LONG BEACH – Some of Southern California’s – and beyond – better high school boys basketball underclassmen were at McBride High for the Pangos All-American Preview Camp Saturday.
The Top 30 Crème of the Crop All-Star Game Most Outstanding Players were sophomores Mahamadou Diop (who led San Gabriel Academy to the State D-III championship in Sacramento on March 14) and Siincere Hudson (Inderkum High in Sacramento).
The 6-foot-9 Diop – who is expected to play for Mali’s national team this summer – scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 21 minutes for Team Blue, which fell to Team White, 103-98, in the all-star game.
Hudson (whose Inderkum squad was 29-2 before losing to Oakland Tech in the State D-I regional second round) scored 14 points with six rebounds and three assists for Team White.
But Diop and Hudson were far from the camp’s only standouts that are likely to be invited to the best summer camp in the country – the June 1-3 Pangos All-American Camp at Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas) – based upon their Saturday performances.
*Acen Jimenez (La Habra High) and Josiah Johnson (Lakewood Mayfair) offered solid on-court documentation as to why they are among the best of the West’s Class of 2026 point guard prospects.
Jimenez is not only one of the best jump shooters in the regional class but his decision making and slick handle and passing decisions will catch the attention of all who watch him with La Habra the final two weekends of June (at Section 7 and Cali Live).
And Johnson, whose parents played at Long Beach State, is an upper-tier athlete, at 6-foot-4, who jump shot has made remarkable progress over the past six months or so.
Other 2026-point guards who also was among the upper tier of prospects at the event included Rodney Westmoreland III of Santa Margarita – which shared the Trinity League title with St. John Bosco and should go into 2025-25 as a Top 10 team in California.
The other was another for a sure Top 10 team in the state, Gavin Dean-Moss of St. John Bosco.
And 6-5 Tyler Lopez continued to show why he will be heavily targeted by multiple D-I college programs this spring and summer, with Los Alamitos (Section 7 and Cali Live over the final two weekends of June) and with the Dream Vision 17s on the adidas circuit.
Lopez (pictured, shooting over the hand of MacCoy Pond), the top sub on for the Griffins’ squad that won the CIF SS D-I title before losing to Redondo Union in the State South D-I regional second round, could lead Orange County in scoring as a senior via his terrific mix of jump shooting, and drives and finishes.
A post – at 6-9ish, with a 4.0+ GPA – from the Class of 2026 who stood out Saturday was Jonas Oware of Long Beach Poly.
Six-six Romyn Waugh (Oakland High) showed why he is one of the top seniors-to-be in Northern California, playing in the Top 30 games (four points and five rebounds for Team White) after two strong efforts earlier Saturday.
The non-California-based players from the Class of 2026 standouts Saturday were dominated by 6-6 MacCoy Pond (Issaquah, WA), a superb jump shooter with a dynamic first-step off the dribble and finish.
There aren’t five better seniors-to-be in the Northwest.
And there were two exceptional “big” prospects from the Class of 2028 on hand Saturday in 6-7 Miles Duda (Russell High in Great Falls, MT), and 6-8 Oumar Dabo (San Gabriel Academy).
Three other players made long hikes to get to Long Beach and made their travels worthwhile with impressive performances in their two camp games that earned them slots in the Top 30 clash.
*Six-five Tristan Collins (San Antonio Harlan) is among the best in the Class of 2027 in Texas.
*Six-two Amare Snipes (Bronx Cardinal Hayes), with seven points, four rebounds and four assists in the Top 30 game, used his Saturday in Long Beach to make a strong case as to why he is one of the better 2026 guards in the East.
*Six-five Max Kipper (Newton, PA, George School) was another big guard/small forward in the Class of 2026 who stood out Saturday.
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