Born2BallNation All-American Camp – Impression-Makers

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA – Got the chance to spend a few hours with coach Loren Hall and his Born2BallNation crew as they put on their All-American camp for top middle schoolers held at Central Gwinnett HS.

Several impression-makers were repeat top performers from NGS’s middle school camp back in August.

By: Keith Agran

Deuce Grayson | G | 2030 (Team Huncho)

The vast majority in attendance were from the 2027 to 2029 classes but Grayson had perhaps the day’s most stirring showing in a 3-point shooting contest performance that had all of us in awe, a pure and precise stroke with all kinds of confidence behind it for the diminutive but really interesting-to-track-sharpshooter who was noticeable also right out of the gate back in the spring with Huncho.

Brielen Craft | G | 2028 (TSF)

Another of the day’s terrific young shooters who continue to show those of us out on the grind that some shooters are born and some are made, Craft it appears falls into that “born” category as everything appears easy on the shot stroke and it’s pure textbook stuff, a quiet unassuming demeanor out there belies how good I think this player can be as a nearly top 2 or 3 guy in the class.

King Araujo | G | 2028 (Game Elite)

Rapidly emerged as one of my favs in the class when I saw him and his smooth and easy game dominate in the spring, so comfortable with the ball as a facilitator with really good vision for a young age and the ability to score with style and efficiency from multiple levels, great hands on defense and is right with Craft for top mentions in the 2028 class.

Ryan Wingard | F | 2027 (Game Elite)

Doesn’t take but about 10 minutes of drilling to see Wingard as one of the early favorites for top player in his class here in GA, a powerful athlete for an 8th grader with a lot of lift already around 6-4 and more of that sure to come, had moments even with some other good size on hand where he was too much to handle offensively and was swatting shots into the stands on defense.

Asa Montgomery | F | 2027 (AOT)

Like Wingard another physically imposing 8th-grader to know as he moves into next spring and summer’s crucial pre-high school travel season, where Wingard brings more of a shock and awe power game Montgomery utilizes the slash game moreso with advanced finishing around the basket and a pretty stroke on the pull-up, exciting developmental possibilities for a name a lot of folks know already.

LJ Byrd | F | 2027 (J-Smooth Celtics)

Byrd was kind of a mix of Wingard’s power and Montgomery’s smoothness but perhaps a tad more raw than the above two at this stage, that is not to say there isn’t exciting potential there and when evaluating players this young you cannot say for certain who will emerge as the “best” later in high school, a lot of time for Byrd to develop and whether he continues to grow into a high school forward or ends up in the backcourt this good-looking athlete is a name to know.

Tobias Bell | G/F | 2030 (Team Huncho) 

Built like a young footballer Bell was interesting in a hybrid role as he showed an ability to face up and handle the ball while also taking that stout body inside and looking comfortable catching it in close, the stroke was comfortable in the mid-range and I liked his calm assassin-like demeanor.

Yahines Maxwell | G/F | 2027 (AE5)

Another like Bell who showed some inside-out ability using a physical frame to overwhelm smaller players but good quickness off the bounce to get by people, the confidence in their abilities from Maxwell and everyone on this list was so noticeable and noteworthy as you like middle-schoolers who have an edge but don’t appear overly cocky at this critical both physical and mental developmental stage.

Keith Agran has lived in Georgia since 2011 and joined OTR as a National Evaluator in 2021. He previously scouted for Prep Hoops dating back to 2019 and has both a championship-coaching background on the HS-level and daily newspaper writing experience, both from New Jersey. You can reach him at keithagran1@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @BracketSage.