Avery Waddington
(l to r) Mark Wilkerson, Kinzley Larsen, Shay Shippen, Avery Waddington, Lauren Cummings, Eva Yeadon, and Chris Hansen. *Photo by Sumeet Kumar.
MISSOULA, Montana – The Check Me Out Showcase, hosted by Elite Is Earned Basketball, returned to Pfahler Sport Specific for a second straight fall to train and evaluate players from across the Mountain Region. Players from California, Idaho, Montana and Washington were in the building. The Feature Player Training Session got a handful of players extra work on their games heading into the camp.
Larsen is a tough competitor first and foremost. This freshman plays with a lot of confidence. She also plays with an edge about her and for someone with a lean frame she plays very strong. Offensively when she gets hot from deep she makes shot after shot and has no problem getting to her spots and letting it go. She showed good quickness with the ball and we’re interested to see if she evolves as a combo guard or a scoring guard as her prep career progresses.
Yeadon is a player that the more you watch her the more you want her on the floor. For a freshman she has a gritty way about her and she never backed down from a challenge all weekend. Offensively she’s heady and patient. She’ll move the ball and wait to get it back on a ball reversal where she can knock down shots. She shined more in 3 on 3 where she was more active attacking the basket and we can’t wait to see her game’s growth after a year of high school ball.
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Cummings brings terrific size to the perimeter. She has a strength about her game that allows her to mix it up on the drive and it really aids her go-to scoring weapon, her pull-up jumper. She shoots a true jump-shot, elevating about her defender. Because she elevates so well she can get to it whenever she wants. Defensively she’s very active and bothers and tips a lot of passes.
Waddington is a 6-3 forward that creates a lot of things on the floor. Her agility and energy on the floor cause chaos in good ways for her team. In the era of 4 and 5-out offense, she’s great option because of her ability to score it around the bucket and hit the three. She’s a threat as a rim runner because of her athleticism as well. Perhaps the best thing she brings to the floor is authenticity and enthusiasm. You can’t play with her and not feed off of it.
Shippen is a gamer. The 5-10 guard can play any perimeter position with her skill set. When she gets going offensively she can heat up and carry a team. There’s a smoothness to her ball skill that allows her to stay poised. Her lefty jumper is super consistent when she gets her feet set and she doesn’t need much time or space to get the shot off.
Chris Hansen is managing editor of ProspectsNation.com and serves on the McDonald’s All-American and Naismith Trophy selection committees. He was a co-founder of and the national director of scouting for ESPN HoopGurlz from 2005 until 2012 and is the director of the Check Me Out Showcase and ELITE is EARNED events. He can be reached at chris@chrishansenbasketball.com.
