It’s never too early to be too early.

While I have been in the midst of scouting for the 2026 NBA Draft, I have been determined to grow in my knowledge of the players who are “next up” in the scouting community. I went to the Hoop Exchange down in the greater Orlando, Florida area to catch some of the standout players in the high school ranks. This past weekend, I made the trip up to Atlanta, Georgia, to scout eight players who are currently recognized as the top prospects in their respective class.

What I want to do here is just share some notes and thoughts on the players. This is my first look at many of the players I’ll write about in this piece, so I am aware that my small sample with them may not be 100% accurate. Still, collecting data is important.

More importantly for me—more than just collecting data—is to share my findings with the No Ceilings Universe! I’ll start with the players who are recognized on ESPN’s rankings for 2026, 2027, and 2028. Of course, you know I have to share some notes on players that I think could be sleepers.

Let’s dive in!

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Taylen Kinney | 2026 Class | Ranked 17th on ESPN | Committed to Kansas | Guard | 6’3” | 188 | 17 Yrs.

Taylen Kinney is a player I had high expectations for coming into the event. I knew how well he had been performing with OTE, and I knew he was ranked relatively high for next year’s class. He did a lot of things well for RWE in their game against the Cold Hearts. The thing that took me by surprise was the level of defense Taylen played with. He was only credited with two steals, but he played tight and intentional defense the whole game. He sat low in his stance and slid his feet. At one point, he slid in front of Adam Oumiddoch and drew a charge. There were other possessions where he poked the ball out of bounds—which, of course, won’t be registered in a box score.

The offense was fun, too. To get the bad out of the way first, he could not buy a three-pointer—going just 1-of-8 from deep. However, he controlled the tempo throughout the game. His handle is impressive—low and tight. Taylen was able to get to the paint regularly, and he often drew fouls on the defense due to the immense pressure he put on the rim. This was made evident with the five fouls he drew. His passes were delivered with pinpoint accuracy, recording six assists to zero turnovers. His craft around the basket was encouraging to see, as he balanced some inside hand finishes with the more “proper” technique.

Having seen some of the players that are ranked ahead of him (Jaxon Richardson, Miikka Muurinen, and Caleb Gaskins in particular), I see why many are high on Taylen. The jumper is going to be the thing that I will be monitoring moving forward, as it will likely be the skill that impacts his draft stock the most when he’s playing for the Jayhawks. His ability to set the table and defend at a high level makes him intriguing, though.

Adam Oumiddoch | 2026 Class | Ranked 35th on ESPN | Committed to St. John’s | Wing | 6’5.5” | 187 | 18 Yrs.

Adam is a player that I have seen before at OTE, so I was excited to see how much he has grown. While he likely has put on some size, it wasn’t anything staggering—which is fine. His shot diet was very familiar. Adam only scored eight points on 3/10 scoring from the floor, with six of those shots from deep. His commitment to St. John’s makes a ton of sense, as his game is similar to what fans have seen from Ian Jackson and Joson Sanon. His length came in handy on a few possessions, as he was able to finish in the midst of contact.

Defensively, “AO” was able to make a few plays on the ball. There was an occasion when Parker Robinson (more on him later) was going up for a shot, but Adam was able to recover and reject his attempt. He did give effort to stay in front of his man at times, and was able to stop passes or dribbling from being executed. He also took a charge; however, there were also times when he gave up some quick and easy points.

It’s likely because I’ve met and spoken to Oumiddoch in the past, but I was expecting a big game from Adam. He’s one of OTE’s best scorers (he was second in PPG going into the game against RWE) and shooters from deep (fifth in OTE). The law of averages suggests that I just saw him on an off-night. Beyond just the scoring not being there, he also didn’t register a single assist. One of the things NBA teams want to see from every position now is the ability to set up others. I’ll be looking forward to monitoring Adam’s consistency moving forward, as well as him diversifying his offensive approach.

DaKari Spear | 2026 Class | Ranked 60th on ESPN | Committed to Texas Tech | Guard | 6’5” | 190 | 18 Yrs.

A teammate of Marcus Spears Jr. on both OTE’s Faze team and Dynamic Prep, DaKari Spear had himself a heck of a game. Spear came into this game ranked in OTE’s Top 10 in points per game, minutes per game, three-point efficiency, and free-throw efficiency. With his national ranking and statistical profile, I had some expectations as to the sort of guard I was going to see.

To begin, I thought Spear has a frame that looks like it will hold up well as he continues to mature. He played the game with great pace, getting to his spots relatively easily. Not only did he score, but he did so with a steady dose of contact. Spear got to the line five times, where he knocked down all of his freebies. Even though he only knocked down one three-pointer per the box score, I feel like I saw him knock down at least one more. He was able to play solid defense and force events on that end. Again, his frame and style of play suggests that he will attract contact—almost as he welcomes it. He converted 11-of-17 of his two-pointers, with a respectable number of those shots coming at the rim.

At his size, I would have liked to have seen Spear make more plays for others—especially with him putting a reasonable amount of pressure on the basket. Outside of that, DaKari plays more as a wing player. At his size, he’ll need to be a more consistent shooter from deep—which, again, he’s shown more of an ability to do so outside of the one game I watched from him in person.

Moustapha Diop | 2026 Class | Ranked 87th on ESPN | Committed to Georgia Tech | Big | 6’10” | 212 | 19 Yrs.

I came into the day a little bit blind on Moustapha Diop, other than him being a prospect I know is considered a Top 100 prospect. Based on his measurables, I had an assumption about the type of player Diop would be. I figured he would be a high-energy big who made an impact largely due to his activity.

The beginning of the game started with him making plays on the boards—specifically with him grabbing a couple of offensive rebounds within a couple of possessions of each other. Of the five points he scored, two of them came from an early dunk within the first few moments of the game. Unfortunately, Moustapha sustained a minor injury during that game that limited him to just under seven minutes of play for the game—that, and the fact that he committed six fouls in that short span.

In that small sample, the energy was obvious, but there are concerns about the size Diop has for the position he will be most equipped to play: the big man spot. There are some questions I have regarding the fundamentals he will bring on both ends of the floor. That was made evident by committing six fouls to blocking zero shots. Beyond that, it’s hard to find human beings at his size who play as hard as Moustapha does. He’ll continue to grow in his decision-making, which should allow him to be more impactful over a longer stretch of gameplay. Georgia Tech has done well as of late in giving their bigs opportunities to get better on the job, which should bode well for his playing time at the next level.

Parker Robinson | 2026 Class | Ranked 96th on ESPN | Committed to Oklahoma State | Wing | 6’4.5” | 196 | 19 Yrs.

Like Adam Oumiddoch, Parker Robinson is a player whom I’ve grown fond of over the course of my evaluations. When I last watched Parker, he was not ranked nationally, and I was adamant that he should have been about two years ago. I loved the shot. I loved the hustle and energy he brought—there were just a ton of skills he brought to the table that I felt scaled very well.

From what I have gathered, Robinson hasn’t sustained that performance over the past year or so. Still, I was excited to see his development for myself. To be honest, it felt like Parker was pressing during the game. He did finish with the second-most points for his team—14—and did so on 6-of-13 shooting. However, he shot just 1-of-4 from deep and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line. There was a moment early on where he turned down a three, and drove into the paint for a layup that he was considerably off target on. His decision-making does need some love, as he was responsible for three of his team’s seven turnovers.

What’s encouraging for Parker is his aggressiveness. I would have been significantly more down on him if his shot selection was more abhorrent than just the one bad miss he had on one layup, but there were moments where he converted some tough layups—even with contact being a factor in him making the bucket. I’ve seen Parker hit on all cylinders, and it is a sight to behold. He’s playing on a deep team with RWE, as they have 5 players who are nationally ranked currently. He’s being a bit pigeon-holed on offense, which magnifies the necessity of him hitting the opportunities he gets. I’ll elect to give him some grace for this performance based on what else I’ve personally seen from him.

Marcus Spears Jr. | 2027 Class | Ranked 1st on ESPN | Not Committed | Forward | 6’9” | 200 | 16 Yrs.

I’m not going to lie, the opportunity to see Marcus Spears Jr. in person heavily weighed into my decision to choose November 14th as the day I saw OTE live at this point of the season. Marcus also plays for Dynamic Prep—the high school where many of his Faze teammates at Overtime play. His Faze squad is also coached by his Prep coach, Jermaine O’Neal. Yes, that Jermaine O’Neal.

I went into this game blind on Marcus, and was quickly shown why he is considered the best player in the 2027 class. I also had some sort of measuring stick to assess Spears Jr.’s skill, as I have seen C.J. Rosser, Obinna Ekezie, Beckham Black, and Lincoln Cosby at the Hoop Exchange already. Marcus got going early, with his first points of the game coming via a putback shot. Due to his size and length, Spears played a lot of center—a position I feel won’t be what he’s asked to play much in college. Marcus plays an aggressive brand of basketball, drawing contact and finishing through it. He did get to the line eight times and made all of his attempts from the charity stripe. Defensively, he made plays and was able to force some events.

Marcus was great in the first half of the game, but the entire Faze team felt muted in the second half. This was largely due to the fact that the little brother of South Carolina’s Eli Ellis, Isaac Ellis, set an OTE record for points scored in this game. After going 3-of-5 in the first half, Spears went just 3-of-9 for the night. I don’t weigh this game too much against Marcus—simply due to the fact that it felt like the second half was going to be owned by Isaac. The tools were obvious. The load placed on him was star-worthy. I loved the toughness and the process, and we all know that the process is the most important consideration.

Tyran Frazier | 2027 Class | Ranked 33rd on ESPN | Not Committed | Forward | 6’10” | 193 | 17 Yrs.

I was super excited to see how Tyran looked in person. Even though he was a little bit further down the rankings, the measurements of Frazier are more along the lines of what I get excited about when scouting a player. Most scouting outlets—and even the OTE—list Tyran as a big, but I thought his movement skills and natural gifts lend him to be best served as a forward. A nugget of information that I was given in Atlanta is that Tyran has only been playing organized ball for about three or four years at most. The intel about him as a person was exemplary—everyone I spoke to at the event couldn’t have spoken any better about his character.

I’ll lead by saying that the inexperience Frazier has in playing time, and him being a nice guy showed on the floor. He was deferential throughout larger swaths of the game. It made sense as to why. Kinney was clearly the floor general. Peyton Miller—a sound guard in his own right—saw a lot of usage. Parker Robinson got a lot of shots. Simply put, there are more aggressive offensive players on his team.

He did set a healthy amount of screens, and he did grab the second-most rebounds on his team—in other words, there were things to be excited about with him. I would just have preferred to see him look to “seek and destroy” a bit more. I think that playing on this RWE team is good for him to sort of “speed up” his experience, but there are fewer opportunities for him to find his offensive voice. He’s still young, and I’m excited to see how much he grows over the next season with Overtime Elite.

Kam Mercer | 2028 Class | Ranked 5th on ESPN | Not Committed | Wing/Forward | 6’5” | 200 | 16 Yrs.

Kam is currently the highest-ranked prospect whom I have scouted in the 2028 class. For a player who has only been 16 for a couple of weeks, I was super impressed by Mercer’s frame. He reminded me of when I first saw Bryson Tiller, in terms of long arms and squared-off shoulders. Considering he is the youngest member of the RWE roster, I was expecting less of an impact.

Kam did score “just” eight points on the night, but that was actually more than Tyran and Moustapha. He also led his team in rebounds with eight. There were several moments of intensity of defense, which I absolutely love considering his age. He recorded two steals but committed just one foul. He was more than willing to play smothering defense and force misses. His offense is going to be a bit of a work in progress, but there were moments where he converted a pull-up middy, or where he slammed down an impressive dunk in transition. Even though I would like to see his offensive processing improve, he walked away with three assists.

I’m not even sure what I should say in terms of areas of improvement. He’s so far away in terms of when we are going to see Mercer play collegiate basketball. The frame is encouraging. There is an opportunity to grow upward and outward as he gets older. With the team that he’s on, I’m not sure it’s reasonable to expect him to work on his isolation, break-you-down game. He’s doing the “role man” things at a respectable level on a talented—on which he started.

Anderson Diaz | 2027 Class | Not Ranked on ESPN | Not Committed | Guard | 6’1” | 188 | 17 Yrs.

I want to start by saying that while Diaz isn’t ranked on ESPN yet, it’s worth noting that their list currently only goes out to 60 prospects. There is a real shot that Anderson Diaz finds his way onto the Top 100 once that list populates. Per 24/7, Diaz has received offers from Auburn, Cincinnati, Illinois, Ole Miss, and St. John’s—among others. I had zero expectations for Anderson going in, but he blew me away with his performance.

Diaz dropped a cool 36 points—which was the most among both teams. His shot diet varied from floaters, to layups, to middies, to step-back threes, to side-step threes, to triples off of the catch. Simply put, there was nowhere he wasn’t effective from on the court. That was made evident by literally scoring 36% of his team’s points on 12-of-25 efficiency. Not only did Anderson score, but he also snagged eight boards and dished out eight assists. His size will undoubtedly limit him to some degree. Oh, and he grabbed a steal and a block throughout the game. In a five-point victory over RWE, Diaz was a +6 on the night.

Anderson is going to fall victim to being a 6’1” guard who is at his best by having the ball in his hands and hunting his own shot. That archetype is a very difficult one to thread the needle with in terms of positional scarcity and quality of production. Still, there is something to be said about a guard who can captain a team against a more talented team on paper and lead the team to victory on his back. It makes total sense as to why high-end schools are interested in him.

Isaac Ellis | 2026 Class | Not Ranked on ESPN | Committed to South Carolina | Guard | 6’1” | 170 | 18 Yrs.

Boy, did I pick a great day to roll up to the OTE gym! While the more surface-level story was the sheer number of top-ranked prospects, I was treated to a record-setting performance from Isaac Ellis. Look, Isaac has the same concerns that his older brother, Eli, had; he’s small, but he is an absolute gamer—just like Eli. While Eli is surprising folks in the college basketball ranks, Isaac has taken over Overtime Elite—ranking fourth in PPG prior to the game I watched, and first in APG. He was also second in SPG. Needless to say, Isaac (who is coached by his dad) has become Mr. OTE.

There was just an absurd amount of shot-making from Isaac. Of course, he is a ridiculously confident shooter, as he went 8-of-20 (40%) from beyond the arc. While he has a knack for knocking down the long ball, though, Ellis also went 7-of-11 on his twos—many of which came at the rim. He also drew nine fouls and went 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. Ellis can convert some tough looks, and he doesn’t shy away from contact. Isaac also shared the sugar at a good clip, registering seven assists to just two turnovers.

Isaac will struggle against the more athletic and long players, but he will also surprise people in a “David vs. Goliath” sort of a way. There is some audacity to his game—even in the game I watch, where he may or may not have caused a scrum by kicking at an opponent’s foot. He did fall in love with his shot for long stretches—especially when he became aware that he could break his brother’s scoring record at Overtime. He was able to by one point, dropping a cool 56 points—accounting for 56% of his team’s points just from scoring. He’s not a crazy athlete. He doesn’t have the desired measurables. However, he does have some…we’ll go with stuff…to him that teammates will love to have around—especially his brother, Eli, who will be his teammate with the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Asher Elson | 2026 Class | Not Ranked on ESPN | Committed to Xavier | Forward/Big | 6’11” | 185 | 18 Yrs.

The last player that I’ll leave notes on is one of the more interesting prospects I saw in the two games put on by the OTE. That’s Asher Elson. The measurements are tantalizing and enticing, and there were some glimmers of fun that Elson put on throughout this game. Though he wasn’t the most coveted prospect on the court, Elson plays in a way that your imagination can run wild if you aren’t careful.

Elson got going early, as he showed off a bit of a handle, drawing a foul. Although he just hit 1-of-2 free throws, the touch looked intriguing immediately. Moments later, he drew another foul. A couple of moments later, he blocked Taylen Kinney. As the game went on, he drew more contact, and he grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. He knocked down a corner three off the catch. He hit a few more threes in the second half, one of which really sealed the game for the Cold Hearts against RWE. That three really exemplified why he wears “4th QTR” on the back of his jersey.

I’ll admit that Elson is a far-from-perfect player as things sit right now, but he is the sort of project that college coaches chomp at the bit for. Having someone who is nearly 7’ tall, who can dribble, shoot, block shots, draw 10 fouls, and rebound like crazy allows a coach to trot out any sort of lineup he wants. While I could understand that his production likely isn’t Top 100-worthy, you simply cannot find 99 other players who can do what Asher can at his size.

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