PGH Top 250 Expo: Best Passers
Every college team needs a Courtney Vandersloot or a Chelsea Gray to lead their team in assists. Players who can create for others and deliver an assist on time and on target are hard to find! Here are some passing…
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Continue ReadingEvery college team needs a Courtney Vandersloot or a Chelsea Gray to lead their team in assists. Players who can create for others and deliver an assist on time and on target are hard to find! Here are some passing standouts from Sunday’s Top 250 Expo at Gold Crown Fieldhouse:
Mikylah Espinosa Mikylah Espinosa 5'8" | PG Skyview | 2022 State CO – Skyview – 2022
Say Mikylah Espinosa Mikylah Espinosa 5'8" | PG Skyview | 2022 State CO five times fast. I’ll wait. If you didn’t hear the word ASSIST you either weren’t speaking fast enough or you weren’t at the PGH Top 250 Expo on Sunday. The athletic senior at Skyview is a fireworks show who makes every day the fourth of July. Since she can’t be guarded one on one, she’s always in position to score or assist. Now playing with a hungry and talented Skyview team that didn’t get to play in ’21, she may even improve on her 5.4 assists per game from her junior year with The Academy.
Billie Fiore Billie Fiore 5'7" | PG Falcon | 2022 State CO – Falcon – 2022
Let’s be honest. Sometimes the shout-outs on this site are due to the buzz, talk, and chatter that a player creates. There were multiple coaches coming up to me saying, “Hey, the Falcon kid can do it all.” The 5’7″ court general dropped 15.0 PPG and 4.1 APG for the Falcons and kept it going at the Expo on Sunday, at one point turning court one at Gold Crown into a tutorial on shredding nylon.
Brooke Meeks Brooke Meeks 5'11" | SG Arvada West | 2023 State CO – Arvada West – 2023
Meeks’ Arvada West teammates will surely benefit from her ability to find teammates in position to score. This 5’10” combo guard will shoot from deep early in the game to rope-a-dope opponents into guarding her twenty-five feet from the basket which allows her to attack and create. She was one of the better passers at the Expo on Sunday.
Raelyn Kelty Raelyn Kelty 5'10" | SF Lutheran | 2023 State CO – Lutheran – 2023
On a very talented Lutheran team, Kelty was a catalyst who helped the Lions score nearly sixty points a game in 2021. She led the team with 4.1 APG and can also shoot (32% behind the arc) and score (12.4 PPG). This aggressive, 5’10” junior doesn’t have a timid bone in her body.
Kyra Haan Kyra Haan 5'7" | CG Mead | 2023 State CO – Mead – 2023
Haan had a playmaking morning at the Expo. She’s a selfless passer and solid defender who put up 11.3 PPG and 3.4 APG last season on a talented Mead team. With an A:T ratio of 1.4 and a 31% clip from behind the arc, Haan does a little bit of everything for the Mavericks.
Ben Kayser-Cochran Ben Kayser-Cochran 6'2" | SF ThunderRidge | 2024 State CO – ThunderRidge – 2024
Already a talented scorer with both hands and a solid midrange and even three-point shooter (34%), Kayser-Cochran has added a smooth passing ability to their game. They give the Grizzlies a very dangerous inside-outside balance. Kayser-Cochran is absolutely one of the top players in the class of 2024. It’ll be interesting to see where they land when the rankings are published in the coming days.
Natalie Thornton – Horizon – 2024
Thornton, or the next player on this list, Damara Allen Damara Allen 5'10" | SG Cherokee Trail | 2024 State CO , may have been the two who did the most for their recruiting stock at the Expo. With 3.8 PPG as a freshman an a deep Horizon team, Thornton was on a deep watchlist but after her breakout performance on Sunday, Thornton is now on a short list of top players in the class.
Damara Allen Damara Allen 5'10" | SG Cherokee Trail | 2024 State CO – Cherokee Trail – 2024
This was such a valuable event for the class of 2024 to be seen. I spent the first two hours surveying the four courts and jotting down initial standouts before digging deeper later in the day to evaluate player strengths. Allen stood out every time I glanced at her court. She looks like a senior the way she carries herself, in her confidence, and in her ability to find the open teammate. She handles the ball well for a 5’10” combo guard and did a lot to show she’s in for a big year for the Cougars.
Essynce Contreraz Essynce Contreraz 5'5" | CG Holy Family | 2024 State CO – Holy Family – 2024
Contreraz was the best ball handler at the Expo and with that honor of course comes a ton of playmaking and assists. I talked about her here and she’s continued to impress. She now steps into a big role with Holy Family where the ball will be in her hands all season.
Attley Helzer – Severance – 2024
Look for Helzer to step into a big role for Severance this season. The 5’10” shooting guard is becoming a strong ball handler and confident passer.