IE Summer Slam: Dynamic Backcourt Duos

Whether the were on the court together or relieved one another during stretches, these backcourt duos were very productive for their teams and accounted themselves very well in front of the large number of college coaches who were in attendance at Insider Exposure's Summer Slam. Not only have these players been productive over the last five months together during travel ball, but on their own they stood out in June when they returned for scholastic basketball. All of these ladies will be very productive players on the college level and several have already received offers since their games ended on Monday.    Reeder, before going out after a very nasty fall that caused a large cut and required ten stitches, and backcourt mate [player_tooltip player_id='1178971' first='Camya' last='Hutcherson'] have been very productive and efficient for coach John McGraw and Southeast United the last two seasons of travel ball. Both are very talented players who are skilled in a lot of areas. Mahliya is more willing to take risks with the basketball, specifically with her handles often culminating in plays that draw audible reactions from the crowd. She has a flair handling the basketball and makes difficult moves look simple as she created space for herself regularly over the course of the five days before finishing consistently from the midrange, three point range, and at the rim. It is hard not to be impressed with her dribbling combinations, they are quick and almost always draw the desired reaction from defenders. Reeder is also an excellent passer who set up not only Hutcherson, but Jahlaya Wilson, [player_tooltip player_id='1143207' first='Lauryn' last='Walker'], and sharp shooter Bryonna Grimes. It has been about 24 hours since the event ended and she has already received an offer from NAIA HBCU Florida Memorial University. They should not and probably will not be the only one school to do so as a result of her stellar play.     Hutcherson, in large part due to the play of [player_tooltip player_id='1263879' first='Mahliya' last='Reeder'], is allowed a lot from freedom to play off the ball with Southeast United than when I saw her with Lee County in June at the Wildcat Shootout in Kingsland, and the GYBC Live period Georgia. There she was much more a point guard, initiating and facilitating her team's offense while still scoring the basketball at a high clip. At Summer Slam, Hutcherson used that freedom to score the basketball in a variety of ways from all three levels. As per usual, Camya shot the ball very well from deep and was able to get to the basket and score using solid fundamentals and skill. Over the course of the tournament she also scored a lot of opportunistic baskets on offensive rebounds and loose balls because she knew Reeder would get back on defense. Her stock has continued to rise over the past two years and her offer list continues to grow with Lincoln Memorial and the University of Fort Lauderdale being the latest two schools to offer.     What McCurry and [player_tooltip player_id='1866683' first='Scout' last='Henry'] lack in height they make up for with their skill, toughness, and basketball IQs. McCurry, whose father Travis was a D1 player and graduate assistant at Mercer, showed the above mentioned qualities in spades as she ran the Tennessee United offense. Zoe got the ball where it needed to go on time and position for her very talented teammates to score, including Henry. Her post entries passes were at [player_tooltip player_id='1263834' first='Elle' last='Johnson'] and Paisley Hick's shoulders or above, often times as they were on the move, allowing them to get the ball up to the basket quickly and keeping it away from defenders. When shooters came off down screens and curls she hit them in the pocket allowing them to release the ball cleanly and quickly without wasted motion. McCurry scored the ball very well herself from behind the three point line as well as at the rim. She used her quickness to beat defenders down the floor and scored or was fouled several times on lay up attempts. One thing she also did that will not show up in the score book was get after loose balls with no fear of physical contact. McCurry got extra possessions for her team by diving on the floor at least three times that I recall. Zoe also stepped in and took more than one charge in Greensboro. She is a player whose ranking will rise when the next round of updates is released.     Scout is another player who will see their name not only on the next round of rankings when they come out, but her debut will be pretty high on the list after excellent showings at the University of North Georgia team camp in June and finishing the Summer with Tennessee United in Greensboro. She was the best player on the court for a large part of multiple games and her team played some very good competition. As the tournament came to end and other players were running on fumes, Scout looked fresh on the court and her play reflected that not only during that time but early on in the tournament as well. She was nearly automatic from three point range, finished very well at the rim in transition, and also found ways to score by grabbing offensive rebounds and loose balls. Defensively, Henry caused multiple deflections and stills turning defense into offense for her team. She is one of the most underrated players in the state regardless of class, but they will change soon. College coaches saw the same thing I did, she is a dynamic playmaker whose height has no impact on her ability to effect games.     Ledford may have been the best guard at the entire tournament as she did just about everything you want your point guard to do while leading her team to the Final Four before losing to eventual champions [program_tooltip program_id='713566' first='Lady' last='Phoenix'] Elite. No shame in that as Delaney Rudd's team has beaten some of the best shoe teams in the country this spring and Summer. Rudd himself told me as we were walking that "0 can really play for them. She can really shoot the ball". The former Wake Forest star and longtime teammate of John Stockton and Karl Malone with the Utah Jazz, had watched film on Redline and was prepared for dynamic play at the point guard position. Ledford shot the ball extremely well from three point range especially off the dribble, but equally as well on the rare catch and shoot occasion. Her ability to get to rim with quick, two dribble ball handling combinations and score kept opposing defenses off balance throughout the tournament. She was excellent distributing the basketball all over the court as she ran her team's dribble drive offense often ending with the ball in her hands and a play being needed to made. She is, without question, one of the best 2028's in Georgia and she, along with her Murray county teammates, will try and defend their state championship this Winter.     Haley is another of the more underrated players in the state, but that will change with the new rankings update this Fall. She has been one of the biggest stock risers in the 2028 class this Summer with her play during travel ball (Redline) and high school ball with Buford. One D2 head coach who has seen this team play often remarked to me one of the first two games that "she never misses open threes". I quickly replied "I know". That trend held true as Haley shot the ball very well from three with only 1-2 open misses from deep over the course of 5-6 games. Ryczek is not just a shooter however as she proved over the weekend in Greensboro. The very scrappy guard was able to turn defense into offense as well creating steals and tipping several passes that led to layups on the other end from her and her teammates. Like Ledford, she distributed the ball very well, she executed kick ahead passes to her teammates in transition as well allowing them to score uncontested layups, but kept the defense honest by putting the ball in the basket.. With two years left to prove it, I believe that she has the potential to receive multiple opportunities to play on the next level and be a contributor at the right program for multiple years.     Gabrielle brought home Player of the Game honors in multiple games at Summer Slam including the championship game where she scored 14 points to lead her team to another Insider Exposure championship. The game I watched closest against Redline in the Final Four, she was just as effective scoring the basketball. On one of the first plays of the game, Troy-Mebane was able to get around her defender going right before finishing under [player_tooltip player_id='726382' first='Hollyn' last='Hicks'] with a nice finger roll off the glass. Seconds later she scored a layup on an uncontested layup and scored another layup in transition with three Redline defenders trying to run her down later in the game. She was effective in other areas offensively, specifically in the pick and roll, where she hit [player_tooltip player_id='755812' first='Aamori' last='Patterson'] for a three point shot early in the second half to push the lead out and secure the victory for [program_tooltip program_id='713566' first='Lady' last='Phoenix'] Elite. She currently holds one offer from Winston Salem State University, but with her recent move to Winston Salem Christian School to join Rudd, that number will surely grow and probably sooner rather than later.     Hinton is a player who has received the interest and some offers from D2 schools, but her coach believes is definitely a Division One payer. She showed flashes of that ability throughout the game against Redline, especially in the first half where she was able to elude defenders with the basketball and get into the painted area then make very difficult finishes look ordinary. Hinton got to the basket from both sides, using both hands throughout the tournament and showed an impressive finishing package as well. She is listed as a Combo Guard and she is certainly capable of doing that on the next level, but she shined in her role running the point with the basketball in her hands making the majority of the decisions at Summer Slam. She led her team to another championship while concluding a Spring and Summer that saw them knock off multiple teams playing on the EYBL and UAA circuits. She applied maximum pressure on the ball while not playing reckless and when the basketball was turned over, she got it where it needed to go in a hurry. Hinton is a player Rudd thinks very highly of and with his resume it would be hard to argue that she can play on the Division One level. She currently holds offers from George Mason, Morgan State, Fayetteville State, Shaw university, NC Central, and most recently Claflin, Barton College, and Winston Salem State University.

Whether the were on the court together or relieved one another during stretches, these backcourt duos were very productive for their teams and accounted themselves very well in front of the large number of college coaches who were in attendance at Insider Exposure's Summer Slam. Not only have these players been productive over the last five months together during travel ball, but on their own they stood out in June when they returned for scholastic basketball. All of these ladies will be very productive players on the college level and several have already received offers since their games ended on Monday.