For the past 10 years weekends in the winter have been reserved for the marquee HS Tournaments and Classics run around the country. There’s been some awesome HS events I attended over the years but this year due to COVID things have been super messed up for kids. High School is almost over in Florida, where I live but hasn’t even started in the states I grew up in (New York & Massachusetts)…..meanwhile Middle School kids have kind of been an afterthought for school administrators. Most middle schools have short seasons to begin with and in many places they are just being cancelled outright. With that background InsiderExposure brought an individual MS showcase to Winston-Salem and the Quality Education Academy.
Quality Education made a huge leap in girls basketball, going from nothing to something pretty special by bringing in local HS tactician Mel Heggie. Now entrenched in girls basketball, this was a perfect marriage between IE and QEA to host some middle school players who are trying to find quality outlets to get on the floor and compete since most have no school ball this year.
This event attracted approximately 60 players from WV, VA, NC, SC, TN and GA for an afternoon of skills and competition. In my estimation almost every player at this event has the potential to play after HS and many of the players have D1 prospect written all over them….but things change…injuries, burn out, etc. It’s awesome to see some of the kids we cover from as early as 5th grade, continue to work and grow, eventually fulfilling their early career potential, but the downside is there are always players who just don’t make it for whatever reason. In this article we highlight some players who have a real chance at making it to D-1 and maybe even past that some day.
This was my first time seeing almost all of these young ladies so with a limited viewing it’s easier to make some misjudgements (as we did with the All Star Game….a fun thing to do, but we are always going to make a few mistakes here and there). That said I will make sure we cover those young ladies in this article because they deserve a little more than the kids who made it and were recognized at the event.
Ok…here we go…player reviews –
Morgan Price – 2025 – 5’8 G VA – Morgan is a nice sized guard, with a solid enough frame that she’s able to hold her ground with the ball and not just get pushed off of it….she’s able to handle the ball adequately especially in transition, that quicker more athletic guards don’t just take it from her. She can really really shoot the ball from the perimeter and hit a handful of 3’s in her games.
Samiyah Barker – 2025 – 5’5 G NC – Primarily a PG by nature Samiyah is best when she’s controlling the ball particularly in an uptempo environment…this camp was a great opportunity for her to show off her handles and speed in the open court. Without question one of the more talented players in the gym, I’d love to see how Samiyah plays in a more structured setting, when the majority of baskets aren’t just transition opportunities. I’d also like to see Samiyah shoot the ball from perimeter to develop a more complete evaluation, nonetheless a D1 prospect for sure.
Natalie Whitaker – 2025 – 5’3 G NC – Without question a favorite of the evaluators (not just me), with her dynamic handles, speed and feisty nature on the court. I’ve covered GBB for many many years and the micro-PG’s are usually complete pests when guarding on the ball and Natalie is no different. She’s got an extra gear and uses a nice change of speed to blow by defenders herself. There was a variety of skills on display including the ability to knock down the open 3. As her and her game mature the big question will be how much growing does she have left in her small frame. One of the most talented players in the gym, but in basketball size matters.
Lea’ Boyens – 2025 – 5’7 G NC – A nice fundamentally sound player Lea’ didn’t just jump out at me in the beginning but as the day wore on, it was easy to see that she has a lot of upside in her game. She was a willing passer and facilitator, something that’s not super common at these types of events. She shot the ball well enough and finished some nice baskets around the rim. For her much will depend on how hard she’s willing to work to get better during her HS career.
Anaya Wilson – 2025 – 5’3 G VA – Well, here we go….I admit I missed the boat when picking All Stars with Anaya. She was clearly deserving, but unfortunately the way our process is setup, we have to pick the teams before each team plays their 2nd game. So I missed the mark on Anaya, who was awesome in her team’s 2nd game. She hit open shots, found players for easy buckets including a perfect full court pass that was a bullseye from the other side of the floor. Really like her game and it took more than the initial look for me to figure that out.
Janiyah Jones – 2025 – 5’8 G/W GA – Totally looked the part of a big time player, there were stretches during the day where I thought she made a case for best prospect in the gym. Not sure if she was, as she has some fundamental things to work on, like being a little bit more fluid, being a little more explosive, footwork was an issue at times as 2 of her nicest baskets should have been travels, but overall extremely talented player with tons and tons of upside. Considering the areas that need improvements to still be in contention for top player honors is very impressive. At one point I believe she scored 5 buckets in a row for her team…not sure any other player in the event did that.
Cimora Rorie – 2028 – 5’1 G NC – Writing about 5th graders is definitely an interesting thing for me because they have such a long way to go. First of all, if Cimora is 5’1, I must be like 6’6. But that’s ok, 5’1 may have been the shortest option to pick when filling out the registration form and btw, at 5th grade age, size matters a whole heck of a lot less than it does later in her career….there’s still plenty of time. That said Cimora had a nice day….she’s really fast and quick and did some things you just aren’t expecting a tiny player like her to do. She hit a nice floater in game action and I’m going to be looking for her name in the next few years if she has the work ethic to get better and better as she grows.
Mya Booth – 2026 – 5’8 W NC – Arguably the longest player there, Mya has a frame that screams basketball player. She’s got a prototypical build for a future D1 player and her game seems to be on pace to match what she looks like. There’s an old adage that most of us evaluator people know and it’s this (whether we like it or not)….look like a player, get recruited like a player….don’t look like a player and you won’t get recruited like a player. So from that perspective Mya is in a great position, every college coach likes long athletic wing players and Mya is already that as a 7th grader. Her shooting consistency needs to improve quite a bit, and she definitely needs to fill out some, but the basic tools are there to be one of the top kids in her region at least.
Amari Worsham – 2026 – 5’5 G VA – IMO one of the more skilled players there. I thought Amari was skilled and possessed some natural athleticism, which is always a formula for success. Amari finished well in both the 3 on 3 portion and the game portion, handled it more than adequately and overall was one of my favorite players. She’s still slightly built but only being a 7th grader, has one more year of middle school to really learn how to dominate, something she still did at times in this event. One of the highest rated players on my sheet.
Jazzlyn McMillan – 2027 – 5’8 F SC – Jazz has a tremendous frame for a 6th grader and a huge amount of upside. At this event with kids 2 years old then her, she wasn’t as assertive or aggressive as I’d like to see but that’s understandable for being on the younger end of the spectrum. She was active enough around the basket though rebounding and battling for me to see potential and be excited about what could eventually happen if she keeps working and getting better, particularly in regards to perimeter skills, confidence and overall motor (aka learning to play harder all the time).
London Haith – 2026 – 5’2 G NC – Another small guard, who despite her size competed all day. She’s a nice ball handler, did her best to attack the rim at times and was as small guards often are, a pesky on ball defender. I was really impressed with London during the skills portion and 3 on 3 action. I’d like to see her at this event or a similar event next year when she’s one of the older kids and see how much her confidence and leadership is able to grow.
Alyna “Lala” Jones – 2027 – 5’3 G VA – No offense to other evaluators, especially not my crew almost all of whom where in the gym with us on Sunday….but I just don’t think your average evaluator would have picked up on how good Lala truly is. Playing with some really good kids 2 years older it was hard to stand out as a 6th grader but (patting myself on the back), I’ve been doing this for 20 years now and I knew as soon as she did something impressive I looked at the sheet and saw she was a 2027, I was like slam dunk one of the top players at the event. Lala is super smooth and has a really nice feel for the game. She already understands the game really well, when to pass, when to push, when to slow it down. She’s got a smooth-ness to her game and a beautiful pace. It’s only a matter of time (and her continued work ethic) before she’s being mentioned with some of the top players in the country in her class, if it’s not happening already.
Gabby White – 2025 – 5’6 G/W NC – Ridiculous….there’s no question, Gabby is one of the top MS prospects in NC and the south in general. She’s got amazing genes, but we can just skip that because really all those do is put you in a position to have the potential to be great….you still have to go out there and earn it. I think there was little question on Sunday, that Gabby has a real case for top player in 2025 in NC and anyone arguing that she’s not in the mix, is either misguided or playing politics. We try not to do that here. Absolutely loved her physicality, her toughness, her unselfish play and her serious demeanor. She wasn’t out there being goofy or playing around (which something the top top kids do, when it seems certain for them to just dominate)….instead of dominating as an individual or playing around, which drives evaluators (and eventually college coaches) crazy, she dominated in a team way which was really fun to watch. Looking forward to see how she develops during the HS portion of her career.
Kennedi Young – 2028 – 5’7 F VA – Another 5th grader with a ridiculous amount of potential, Kennedi already has a nice frame and build, another prototypical D1 player….and she’s in 5th grade!! How much better can her frame get….I don’t know the answer to that but I’d say even if she stops growing now and just fills out she’s going to have a real chance to be a major prospect. Yes she also produced on the court, her hands were solid catching some passes from 7th and 8th grade kids that I wouldn’t necessarily expect a 5th grader to catch. She also was active on the boards and did some nice clean up, finishing some put backs in traffic, not something I’d have overly high expectations for a 5th grader to do. It’s super super early to rank kids in the 2028 class, but I’m looking forward to seeing just how highly ranked she will be by the time she hits HS.
Amayah Barnes – 2027 – 5’3 G NC – To only be in 6th grade blows my mind….overall she was one of the top players at the event regardless of class. In fact at one point I said she might be the best “prospect” there. Her listed size at 5’3 seems a little small and the height’s in this event overall just seemed so inaccurate for a lot of the players. Amayah looks bigger and plays bigger than her listed height, but a lot of that is probably due to her athleticism and body control which was in the upper echelon of the event for sure. To be honest I have an athleticism bias, because truth be told college coaches like athleticism and bounce and Amayah has those things. She needs some fine tuning on her weak (left) hand and her over skill set in general, as well as developing a perimeter shot, which I did not see her display in the game portion of the event.
Amirah Anderson – 2025 – 5’9 F VA – Amriah has a great frame and definitely showed some flashes of being a D1 caliber prospect in the future. Right now she’s one of the bigger, longer players out there, but that is likely to change as she enters her HS career next year. She already displays some guard skills but those skills will have to become more refined at the next level (Varsity basketball). Overall though she has the look and feel of the prospect and like I stated above, “look like a player, get recruited like a player”. Certainly look forward to seeing the continued development of those guard skills.
Breonna Roaf – 2025 – 5’7 G NC – One of the smoothest players there, Breonna just glided through this event. Her game is effortless. She moves really well with and without the ball and has a tremendous guard build, lanky and long despite not being super tall. She displays nice athleticism and did a great job of attacking the basket especially in the uptempo nature of an individual event. Didn’t see her shoot the ball from the perimeter but that’s not to say she can’t. One of my higher ranked players at the event for sure and almost without question a D1 prospect.
Endia Smith – 2025 – 5’4 F NC – Another player who’s height didn’t seem to match up, Endia played bigger than her listed height. Also like Anaya Wilson above, was a player we missed the mark on for the All Star game, she absolutely should have been chosen. Endia finished nicely around the rim and showed an overall high motor. I thought her skills need refinement, particularly perimeter skills, but the motor and ability to finish are skills that some players never master. She will need to become more of a guard at the high school level, especially if her height of 5’4 is accurate or close to accurate and IMO her game is still somewhat stiff, so I’d like to see her get more agile.
Shyanne Tate – 2026 – 5’6 F VA – Shyanne was one of the longer players there and again seemed taller than 5’6. I think she’s got a ton of upside but was still very raw in many ways. As she can learn to control her body more, get more balanced and coordinated her skills will get tighter and more improved she will be able to achieve even more. That said she’s got a great motor, ran the floor well, was active on the glass on both ends and even pushed the ball in transition some. She’s got big upside and definitely a bunch of room to grow into her potential.
Asia Burton – 2026 – 5’7 G/F NC – 7th grader…..what??!?!? Seriously she’s super big time. Like major D1 prospect big time. Most of the time when evaluators write these articles it’s 99% fluff, saying how great each player is….and truth be told we write about the top players at the events, so there’s usually a lot of good stuff to say. Asia’s a lefty which I almost note, because it’s a positive, although she will have to work on her weak (right) hand some, definitely an area of needs improvement. I spent a ton of time watching Asia because she happened to be right near me when the players first started warming up. My first impression wasn’t overwhelmingly impressive, but the more I watched the more impressed I was. She shot it really well in warmups and knocked down perimeter jumpers in the games too. She has nice handles, lots of in & out dribbles, which I also like and she was a totally unselfish player making the right reads most of the time. She also has a strong frame which allows her to finish against contact and she’s got a great pace and body control. She was my favorite player from the event, but the biggest area for growth is really spending some significant time getting leaner and in better overall conditioning, because down the road it’s going to hurt her recruiting if she doesn’t.
Trista Charles – 2025 – 5’6 G/F NC – An early standout from the skills portion, Trista seems like a player who is potentially making the transition from being a forward to being a guard. I could be wrong there, but Trista has a great build and really looks like a player but is still somewhat upright and stiff, something most players who go from being a big to being a guard suffer from as they learn to get lower on their dribbles, learn how to change speeds and directions when handling the ball and learn how to get low defending the ball on the perimeter. All this should work itself out with time. Trista definitely displayed some ability and used her body to be effective during the event.
Camri Hobbs – 2026 – 5’11 F NC – One of the few players I knew coming into the event, Hobbs was 100000% left off our All Star list as a complete oversight. I actually feel terrible whenever this happens and since I’ve seen Camri a number of times already I didn’t mark her name down as they event went out, therefore I overlooked her as I wrote down jersey #’s for the All Star Game. So public apology here…Hobbs has a great frame and has significant skill. As a bigger player her age Hobbs already has a number of guard skills and is going to make the transition to HS ball in 2 years a smooth transition. Like her older sister her biggest area of needs improvement, is just the ability to be determined to go out there and be aggressive. If she can master that, the sky is absolutely the limit.
Jasmine Nivar – 2025 – 5’8 G NC – There’s some players that it’s not hard to tell how special they will be and that is Jasmine. Although this was my first time ever seeing her play, I don’t think she played her best basketball…the good news as I said above is I’ve done this for 20 years, kids don’t have to play their absolute best in front of me to see how good they are….that is more done with a look, a feel for the game, how they handle it, how they shoot it (form, footwork, athleticism on the shot, etc), rather than if every shot goes in. Even the best shooters have off days, so good evaluators are not judging a specific performance, they are judging your ability and Jasmine definitely has a ton. Going to be a major D-1 prospect and a special player as time goes on, there was no missing that.
Kennedy Leggett – 2025 – 5’5 G NC – I thought Kennedy Leggett shot the ball really well at this event, clearly one of the better shooters there or I just caught her on a career day. I’m guessing a little bit of both, but Kennedy has game. She played with a lot of confidence and did a lot of little things well. I definitely like to see her better conditioned especially at her height of 5’5, because as she gets older she will be tasked with keeping smaller, quicker guards in front of her, so foot speed on the ball will become a factor.
Jordan Fisher – 2025 – 5’5 G NC – Jordan was not one I had an eye on earlier in the day but as the day went on, I noticed her more and more. She’s a super confident ball handler and clearly has had some instruction on playing organized basketball, she moves the ball well in the half court setting, something not seen too often at events like this. She can also fire from downtown and I thought she had all the tools by the end of the day to be a surefire D1 prospect down the road.
GabriElle Troy-Mebane – 2026 – 5’6 G NC – Gabby finished some nice transition baskets and definitely had a good skill set. She was easy to pick out as a talented player and her skill set initially prompted me to give her a very high rating. As the games went on, I thought she could have been more confident and more assertive, something I actually heard her parent trying to “coach her up on” between games. She’s got good upside and I definitely like to see her in a setting where she’s playing with her normal teammates and is potentially more of a leader and go-to player.
Kate Sears – 2025 – 5’7 G NC – It’s funny I think Kate’s dad really understands how this stuff works and because of that, Kate who is rather unassuming has really really excelled because of her parent’s “understanding the process”. As a parent myself of a 9th grader, I’ve employed the same strategy Kate’s dad has….take your kid to as many of these events as possible from an early age, let them get dominated by bigger, older kids, then go home put your head down and work work work….and as the years go on you go from getting dominated to doing the dominating. Kate is a special player, sees the floor really well, is super unselfish, knows the game, has a great feel, does not get rattled despite not really having much in the way of athleticism or size she’s still able to do everything at a high level. I’d credit that mostly to experience in these types of events and being on the youngest, smallest end of the spectrum, that now that’s one of the older kids, these events are just easy for her. Super humble demeanor and all the qualities college coaches look forward, it’s easy to see Kate as a D1 player in a few years.
Abilgail Brown – 2025 – 5’10 G/F NC – Abigail was one of the bigger players at the event but in no way played a back to the basket position. She’s still a little bit upright and stiff but as time goes on I think that will resolve itself. Due to this she dribbles a little high for my liking but isn’t afraid to put the ball on the floor. She likes to shoot, which what player doesn’t, but will fire up some questionable shots…that said she shoots with confidence and has tremendous range for a player of her age. I could see her developing into a long range shooter as time goes on. Her frame and build is right in line with the other prototypical D1 prospects mentioned above.
Jordan Carrington – 2026 – 5’5 G MD – Jordan was a long athletic guard who really excelled pushing the ball in transition and finding open teammates. She’s got a wiry build that as she fills out will enable her to be a strong athletic guard and typical of what college coaches like. She was a great teammate and willing passer and those things had her on my early list for All Stars. Definitely good upside and I’ll look forward to seeing her development down the road.
Jewel Brewington – 2025 – 5’2 G NC – A smaller G, Jewel has some skills. She’s got some handles and a decent perimeter game. Has big upside but size may be a factor potentially down the road. Despite her height, she’s got a strong frame and can keep defenders from pushing her off the ball.