The NY2LA Junior Showcase was a great event filled with quality 2024 talent. The depth of the camp roster made for a competitive atmosphere & lots of exciting action. After taking a few weeks to digest everything, here are some of the guys from the camp who, in my opinion, made the most of the opportunity and elevated their status.

6’8” Sekou Konneh (St. Thomas More)
Others had spoken highly of Konneh to me before camp, but I had never seen him myself, so I was very excited to get a look at him. He did not disappoint, coming with a clear intent to make a statement that he was a top prospect at camp. Standing around 6’8” with long arms, Konneh displayed versatility on both sides of the ball. He showed that he can handle in the open court, slash from the wing, and hit occasional jumpers. His best work offensively was done around the basket though as he converted on lots of powerful finishes throughout the day and did a good job of manufacturing those opportunities for himself. Konneh also had good moments protecting the rim as he can get off the floor with ease & has good timing. A few different times during camp, he showed that he’s capable of stepping away from the paint to move his feet & defend on the perimeter. I walked away pretty surprised that his recruitment hasn’t already taken off but that should come in time.

6’5” Nolan Minessale (University High School)
The couple times I watched Minnesale over the summer, I left very impressed and felt strongly about him deserving a good chunk of early recruitment. The Junior Showcase did nothing to change my thoughts on Minessale as he was productive once again and showed improvement in his game. As expected, he attacked the rim with a mixture of fearlessness & explosion that was hard to stop. Minessale runs & fills the lanes hard and uses his length to get past defenders in the halfcourt. I also liked what he did with his perimeter shooting; he looked much more confident in it, taking 3’s with more regularity and connecting at a good clip during the day with range & good form. What I probably appreciate most about Minessale is that he knows who he is. He’s not a guy that’s going to be overdribbling and playing outside of himself. He sticks to what he’s good at, brings a high motor, and doesn’t need the ball a ton to impact the game. He’s one I’ll continue to track closely.

6’7” MJ Stackhouse (Indian Trail Academy)
The open, free style of camp benefitted Stackhouse’s style of play and allowed for him to show potential in other areas of his game that may not have been as evident in other settings. To start, Stackhouse has ideal physical & athletic qualities for his position. He has a big, powerful frame with leaping ability to match and it helps him complete plays that most others wouldn’t. When Stackhouse decided that he wanted to control the paint at camp, he was able to do just that. Some of his moments shooting the ball were what generated even more attention for Stackhouse at camp. Now, his selection left some things to be desired at times, but he proved that he can be a competent shot-maker from 15 feet & beyond. If he keeps refining that aspect of his skillset while maintaining a balance between that & paint production, things could really heat up for him on the recruiting trail.

6’3” Bennett Basich (Arrowhead)
I mentioned this on Twitter multiple times the day of camp; Basich was the most competitive guy at the Junior Showcase from start to finish. He was locked in early on, setting the tone for camp with energy & a vocal presence while a lot of guys seemed like they were still waking up. It’s pretty common to see someone bring that type of approach to begin an event and then it just falls off, but that was not the case with Basich. His intensity never stopped & it resulted in a very productive day. Basich goes to the lane with physicality, initiating contact and battling through bumps to go along with solid athleticism. He looked for & found success with his outside shot often, making a variety of jumpers and using it to setup other parts of his game. I also appreciated how Basich made scrappy hustle plays and played with a bit of a reckless abandon that is rare in a camp setting. He does a lot of things that college coaches quickly take a liking to.

6’5” Cody Schmitz (G-E-T)
I really liked what Schmitz did at the Junior Showcase with consistent, no-nonsense production in ways that should translate to the college level. As a strong, physically mature 6’5” with a good base of skills, Schmitz created mismatches for camp opponents often. He can pull bigger guys away from the basket and put the ball on the floor; even when he doesn’t fully get past them, Schmitz uses his body well and has good footwork fundamentals to find angles to convert in traffic. When shorter guys are on him, he'll post physically and overpower them. He has compact form on his shot as well and it has range that extends out to 3. I liked Schmitz level of aggression throughout the day as he attacked whenever a chance presented itself offensively and he gave good effort rebounding. This was my first viewing of Schmitz, but I hope to be able to see more soon.