I try and get 10,000 steps before 10 am every morning, but that doesn’t happen too much on tournament days, and on opening day I arrived with around 2K and based on my strides, that’s equivalent to a mile. I left with over 20K, do the math as I covered 6 courts per game, it doesn’t matter if 5K of those steps were going back and forth to the hospitality room, I put in the work so when Ii have to go that extra mile for a name, it irritates me however here is another group of standouts
<strong>Brandolyn Freeman (Houston Queens 17U) 2022</strong>
Freeman is just an absolute #BEAST as I drop the hashtag. I love watching her go after the ball off the rim, she does it as well as anyone in Texas and when you add she’s 6’2, long and athletic and doesn’t know the meaning of QUIT, that is something you just can’t teach. Her finishes, with either hand, are powerful, she does it with players literally hanging on her plus she defends strongly inside the paint and is versatile enough to do the same outside of it, this includes "on the ball" baseline to baseline and watching her rebound and go coast to coast shows she can handle the ball, oh, before I forget, she plays the passing lane
<strong>Ellie Corbett (Fierce) 2022</strong>
Corbett is around that magic number of 6’0 and she scores around the basket with ease yet watching her drop the long ball just does something for me. She squares up, and elevates on the jumper, and when you have a fluid and quick release coupled with her size, that says a lot because college coaches love six-footers and above that can stretch the defense. She also plays within herself meaning nothing fancy, she just gets the job done and that includes rebounding on both ends as well as defending both in and out of the paint
<strong>Cierra Williams (Houston Queens Elite Purple)</strong>
Williams was dropped on the cover photo primarily because I took her picture with my phone since my camera was stolen yet she stole the show because I immediately was glued to what she was doing from afar and that was "playing the passing lane" and seriously, it doesn’t happen like it should and did back in the day and all it takes is effort and well as anticipation and when you factor in she’s long and athletic, that will always be the base, that’s another huge plus for me. She attacks strongly off the dribble, relishes the contact, and does a good job both rebounding and defending
<strong>Jolie Aguirre</strong> <strong>(CTX Lady Knights 17U Girls)</strong>
Aguirre is a Tip Sheet waiting to happen simply because she can do so many things at her position, stay with me because "the game has and always will start at the 1" and she is definitely the one willing to take that shot in the clutch and she is also the one that can deliver. Poised under pressure is one thing but watching her handle the ball and see the floor under that same pressure always grabs me. She understands how to control the tempo and get her teammates involved and her mid to long-range, as well as off-the-dribble scoring, helps keep the defender on their toes
