OTR’s The Opening – Rising Names To Know

ATLANTA, GA – Travel season came on like a hurricane this past weekend with 5 sites and scouts galore covering as much of the ground as possible for OTR’s The Opening, always one of the circuit’s most exciting events.

With a large portion of our staff zeroing in on the bevy of 17U talent on hand, I took to the streets and spent time at the outer sites looking in on younger up-and-comers.

By: Keith Agran

Mason McKinney | G | 2026 | Team Forrest (Paulding County, pictured at top)

Great natural feel and good size already for an incoming sophomore, a high IQ type who can dissect with the mind but has plenty of variety from all levels to dissect with his skill, saw time at both guard spots and was a heady defender as well, with a new coach and a bevy of 2023 guards gone he’ll surely be rising up over in Dallas.

Darnell Collins | G | 2026 | SGS (Rome)

This highly touted young football prospect looked just like a running back or linebacker as he plowed through people on his way to the basket, for a guy not focusing all that hard on basketball I’m told he looked awfully good and a whole bunch to deal with in the age group, playing PG was almost unfair but he showed off handle and burst and used both to impress.

Trey Rhodes | G | 2026 | Redline Elite (Norcross)

Spoke a little about Rhodes after visiting a Redline workout and he backed up the intriguing potential with two solid Saturday performances for Redline, so physical with a frame built for contact he can play the bully-guard or use some inherent finesse to drive it by you, curious as the summer wears on how the shooting range looks but in the downhill halfcourt and in transition near the basket he’s a brute force.

Cameron Jackson | G | 2026 | GA Stunners (East Paulding)

Reminds me some of former EPHS great Sebastian Tidor but not yet quite as powerful a force at the rim, but the smoothness and quality combo guard play facing up and handling the ball with dunks off breaks did remind of Tidor, was also a real threat defensively with his good length as he swatted quite a few shots and as has become normal for Stunners teams he never stopped playing hard.

Sean Cabellero | G | 2025 | Team Scott Shaheed (Windsor Forest)

Seems fitting that a Savannah-area guy like Cabellero would stand out at our tournaments for his gutsy and physical brand of play, there’s an inherent toughness about guys from “the hostess city of the south” yet Cabellero’s power brand of ball is less ‘host’ and more ‘dictator’, built solid he’s sound from the perimeter as well with good decision-making and a soft jumper, another one to watch down there as Forest retools a bit after two tremendous seasons with their ’22 and ’23 classes.

Bryce Brabham | G | 2025 | Team GA Magic (Putnam County)

Another Putnam guy following up Jaylin Harper from yesterday’s piece, Brabham was out there doing it all, guarded the entire floor including guys three and four inches bigger which was point #1 that impressed, but even gutsier was how he attacked all those positions with equal abandon, he was a tough finisher around the basket and was up and down the floor in a flash as this TGM group was a blast to watch, as his full offensive game matures this is a name to know for sure.

Jahmar Maurice | G | 2028 | Georgia State Warriors (HS TBD)

A soon-to-be 8th grader from the Woodstock-district playing up with the 16s is rare enough, but for this young riser to be as comfortable there and for his performance to draw such raves is also noteworthy, I’m careful in reserving hyperbole for middle schoolers as they will so often not resemble later what you see today but pen this name down and see where he lands in the HS-landscape because there’s definite potential for the kind of prodigious development reserved for the city’s very best star talents.

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 also spent 3 years as a sports writer at two newspapers in New Jersey. After a championship-coaching background on the HS-level also in NJ, he accepted the Girl’s Basketball Head Coaching position in May 2022 at Mt Bethel Christian Academy and now balances scouting and coaching still with a keen eye on talent around the region. You can reach him at keithagran1@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @BracketSage.