OTR Breakout Camp – Slick Guards

NORCROSS, GA – OTR’s Breakout Camp is one of the highly anticipated events within the deep Showcase calendar of our year-round basketball bonanza in Atlanta and the state of Georgia, and with a lot of chatter already circulating since March surrounding the 2025 and 2026 classes it was even more energized around Norcross HS.

For the 2025 class we already had several impact freshmen from a season ago who are set to take huge strides as sophomores for their schools, while the 2026 class holds similar intrigue as fall leagues begin to heat up.

Let’s look first at some guards who were at first”slick”, but most notably deadly effective.

By: Keith Agran

Christain Curl | PG | McEachern | 2025 (pictured at top)

Saw significant starter minutes for an Indians team that had some big-time wins last year and sharing PG duties with fellow 2025 Rhys Cotton gives them one heck of a 1-2 punch, at Breakout you could see the competitive fire and smarts as he can change pace on a dime and play both physical at the basket or hurt you from the perimeter, tight handle and control whether he was leading a stacked Game Elite bunch all spring and summer or carving up some good young talent at Breakout, consistently stands out in a crowd, among my favorite in the class.

Samuel Shoptaw | PG | Lowndes | 2025

Perhaps no player in the ’25 class has done more for his overall appeal since June than this serious diamond in the South-GA rough, myself and others have tweeted and written about his advanced game which often leaves older players grabbing at air as he goes by or beats them with a sweet feed, across several recent Showcases including our Breakout he has constantly shown high aptitude PG abilities as a passer and scorer while also doing much the some during a solid summer playing up with the 17’s for Team Georgia Magic, one of the truly must-know names emerging rapidly from this deep class.

Samuel Shoptaw @ShoptawSamuel looks so comfortable making decisions with the ball.

Already has hit a few threes and found open teammates off drives. Nice 6'2 2025 from Lowndes Co (GA). @CoachJuke

— Shun Williams (@OntheRadarHoops) August 13, 2022

Zaiden Greene | PG | McDonough | 2025

Playing together on AOT with twin bother Zion this sound PG often is overlooked as Zion adds more highlight reel clips to his own growing talent package, but equally intriguing is Zaiden particularly in a lead role as his composure is noteworthy as a floor leader but there’s also quick hitter-type explosiveness to the way he can carve you up, excellent defensive instincts as well and when he and Zion get going they make a devastating pair with Zaiden doing the necessary and effective dirty work and Zion giving us the wow moments.

Michael Carpenter | PG | Parkview | 2025

Speaking of favorite talents in the class having had the opportunity to watch Carpenter come along the last 2 years the strides he has taken to the top of the class have been impressive, a lot like Curl with his composure as a lead man but with a knack and willingness to become your dominant scoring threat when called on, multi-range effectiveness and a frame that is stout and getting stronger that makes playing through contact another weapon, this upcoming Parkview team is fascinating and Carpenter will likely spend a lot of time holding the reins.

Landon Duncan | PG | Kell | 2025

Since catching him at an Elite Playmakers workout in the spring he’s been firmly entrenched on my radar and had a good June with a Kell team with big-time aspirations in 5A, once again he’s the type of guy like everyone on this list who stands out as a young player who gets it, whether he’s controlling the action or playing off the ball he can be a scoring point for you with his drive and shoot game or see the right pass or opening and lead the day in assists, exceptional defender with speed and growing power as a downhill attacker, one to watch for sure.

Andrew Taylor III | PG | Therrell | 2026

Came to our OTR Combine back in June playing with guys 3 classes higher and still caught the attention of several of us there, the same quickly happened at Breakout as evaluators along the endline were checking in with me about this “little guy stirring things up” out there, it was part natural talent and part heady basketball which the diminutive Taylor put forth but it was that kind of acumen and understanding at both ends that had folks thinking of what he can be with 3 more years and perhaps a few inches as well, the enthusiasm and positivity shine through as well when he’s out there.

OTHERS WHO STOOD OUT: CONNOR TEASLEY (2025, PEACHTREE RIDGE), KAMERON PLUMMER (2025, HOUSTON COUNTY), KOTA SUTTLE (2026, WHEELER), ISAIAH LANGLEY (2026, BERKMAR)

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.