2023 Grassroots Finale Standouts
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.—The door is locked up, the lights are off, the HoopSeen 2023 travel season is in the books. We’re looking forard to camp season and the high school season before we come back in 2024 for another spring and summer.
Before we turn the page to camps and the fall, we need to reflect on the Grassroots Finale because it capped the year well.
At the beach, we saw a lot of familiar faces shine on the last weekend of the season while mixing in some new faces. The following were some of the weekend’s best.
It should be noted that two days wasn’t enough to fully take in everything we would have liked to see, so this list—and the ones to come—are based on the games, teams that we were able to catch.
When thinking about the 2023 Grassroots Finale, one of the names that will be associated with it will be 2026 guard Yohance Connor. He was the buzz of the weekend among our staff. Connor’s competitive fire on defense was atypical for the last weekend of the travel season. He’s a lockdown guard on that end that will make the opposing team’s best player work for everything when matched up with Connor. His jumper and explosive athleticism were on display on offense as well. Connor left Virginia Beach with new offers from Radford and VCU.
Let’s keep it 1 of 1 for now. Jajuan Nicholls has had plenty of great weekends with HoopSeen this year, and he may have ended the travel season with his best one yet. Nicholls was outright dominant around the basket. He was able to get whatever he wanted in the paint. It’s hard to match up with a guy that size who looks to consistently attack the rack aggressively. Nicholls had good moments as a rim protector as well.
One of the players that kept coming up when talking with college coaches was The House We Built wing Troy McKoy. His combination of power and skill led him to great game after great game. As a driver, he can muscle his way to the basket and back down defenders around the rim. On multiple occasions, he showed that he can hit shots from deep. While we were familiar with every player on this list, McKoy was a welcome addition to our notebooks.
Eli Ellis is always one of the shows wherever he goes, and he brought that to Virginia Beach for the Grassroots Finale. We’ve seen him do spectacular things this year, and he did even more of that while not being at his most dominant. Ellis is a machine in his ability to put points on the board whether that means going on a personal scoring run or setting up his teammates for open looks. Ellis is such a skilled scorer from all levels, and he has incredible vision and feel as a passer. Ellis’ IQ for the game can be seen across the board, which means on defense as well. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time.
It was another successful weekend for Ball4Lyfe. Once again, Jeremiah Police was in the middle of their success. He’s a terror in the open floor. When Police is at his best is when he’s attacking the basket. He’s athletic and finishes everything at the rim. Police been one of the most consistent players on a team that has won a lot of games this year. His stock keeps taking steps forward.
