Top overall performers from the 2023 Best of the South, part II
ATLANTA, GA - The depth of talent at the 2023 Best of the South was outstanding. Our staff was all over the Georgia World Congress Center and spent the entire weekend sorting out the best of the very best. Meet some of the top performers from the 17 and under division from our NCAA Live Period event.
As they used to say on SportsCenter, Akins is as cool as the other side of the pillow. He seems to never get rattled and time after time makes the right pass to the open teammate. He is a guy that can break down defenders and get into the paint either scoring or making the dish. Akins tells us that he is hearing from Longwood, UMass-Lowell and some other schools the most recently and has picked up offers from Winthrop, IUPUI and High Point since the last live period. - Justin Byerly
One of the consistent standouts on a deep Florida Pro team was 2024 W/F Grant Randall. His overall two-way productivity was on display throughout Best of the South. Randall makes winning plays. He defends multiple positions, makes toughness plays, rebounds, and he scores efficiently from all over the floor. Randall has proven himself in front of me consistently from the high school season until now. He added a good Best of the South to his resume. - Josh Tec
After watching Johnson a few times this week, I’m comfortable in saying he’s going to win a ton of games at the next level — and I mean a lot. The 6-foot-5 guard checks all the intangible boxes and impacts the floor on both ends. He played the role of floor spacer with his efficient shooting and playmaker while the ball was in his hands, creating opportunities every step of the way. As if all that wasn’t enough, he was one of the best perimeter defenders I saw in the 17U division. If I’m a mid-major program, I’m all in on Johnson going forward. - Garrett Tucker
South Georgia Elite has won a lot of games at Best of the South over the last year or so, and they kept that trend going in downtown Atlanta. Despite winning with balance, Robert Spaulding IV continually delivered when we saw them. He’s a killer in the mid-range, and he provided the strong, versatile defense that we’ve come to know from this program. It was a strong weekend from Spaulding. - Josh Tec
This was a new face for us at HoopSeen and Smullen impressed. The 6-foot-2 combo guard was able to score from all over the floor. He is at his best when he is using his quickness to get into the lane and finish around the rim. In the games we watched he scored 16 points on a balanced team that went 5-1 on the weekend. We always like guys that are a class below the division they are playing in and this 2025 prospect deserves to have some eye on him over the next couple of seasons. - Justin Byerly
