One thing hasn’t changed since I retired from covering prep sports two years ago: camp staff still mistake me, now 27 years old, for a teenager.

Super Prep, in tandem with OKC 105.3 Sports Radio, graciously invited me to attend its spring showcase event in west Oklahoma City last Saturday. By every metric—talent, visibility, environment, procedure, and staff—the Perry family hosted a fabulous event. By the day’s end, dozens of collegiate coaches flooded the venue known colloquially in the OKC basketball community as the “lighthouse.”

The prospects ranged from multi-time state champions to relatively unknowns from rural communities to up-and-coming suburban talents. In my experience, independent events like these just aren’t well run. Unprofessional. Unmotivated. Poorly staffed. Below-notch talent. 

But, to the surprise of nobody, Kevin and Miles Perry (an emerging talent in the OKC media scene, by the way) organized an event demonstrating all of the necessary components of a great high school basketball event. The best area high school coaches led the campers. Echo Sports led testing. Coaches with offers to give were in the building. It was a who’s who of photography and video talent, too.

Then, there was me. Brief background: I worked for a recruiting blog called Prep Hoops Oklahoma from 2018-22, spending my college summers scouting events ranging from small, local showcases to the EYBL. Later, I covered Tulsa and Oral Roberts hoops for the Tulsa World and the Sooners for Sports Illustrated, the last stop on my media journey. I wasn’t familiar with the accomplishments of a single player at Saturday’s event. Not one.

You may think that’s an intimidating environment to walk into. And I’ll admit, having not worked in basketball for several years, you’d bet there was some discomfort walking into the gym to dozens of the city’s best players glancing in your direction, like, who’s this guy? But as the day progressed, I found it turned out better than I could’ve imagined. 

Think about it; I had the opportunity to fire off my takes uninhibited by biases that could have tunneled my attention to established prospects and away from an unexpected performer. I didn’t know the reputation of the players, and frankly, these guys are too young to know who I was, either. It was freeing to scout this unmistakable talent with fresh eyes.

Now, I’m going to tell you about which of those players demanded my attention most. Here’s a list of my favorite overall players from the event:

Rightfully so, a panel of coaches (and I) voted Robinson the player of the showcase. He was the obvious choice for that recognition, literally, from the first drill of the day, when he laid down a ferocious dunk on another prospect while, frankly, most of his contemporaries were still waking up. This bouncy, elastic playmaker has that purebred athleticism that turns heads paired with the sweet finesse that drops jaws. I’d like to see him land at a school with a reputable strength and conditioning program. A 10-pound-heavier Robinson would be able to go around, above, and through opposing point guards at the NAIA level.

This is the type of kid who makes you want to be around this business. While players this size usually struggle for minutes, Brown proved Saturday why he belongs amongst his peers. After Robinson, he was the second player I noticed during a.m. drills. A calm, collected, and capable guard, Brown routinely created space using swift, rhythmic lateral movement and finished with crafty, creative dexterity. Defensively, he was one of the most disruptive guards in the event. Brown was named to the top 20 and played in the finale game, where he (the shortest player on the floor) collected a block on the tallest player on the floor. Very good ballplayer.

Tetteh walked away, deservedly, with the top sophomore award. This is a smooth operator beyond his years with a paced half-court style that looks like… well, you can tell he models aspects of his game after a certain MVP who plays in this area code. Efficient, highly cerebral, handsy on defense, and played his best basketball against the toughest opponents.

I watched this guy’s first two games of team play. He hit his first six 3-point attempts. For all I know, he hit his first seven, because I didn’t see his third game. These were uptempo games in which, presumably, Little wasn’t playing with people he’s played with before, yet any time they dished him the ball, he drained it. Some of these shots were well beyond the high school line, or with a hand in his face, or while he was moving along the perimeter. It’s hard to know this early at which level he’ll play, but this is a talent you can add to your rotation from day one that can be productive.

A quick-trigger sharpshooter with a sneaky defensive presence, Schoats walked away with best senior for the event. He plays with a composed style, treats the game like a business with the ball in his hands, moves well without the ball, and plays at a college-ready pace.

Named the event’s best junior. Gifted athlete, rebounding machine, and rim protector.

A reliable, next-level-ready shooter with a solid defensive presence. In a top 20 game that featured the best players in the gym, Hall shined with the best of them.

Baba attacks the rim like an unstoppable force. Of every player in the gym Saturday, he’s the one you’d bet your savings to finish any given slash to the iron. He’s also a serviceable shooter and irritating on-ball defender with great footwork, agility, and explosive athleticism.

If you ever played against Kpogba at Douglass, let me know what level of hell you experienced to limit him. If he wanted a rebound on Saturday, he got a rebound. If he wanted to wipe your layup of the glass, he sent it to the bleachers. This kid has elite, college-ready vertical athleticism and demonstrated such in every aspect of the game. He also threw a few very good passes.

Our friend from the 918 reminded me that there are three constants in this world: death, taxes, and Bobby Allison developing pure hoops talent. King demonstrated awesome downfloor vision in zipping passes to open teammates off rebounds; a creative layup package; and ability to knock down the right shots. As is usual at Tulsa Memorial, this prospect is everything you want at this position and nothing you don’t.

Men amongst boys. Punishing athlete who can fire from college range or jam above a would-be shot-blocker.

Lee appeared natural and unhurried in transition. This floor general handled full-court pressure unbothered, usually distributing the ball to a fellow scorer or going to his bread and butter, a floater, over an opposing defender. Without even setting up an offense, Lee orchestrated productivity with the ball in his hands.

Jones plays the game like he was 5’6” his whole life until he met a genie who offered him one wish. He dunked everything—and I do mean everything—and if you missed it, just throw on 2013 Florida Gulf Coast March Madness highlights and you’ll get the picture. While his measurables jump off the scouting report, he applies them beautifully, playing high-octane, high-energy, and like he has nothing to lose.

Like this kid a lot. Bates was among the best finishers at the rim, is a good ball-handler, and can play at college transition pace with either hand.

This tenacious on-ball defender led a late 15-point comeback bid that just fell short. Keep in mind when I say his team came back from trailing 30-15 to losing 36-33 that these were only 18-minute games, and the comeback started with, like, three minutes left. He demonstrated reliable shotmaking off the dribble and a mighty competitive streak that will serve him well at the next level.

An underrated aspect of showcases like these is how they test guys’ durability. Wheeler was arguably the last player still playing his best basketball, and if we had named an hour-by-hour MVP, Wheeler would’ve won the last hour before the top 20 game. In fact, it felt like he hit flow state in those last few games, where he connected on some tough finishes over taller defenders, knocked down shots, and even threaded the needle on a half-court-pass (which I wish everybody could’ve seen from my angle on the opposite baseline corner as the cutter).

Punishing athlete, elite finisher at the rim. Will be a steal for whoever picks him up.

Good spot-up shooter who uses size to his advantage. Paced, not necessarily slow, but comfortable. 

Strong downhill finisher who had a sexy up-and-under finish with his left hand. Confidence backed by grit. Solid rebounding guard. Big upside.

Looks and moves much older than he is. Unforgiving defender, good shooter.

Fit, athletic, and competitive. Great breaks. Aggressive defender, gritty finisher.

Quality knock-down shooter.