Day-1 Complete at R4R Championship (Part-3)

The featured image is of [player_tooltip player_id='495981' first='Abigayle' last='Clayton'] (2025) of Hamilton Southeastern High School and [program_tooltip program_id='714250' first='Indiana' last='Pride']-Duke 17U.   The Run 4 Roses Classic tournament has been a staple of the first July "live" period for years, but with the changes in the NCAA calendar over the past couple of seasons, it has split into two separate tournaments...the Classic and the Championship. The Classic wrapped up Saturday and the Championship began Sunday, with some new teams arriving from other locations. Below is a look at a half dozen prospects who stood out when I was able to see them on Day-1.   .    One thing I noticed about Abigayle Sunday that I wanted to point out immediately is, she always seemed to find a way to draw contact, and when the officials were willing, she was heading to the free throw line on repeat. She has gotten much stronger over the years, and she has learned to take her skillset and become more physical with it. She was more of a face-up '4' when she was younger, and she can still do that, but she is much more effective now as a multilevel forward.     Kenzie is another long, tall, wiry forward who can play inside-out. But with her ability to shoot the basketball at such a high level, whether she is the '4' or the '3', I'd think you'd want her flexing between the elbows and the perimeter consistently. Sunday, she shot it well outside, and she continues to give her [program_tooltip program_id='716173' first='Always' last='100'] Platinum team a dangerous threat out there. But she has driven it more this Spring & Summer, and she's started to show more aggression defensively and in rebounding situations.     Vanessa can really get after it, and unfortunately like so many guards from Indiana, she is under-recruited because of her size. If she was 5-8, she'd have a great deal more interest. She looks stronger and is playing stronger with the ball, she even looks more explosive North/South, though she has always been an extremely quick water-bug. She is taking care of it under pressure, knocking down open shots, and collapsing defenses to find teammates. Plus, with tremendous length at her height, she is creating a number of turnovers defensively.     Kamrah is one of the most creative scorers in Indiana's 2026 class. She is a nice North/South athlete with good strength at her size. She has the ball on a string, and she does a nice job of getting defenders off-balance by lulling them to sleep and then turning the corner with a quick first step. She can knock down an open rhythm jumper, but she's really good at getting into the paint and drawing contact. Finishing at the basket and/or utilizing the free throw line has typically been her forte, so defenders better be ready to defend the dribble first.     Watching Samantha play against the top Gym Rats team, she stood out to me because of her ability at her size. She is probably closer to 5-11 or 6-0, and she has an athletically strong frame with some length. She is a nice run-and-jump athlete who can get out quickly in transition, attack from the perimeter in the half-court, or even play inside as an undersized '4' in the mid-post and short corners, working at the elbows and along the baseline. She would probably fall in the 10-15 range in Indiana's 2026 class.     Adaline stood out almost immediately in their matchup with the Lady Gym Rats. She is tremendously long, wiry, fluid, and smooth. She has sort of a point forward game, she can knock down rhythm jumpers outside consistently, but she's also good off the bounce, creating offense for herself or teammates. Defensively, she's able to take on bigger guards, wings, and even undersized forwards, though a little core strength would likely help her make her game that much more consistent and dangerous. Look for her to land at a Power-5 school in the future.

The featured image is of Abigayle Clayton Abigayle Clayton 5'11" | PF Hamilton Southeastern | 2025 State IN (2025) of Hamilton Southeastern High School and Indiana Pride -Duke 17U.