Season Preview: 2027 Guards To Watch

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Over the last few days, Prep Girls Hoops North Carolina has been previewing the upcoming high school girls basketball season by spotlighting notable players to keep on the radar as the opening tip draws closer and closer.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Many of those notable players up to this point have been veteran standouts – of the junior and senior variety. Now, we begin to turn our attention to those who are just getting started as they advance into their sophomore campaigns.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They made their presences known as freshman – and some even as eighth or seventh graders. Now, they are poised and ready to take their games to the next level for their teams.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["772526"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","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-671b4bb94e703"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">High school sports aficionados across the Hoop State became very familiar with this multi-talented standout last season. Speller being at North Pitt – defending 2A state champion North Pitt – appears to be a case of the rich continuing to stay rich. Teams that would be on the opposite end of the Panthers used to have a Zamareya Jones problem on their hands. Jones is now at NC State and Speller is ready to take over as the face of the North Pitt girls program for the next four years. She more than made her presence known in the 2A state game vs. East Burke when she scored 31 points and came away with Kay Yow MVP honors. Northeastern, Boston College, Auburn, Miami, Arizona, Louisville, Mississippi State, Florida State, Pitt, Tennessee, North Carolina, SMU, Texas Southern and Georgia Tech have all offered her. She averaged 17.2 points, 5.7 assists and four steals per contest. One can see how she has established such a national profile. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["772492"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","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-671b4bb94e75a"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">As is the case with Speller, Drayton also is a product of a program that is one of the premier girls hoops teams in the state in Cannon. She is not doing all that badly in terms of offers either. North Carolina A&amp;T, UNC-Wilmington, Furman, South Alabama and UNC-Charlotte all have Drayton on their respective radars. During the spring and summer months of AAU, she runs with [program_tooltip program_id='713540' first='Team' last='Curry']. Drayton put together one of the signature freshman campaigns of anyone in the Hoop State as she played in 29 games last season and averaged 15.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.2 steals a contest. This helped the Cougars to another impressive season in 2023-24 as they finished with a 23-7 record along with going a perfect eight for eight against conference foes. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["635063"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","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-671b4bb94e79a"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Blake is another name we vividly remember from the 3A state championship game last season. Her Terry Sanford team may have been on the receiving end of a defeat to West Rowan, but as long as Blake sports the Bulldogs colors, Terry Sanford will have a chance to make a return appearance. She was one rebound and one point shy of a double-double in that game. Blake is a multi-sport athlete who has competed in track and field as well as volleyball throughout her athletic career. She first played at the varsity level as a seventh grader and averaged 10.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.6 steals and 3.3 assists in her freshman season. Blake holds an offer from North Carolina A&amp;T. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["380651"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","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-671b4bb94e7d7"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Dumont is well-known to high school sports aficionados in the other Carolina and she is more than ready to introduce herself to the Hoop State. She previously played for a pair of teams in South Carolina's Upstate – St. Joseph's Catholic and Eastside – prior to arriving on the scene at Providence Day. Dumont also wears the [program_tooltip program_id='713540' first='Team' last='Curry'] uniform during the spring and summer months of grassroots ball. She shared team captaincy duties last season at Eastside and averaged 14.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.3 steals with the Eagles last season. Dumont has also been doing well with offers – Wofford, Presbyterian, Furman, Appalachian State, George Mason, Elon, Wofford, UNC-Wilmington, UNC-Charlotte, Kennesaw State and Fairfield all have her on their respective radars. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->