By Paul Hernandez
On Friday, August 27th, Central Cali Prospects hosted the Inaugural Central Cali’s Next Up Top 30 Showcase at the beautiful Dignity Health Sports Complex in Bakersfield, CA. The event featured a majority of the top sophomores and freshmen from the Central Section of California (Class of 2024 and 2025). The event was an individual player showcase, where players were put on teams and each player played 2 showcase games. There were 5 showcase games played in total, featuring 50 players from the area. The article below takes a look at the Next 20 Top Performers from the Showcase, as Part 1 covered out Top 10 Performers overall. Similar to the Top 10 Performers article, there is no order to the players evaluated in this article. This article also mentions 5 players that performed well but fell just outside the Top 30. This list was put together by myself, Clutch Clips Hoops staff, Wes Davis, and the staff that coached the games.
2024 6’2 Deshawn Usochu (Liberty HS):
Usochu is a physical and athletic guard/wing slasher that has the skills to be a true combo guard. He has solid handles, good perimeter moves to create off the dribble, attacks downhill with good body control to finish through contact at the rim, consistent nice mid-range jump shot, and is improving his efficiency from the 3 point line. Usochu is a good rebounder for his position, can lock up on defense, has strong hands to take the ball from his opponent, and turns defense into transition buckets. He is capable of making difficult shots effectively.
2024 6’3 Cash Stockley (Centennial HS):
Stockley is a big guard that has the size and physicality to operate effectively in the post area. He has solid handles, rebounds the ball very well, and has the ability to push the tempo in the open court with good court vision to find open teammates or finish coast to coast. Stockley has good hands, instincts and a creative finisher around the rim, and has a smooth one dribble pull-up mid-range shot. Stockley is at his best when he is attacking downhill and forcing the defense to contract, finding open teammates off the drive and kick-out pass.
2024 6’7 Luke Jacobson (Mission Prep HS):
Jacobson has great size and length to play around the basket with the ability to stretch the floor from the 3 point line. He is consistent on the catch and shoot 3 ball, has enough handle to put the ball on the floor and create off the perimeter, and has the length and frame to finish through contact at the rim. Jacobson is dominant on the boards, creates second chance opportunities, and is an underrated shot blocker. Continues to develop as a true wing/forward with his ability to stretch the floor from the perimeter.
2024 6’7 Dre Davis (San Joaquin Memorial):
Davis has great size and a solid frame with the ability to space the floor from beyond the arc. He is dominant on the glass, has a nice touch for finishes around the rim, has decent post moves and footwork, improving handles to operate on the wing, and alters shots around the cup. Davis is an effective shooter from the 3 point line and with development on his foot speed and agility, he could end up at the top of his class by the end of his high school career.
2025 6’3 Moses Wright (Santa Clarita Christian HS):
Wright is a rangy wing/guard slasher that impacts the game on both ends and showing strides in his development. Wright has improved his ball handling skills, the ability to create off the dribble, attacks downhill to get into the paint, and finishes well at the basket. He has a wide wingspan, active hands on defense, is active on the glass, and is getting more confidence from the 3 point line. Wright played well in both showcase games and averaged 14.5 point per game.
2025 5’9 Dilibe Allison (Clovis HS):
Allison is a combo guard that can light it up from deep. He was one of the surprise players at the Next Up Showcase. He has crafty ball handling skills, shifty moves off the dribble to attack the middle of the defense creating open looks for teammates, and quick hands on defense. Allison has a burner from beyond the arc, a smooth mid-range jump shot, and has a creative layup package around the rim to evade the bigs around the basket. Good on court confidence.
2024 6’2 Jeremy Pierro (Clovis East):
Pierro is a lengthy wing/guard prospect that has a pretty stroke from beyond the arc. He has good handles, long first step to get by his defender and into the second line of the defense, able to create his own offense off the dribble, and is effective at scoring it at all 3 levels. Pierro moves very well off the ball, running off screens, creating space for catch and shoot 3 point opportunities, which he hits with consistency using his height to raise up over opponents.
2024 5’9 Jovarie Hadden (Ridgeview HS):
Hadden is a physical lead guard that is capable of knocking down tough shots from various spots on the floor. He is a shifty guard, with a smooth handle to keep the defense guessing, and has good body control when going into the teeth of the defense and finishing through contact. Hadden has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the ball on a string, does not waste dribbles, and is hard to defend when he is hitting tough mid-range shots from multiple spots on the floor. He has good court vision and is improving as a high level playmaker.
2025 6’1 Treyvon Sanderson (Clovis HS):
Sanderson is a lengthy and athletic wing slasher that makes his impact felt on both ends. He is active on the glass, has a lengthy wingspan to alter or block shots at the rim, good touch to finish around the basket, and can lock up on defense. Sanderson is capable of knocking down shots from the mid-range area and he has great upside. Clovis has some impressive young talent to go with the experienced play of their upper class guards.
2024 6’ Jaleel Jackson (Bullard HS):
Jackson is a high energy guard that brings toughness with flash when on the court. He has quick hands on defense to get into his opponents space, disrupts passing lanes to create easy transition points, and has the lateral quickness to stay in front of his man. Jackson has crafty handles and smooth moves when attacking off the perimeter, good court vision to make plays when on the drive, and has a great motor. Jackson was the player that I had no idea about coming into the event and he performed very well.
2024 6’ Maddox Contreras (Mission Prep HS):
Maddox is a solid guard that has good shot making capabilities. He is effective from beyond the arc, has good handles and controls the ball well, nice use of hesitation to get by his initial defender, confident on his pull-up mid-range jumper, and able to finish at the rim over bigger players. Capable of knocking down some tough shots.
2024 5’8 Aiden Morillo (Liberty HS):
Morillo is a creative lead guard that lets it go from deep with supreme confidence. He has shifty moves and handles to evade defenders, good court vision to find open teammates, has a solid floater, can run off a string of threes when he gets hot. Had a stretch with three straight away 3s in a row, each one deeper than the previous one to show his range.
2025 5’10 Gabriel Gutierrez (Independence HS):
Gutierrez is a knowledgeable lead guard that can run the offense or look to score the basketball. He is poised with the ball in his hand while under pressure, has good acceleration when attacking the basket, has shifty moves to create scoring opportunities, is efficient from the 3 point line, and is capable of scoring at all 3 levels. Gutierrez is tenacious on defense and moves well laterally to stay in front of his man. He is a tough minded player that puts his body on the line for his teammates.
2025 5’8 Derrick Lee (Hoover HS):
Lee is a confident guard that puts constant pressure on the defense. Lee has good handles, shifty body movement when attacking the paint allowing him to evade defenders, crafty finisher around the rim, nice use of the floater to finish over taller players, and strong hands to take the ball from his opponent. Lee plays with great confidence and swagger but stays on balance.
2025 5’8 Asher Garde (Liberty HS):
Garde is a creative and skilled combo guard that plays with that wiggle, making him tough to guard. He has solid ball handling skills, super shifty moves when operating off the perimeter, quick burst of speed when attacking the basket, and does a nice job of keeping his dribble alive to keep his defender chasing. Garde is a knockdown 3 point shooter, and as a smaller guard, he understands how to create separation from his man to get his shots off with accuracy.
2025 Amaruis Rowel (Independence HS):
Rowel is a quick and creative lead guard that plays with a high level of confidence on the court. He is super shifty with the ball in his hands, has nice handles allowing him to escape defensive pressure, gets downhill and is able to absorb and finish through contact. Rowel has good control of his body when he leaves the ground, makes tough shots, and is effective from the 3 point line.
2025 5’10 Michael Gutierrez (Centennial HS):
Gutierrez is a solid lead guard that is able to make plays for his teammates or create for himself. He has nice ball handling skills, controls the pace of play, crafty moves when looking to attack the defense, has a consistent shot from the 3 point line, and makes good use of the floater. Gutierrez sees the court well, capable of making plays when on the attack, and has quick hands on defense to create transition scoring opportunities.
2024 JaShaun Banks II (San Joaquin Memorial HS):
Banks is a lengthy and rapidly developing wing slasher that has made major strides in his skill set the past year. He does a solid job of using his long wingspan to disrupt passing lanes, capable of altering shots around the basket and on the perimeter, and stays active on the glass. Banks has improved his handles, shooting confidence, and has nice upside as a prospect with 3 years of high school ball left.
2025 6’5 Carson Acevedo (Garces Memorial HS):
Acevedo has nice length and height making him an ideal freshman prospect with a lot of upside. Acevedo rebounds the ball very well, has enough handle to push the ball in transition off the glass, can stretch the floor from beyond the arc, and is improving his ability to finish through and over contact. He is a solid rim protector and as he grows into his frame he has the chance to be a high level wing/guard prospect.
2024 6’ Manjot Deol (Ridgeview HS):
Deol is a confident shooter from deep and is improving his ability to create off the dribble. He has a smooth shooting form, is knockdown from beyond the arc, rebounds the ball well, and has the wingspan to disrupt passing lanes and alter perimeter shots. Deol is efficient from the 3 point line and when he gets going he can rattle off multiple 3 point shots in a row.
2024 6’3 Louis Duarte (Garces Memorial HS):
Duarte is a tough minded wing slasher that leaves it all on the court. He is effective shooting from the field, active on the glass, goes after every ball, locks in on defense, and is a no-nonsense player that puts his body on the line for his team to have success.
Notable Players:
2024 5’10 David Rios Jr. (Bullard HS)
2025 5’8 Jeremiah Posada (Selma HS)
2025 6’2 Jose Aguilar (Central East HS)
2024 5’10 Jordan Pena (Sanger HS)
2025 5’10 Elijah Wade (Garces MemorialHS)
