by Mal Mundy | September 10, 2023 | HoopFest Tour
This past weekend, HoopFests Tour had the special opportunity to host our annual Junior/Senior Academy in New Orleans, Louisiana. Between the talent, competition and organization it was a great event. The amount of talent in Louisiana is continuing to rise, this event has gotten the attention of several top prospects. Here’s a few standouts that caught the attention of our evaluators.
2024 SF 6’6 Jaylen Peters (Liberty Magnet High School, LA) is a 2-way force. Peters is super athletic, has a high motor, guards every position on the floor, plays above the rim, showed flashes of good ball handles, plays extremely hard on both ends and made several 3’s today.
2024 PF 6’8 Clayton Blackledge (St. Louis Catholic High School, LA) is a sleeper. Blackledge has all the tools, great frame, long arms, excellent rebounder, block shots, demands the ball in the post and scores on the block.
2025 SG 6’4 Michael Parlow (Slidell High School, LA) is a pure scorer. Parlow scores in bunches, scores off the bounce, creates space to get his spots, shoots the 3 well, always in attack mode and sleepy athletic/few highflying Fastbreak dunks.
2025 PF 6’8 Daijon Leatherman (Carver High School, LA) is a lane enforcer. Leatherman has all the intangibles/potential, awesome size, uses his length well body defenders, high level rebounder, challenges every shot at the rim, soft hands/finishes well and continue to get better every-time we see him.
2025 PG 5’10 Jalen Brown (Avoyelles Charter School) stole the show today. Brown is a lightning quick point guard, finishes at the rim with both hands, see’s plays before it happens, natural floor general, unbelievable pace/change of directions, string handles and smooth jumper.
2024 SG 6’3 Vance Meche (Teurlings Catholic High School, LA) is automatic from behind the arc. Meche is extremely accurate 3 point shooter/seven 3’s in one game, High basketball IQ and can also defend on the perimeter and distribute the ball well.
2025 F 6’8 Garret Shoemaker (Oak Forest Academy, LA) is a athletic skilled forward. Shoemaker shoots the 3 well, matchup problem because of size/skill, defends in the paint/on the wing, multi position player, gets above the rim and impressive motor/flexibility.
2024 PG 6’0 Cairon Santa Cruz (Abramson High School, LA) is a physical scoring guard. Cruz is active on both ends of the floor, crafty scorer who can finish tough shots, strong mid-range/3 point threat, when he gets to his spots is hard to guard and make plays entire game.
2025 SG 6’3 Cody Al-Naziat (Ponchatoula High School, LA) is a playmaker. Naziat catches your attention with his high energy, long arm 3-point threat, made high level passes to teammates for easy buckets, talked on both ends of the floor and plays the right way.
