Highly Talented Individuals Of The 2029 Class

During the Fall, each year I put out an article about 5 prospects from the current 8th Grade Class, that everyone should keep an eye on moving forward. I don't have a chance to highlight this grade level too often, so this is one of the few moments that will happen, prior to everyone's high school careers.   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!    [player_tooltip player_id='1044963' first='Tenley' last='Levin'] has been the most impressive 2029 out of Iowa that I have up until this point, moving into her 8th Grade year at Solon Middle School. Levin is a 5'11 prospect, that can play the 1-5 position on the court at the current moment. She can handle the ball and pressure with the ball in her hands, she can score it from all three offensive levels, she can defend 1-5, and she is seemingly getting better with experience. I'm expecting Levin to do her thing this next few months and finish off her middle school career with a bang. Following that, I'm sure she will be playing on a top team within the Missouri Phenom program during AAU season, so she will just have to continue to work and build on the momentum that she has already set in place.     [player_tooltip player_id='928443' first='Maya' last='Jenkins'] self awareness and her ability to keep it simple is what separates her from a lot of others that she competes against. Jenkins takes what the defense gives her, she doesn't force unneeded movement on or off of the ball, and she has a great touch on the basketball. Defensively, she might be even better than she is offensively. She really does a great job of standing out because of her hard-nosed defense. Which is something all coaches and evaluators love to see. It'll be interesting to see where a player like Jenkins can take things over her next 4-5 years. She seems to have a high level of motivation, so as long as she works on the correct things to expand her skill-set, she will be a name we hear about more and more as times goes on.     From what I've heard and what I've seen thus far, [player_tooltip player_id='957838' first='Presley' last='Prill'] is going to be a star at West Burlington High School over her career if she keeps on her current trajectory. Prill is a 5'6 CG, that can play anywhere on the outside, getting whatever shot she wants at will, while playing sound defense on anyone that alike to herself in size. For her [program_tooltip program_id='715980' first='Team' last='Iowa'] program, Prill has been a standout for over a year now and really impressive to her coaching staffs. Everyone believes that the sky is the limit for herself, as long as she stays motivated at the goal in front of her.     Gabija Krasauskaite is new to the basketball scene in America but she is going to fit in just fine. Krasauskaite is a prospect out of the 2029 Class, that stands at 6'5 and competes at the Center position. Now usually this is a prospect I would stay away from with her being out of the state of Minnesota but by the looks of it, she will be competing with the [program_tooltip program_id='712377' first='All' last='Iowa Attack'] during AAU season. Prior to that, since she is out of the state of Minnesota, she will be able to compete on the high school floor as an 8th grader and I'm sure she will catch a ton of Varsity minutes by the end of the season. This is a Center that no one should be able to match in height and length. As long as she is put in favorable positions next to the basket, she should FEAST. This is someone to keep an eye on, not only from a Midwest standpoint, but from a national one.     An interesting Forward that will be someone to see in the near future is [player_tooltip player_id='1226370' first='Hadley' last='Kearns'] of CPU High School. Kearns may only be in 8th grade but she is well versed in what it means to be a quality player on the court. She is an individual that uses her size extremely well and she is versatile in her movements down the floor with that size. Obviously at the high school level, 5'7 won't be a Forward but more of a CG over-time. I do think that Kearns displays the ability to be able to grow into this role moving forward because she has such a solid base to build off of already. It might take her a few seasons to see the Varsity floor in a program like CPU but we will see. She could also fall into a situation where she plays almost immediately. It really just depends on what their roster looks like at that given time.

During the Fall, each year I put out an article about 5 prospects from the current 8th Grade Class, that everyone should keep an eye on moving forward. I don't have a chance to highlight this grade level too often, so this is one of the few moments that will happen, prior to everyone's high school careers.