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Rocky Top Invitational – 15U Eye-Catchers

Rocky Top Invitational - 15U Eye-Catchers
May 15, 2023

GATLINBURG, TN – Such a great variety of teams descend on this vacation hamlet for OTR’s Rocky Top Invitational, it’s a favorite on the spring calendar for scouts.

I bounced between 17U and 15U most of the weekend, here were some of the guys in 15s who caught eyes, in multiple parts.

Part 1:

By: Keith Agran

Darnell Collins | G | 2026 | SGS

Big, physical guard out of Calhoun (GA) who is also a big-time football recruit from the Peach State, on the basketball floor you can see the football physique and the way he uses his power to just obliterate people in his path, has a ton of basketball acumen as a scorer and passer and playing a big point he can be all kinds of trouble coming downhill, not just a bull as he can score on you in multiple ways with style and efficiency, was among the 15U stars I noticed at OTR’s The Opening back in March as well.

Adrian Wilder | G | 2026 | Kentucky Ambition-Tre

One of the weekend’s top 15U scorers with some eye-opening scoring games and at least one I saw where he dropped a cool 25, super creative package of drives and 3-balls using the bounce to get from A to B and not wasting a ton of movement, great motor, good ballhandling allowed him to pick his spots and be a good distributor when defenses closed, but he has the mind of a scorer who collects buckets as this will be a name to know from the hoop state of KY.

Jack Ferraris | G | 2026 | Tennessee Impact-Ferraris

More of a do-it-all type than the scoring-minded Wilder although the two squared off Saturday in a good one, Ferraris was everywhere playing out of the backcourt, he handled it and passed it and rebounded it and found the bottom of the net from multiple ranges, two 15U Impact teams in town as they brought some really nice talent to Rocky Top.

Zevin Sesslar | G | 2026 | Ohio Crossover

After seeing Crossover’s 17s earlier in the day off I went to catch this super-entertaining 15u bunch led by the flamboyant Sesslar, so unassuming when I first sat down but by game’s end he was one of my favorite guys of the weekend, added some flair to a sound approach where he took good care of the ball as a facilitator but had some big buckets in an afternoon nip and tuck win which had me on the edge of my seat, fun group and a fun style of ball from Sesslar incorporating some old school elements of a John Stockton with new school toughness of a Grayson Allen.

Trey Thompson | F | 2026 | Tennessee Impact 3SGB (pictured at top)

Thompson was my consensus and easy choice for best 2026 guy at the tournament, love the moxie and fire to go with a scoring package at 6-7 that was a mini-Jokic kind of inside-out arsenal, the shooting touch meant he could draw young bigs away from the basket but none I saw had his physicality to stop him off the drive or the ability to body up on him when he caught it in close, despite the physical supremacy the full-court basketball was superb and this is an easily projectable high D1 player in the making.

Dawson Gilbert | G | 2026 | Stars Nashville UA Rise

Has all the early makings of a future college-ready game for the scoring point role, absolutely deadly from 3-range as it was going in if he had a 1/2 tick to get ready, really good athlete on the blow-by and a tight handle kept it away from the defense, composed and confident he had a deep roster of help as most Stars team display but it was clear who was in charge of the rock when he was on the floor.

Clarence Lewis Jr | G | 2026 | Georgia Fire

The Locust Grove (GA) product had a big shooting afternoon Saturday when I saw him, long arc-ing stroke with a high ball flight but it was devastatingly effective, when they caught on to his shooting he was quick off the bounce and showed good instincts outside of just the deep shooting.

Seth Caudill | G | 2026 | Nashville Stars UA Rise

Later in the day after teammate Dawson Gilbert impressed so much out came Caudill with one of the better all-around performances I saw all weekend, better athlete than height appear and he combines that with a deft style of getting things done both with superior hustle and a skillset that has a chance to grow into something special.

Jonathan Woodlee | G | 2026 | Tennessee Impact 3SGB

Another from a roster full of standout talents like Brayden Hazelbaker and Alex Leeth among others, speed was the key for Woodlee as he covered the length of the court in flash and as a distributor was on time and precise and as a finisher was into contact and quick around defenders.

Josh Hines | G | 2026 | CC Elite

My kind of pass-first guy in a weekend where it just so happened I saw a lot of that pleasant style of play, plenty athletic to play off the ball and attack from the wings but with CC Elite he handled it a ton and made a lot of good and advanced reads which highlighted a really strong all-around roster which was crisp and well-schooled.

King Jones | G | 2026 | Team Scoot

Defending Georgia 5A champ Kell HS out of Marietta may not need Jones right away this fall with all they have coming back but the future remains bright, he was a hard-worker who played sort of a hybrid small forward, did his share of banging and scoring in close but showed us some of the perimeter game which has a lot of interesting room to grow.

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.


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