled and very long with the ability to score the ball from all the levels with ease while also distributing the ball on the break. Miya's aforementioned anticipation skills coupled with her effort and competitiveness put her in the right place at the right time for opportunistic plays repeatedly. The biggest being a sudden-death, game-winning put back to beat Galloway.     Jaiden is a player who I had heard a lot about, seen in passing, and who had a lot of positive momentum coming out of last season for Etowah. Other evaluators who I talk with, not from Georgia, but keep tabs on the programs and players here had asked me about her. It didn't take long to see what the buzz was about as Graham attacked and slashed her way to the basket with great effect on the break in transition and off dribble-drive action in the half court. Her athleticism was evident and she did a great utilizing her quickness and explosiveness to blow by defenders and finish at the rim. On a few of those finishes Jaiden took off from outside, or near outside, of the paint gliding towards the basket and then smoothly finishing with both hands. She applied excellent on ball pressure and contributed on both ends on the boards.     Scout is the kind of player I would have wanted on my team when I was coaching a few years ago. She is a hard-nosed competitor whose motor never lets up nor does her will to win. She seemed to be in the middle of all the action in the games I watched Union County play and usually came out with a win in each scenario. It was not just her effort, but the productivity that came along with it. She is a very skilled player who displayed the ability to hurt opposing teams from beyond the arc, driving to the basket from the wings and baseline, and finishing on the break over bigger defenders. Defensively she was all out with active and quick hands and feet. The toughness and lateral movement transfers over well from the volleyball court for Henry. She is another young player from Union County I look forward to seeing again.     Streetman's timing and quickness on cuts from the free throw and short corner from Madison County showed a high level of awareness and knowledge on spacing for post players as did her footwork, specifically pivoting off both feet as well as using shot fakes and head movement to get her defender off the ground. Laila has the ability to finish with both hands and shot the ball well from the free throw line where she spent a lot of time. She has the offensive skills to play on the perimeter and would be a great stretch four if the opportunity arose for her to play that position. She also worked very well in tandem with fellow post player [player_tooltip player_id='1057261' first='Eva' last='Czaplinski'] with post to post passing, specifically high low action.     Eva is listed as a guard on MaxPreps and that would explain why she moved so well sprinting down the floor at over six feet tall. She did not however play guard at camp for the majority of the time, instead as aforementioned she worked in very good partnership with in the post with [player_tooltip player_id='1244516' first='Laila' last='Streetman'] giving Madison County a very good one-two punch inside. On the break she keep her big, soft hands high and when the guards delivered her ball on the money, she kept it elevated, and it was off the backboard and through the net very quickly. Defensively, she did get out on the perimeter and pick up wing players showing the versatility she has to go along with the size and skill. She is definitely a player to have on your radar of you a college coach in the state of Georgia.     Ludington stoodout not only for her stellar play over the course of two days, but because of her vocal leadership comping from the point guard position. According to MaxPreps, Reagan was the team's leader in assists last season which is easy to believe watching her direct traffic with the basketball while calling out and then executing sets called from the sideline. Ludington was sneaky quick and skilled with the basketball getting past the initial defender and into the heart of the defense where she scored and found open teammates. Crafty would be the one word I would use to best describe her game. She was very good rebounding the ball for her size on a team with not a lot of it and defensively she not only contained her assignment, but was a very reliable help side teammate. When Pickens created steals or when she got a long rebound, Reagan did a job making decisions and showing patience in transition.

Seeing a young player for the first time or a kid that geographically makes it nearly impossible for me, makes this job fun and keeps things exciting. Several players who I had not seen before and kids who I had only heard about it made big impacts for their respective teams and stood out from the hundreds of other players at North Georgia's team camp. A couple I had seen for a few minutes here and there at other events and games, but had not watched for an extended period of time. Each of these players made a big impression and I look forward to seeing each of them again.