Tec's Top Guys: City of Palms Juniors
FORT MYERS, FL—The City of Palms Classic is one of the best high school events on an annual basis. It boasts one of the most talented fields on the calendar, and this year was packed to the brim with talent. No different than any other year.
I was in town for the tournament’s opening weekend, and I was privy to outstanding performance after outstanding performance. With all of the action I was able to see, I compiled a list of some of the top guys I was able to see, and I’ve divided them up by class.
With the 2025 group already available, it's time to look at some of the outstanding 2024s.
On Monday, I wrote about Archbishop Stepinac’s guards when I talked about Danny Carbuccia as one of my 2025 standouts. I’m following that up by talking about his backcourt partner. The thunder to Carbuccia’s lightning—or vice versa—Boogie Fland proved that he’s deserving of his blue-blood recruitment in Stepinac’s opener.
Fland is one of the best scorers in the 2024 class. That has been proven time and time again. On all three levels, the 6-foot-3 guard can absolutely fill it up. He started the City of Palms Classic with a 24-point game which included five 3-pointers. Fland also impressed as a defender. He racked up several steals against Vashon (MO) HS, and as I’ve been following from afar, I’ve noticed that trend continue. Most recently, he had five steals in a Tuesday-morning win against Myers Park.
Most have Johnson as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 class. At the very least, he’s currently a top three player in the class. It’s not difficult to see why he’s so highly touted either. When I was in Fort Myers, I got to see Johnson operate like the top dog in the class in a win over Newton (GA) HS.
To lead his team to a win in their opener, Johnson dropped 27 points and pulled 9 rebounds. The 6-foot-5 guard was electric and helped stave off a Stephon-Castle-led comeback from the Rams. Whether he was knocking down threes, flying high for transition dunks, or anything in between, Johnson was a bucket in this one. What I love most is that he did it against like competition. While he and UConn-committed Stephon Castle weren’t matched up for the entire game, it was still a good enough apples-to-apples sampler.
It looks like we’re in for another tug-of-war between Louisville and Kentucky in a 2024 recruiting battle. Kevin Knox played for Kentucky and for Kenny Payne—Louisville head coach—when he was with the Wildcats and the Knicks. Now, 2024 wing Karter Knox is a priority target for both programs. With Louisville assistant Nolan Smith on the sidelines, Knox had himself a strong outing against Wheeler (GA) HS.
While Tampa Catholic didn’t get the W at the end of the day, the younger Knox flashes of why he’s widely regarded as a top-15 prospect in the class. Knox is a wing that blends physicality and finesse well. He can play both styles of ball equally well. A skilled player, Knox can shoot and make plays from the perimeter, but he’s not afraid to bully his way to the basket if he needs to. He finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds against Wheeler.
Bez Jenkins has been rising up Georgia rankings as quickly as anyone in the 2024 class, and he showcased some of his potential on one of the brightest national stages.
Over the weekend, the 6-foot-4 guard showed that he can be a powerful secondary punch beside Stephon Castle, but he also proved to be a nice primary scoring option on Saturday morning when the Rams elected to start the game with Castle and MJ Whitlock on the bench. Jenkins averaged 15 points over the weekend and showed off his shooting range with 6 3-pointers total in the two Newton games I saw.
Myers Park has some great younger pieces on their team. Most of the production they get comes from juniors and sophomores. Perhaps the best of the bunch is 6-foot-4 guard Bishop Boswell.
Boswell spent most of his night guarding Kentucky-bound Reed Sheppard. That’s no easy task by any means, and he lived up to the challenge. Boswell was a major factor in slowing Sheppard’s production and causing him to commit 10 turnovers. Elsewhere, Boswell scored 14 points on 4-7 shooting from the 3-point line. He also pulled 8 rebounds. In one way or another, Boswell is going to make an impact on the game, and he certainly did so when I saw Myers Park on Saturday.
If you were to ask me to build a team, I’d start with finding a great point guard. That’s obvious to me. I need a guy who’ll run my squad like an efficient machine. At City of Palms, there were so many options for me to pick from in this theoretical situation, and one of the first names on my list from the field would have been Elliot Cadeau.
The 6-foot-1 guard is one of the best pure point guards in the 2024 class. He might be the best. Cadeau does a great job when it comes to controlling the pace of a game and getting his guys involved. Against Saint Frances (MD), Cadeau finished with 9 assists and 1 turnover. He’s not a passive guard by any means. Cadeau can be a go-to guy when he’s needed to score. When the Lions needed a bucket late in a close game, it was Cadeau who scored in crunch time. He finished with 12 points.
