Opening Day in Texas: Graf's takeaways on '23, '24 prospects
DUNCANVILLE, Texas – Rivals analyst Travis Graf was on hand for TB5Reports’ Opening Day in the Dallas area, which marks the first weekend of the grassroots basketball season. The stage, the talent and the atmosphere set up for a great weekend of basketball.
In the second entry of this week’s recap Graf addresses some of the 2023 and 2024 prospects on hand.
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RELATED: Takeaways from Opening Day's 2025 prospects
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2022 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2023 Rankings: Rivals150
2024 Rankings: Top 40
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Gehrig Normand impresses
Normand had a very good weekend at Opening Day, hitting shots from all over the floor, both while stationary and while moving. He possesses a very fluid-looking shot and rose up with confidence from the outside. The 2023 prospect is also a springy athlete. He had some very powerful dunks off of backdoor lobs and met attempting dunkers at the rim on more than one occasion. Normand has an offer from Kansas State and a handful of mid-major schools.
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Jalen Shelley projects as a top prospect
Shelley, a 2024 wing, was one of the most intriguing prospects in the building this weekend. The scariest part of it all is that he just transitioned to basketball full time, as he was also a standout wide receiver. The 6-foot-8 forward passes the eye test right away, and possesses a good looking left-handed jumper. Shelley’s IQ and energy level are great to pair with his natural gifts. He processes the game at a high level, always making correct reads, and he has impressive passing and ballhandling skills for his size. Shelley is a prospect that could easily crack the Rivals rankings with a strong AAU season. He doesn’t currently have any offers, but he holds interest from Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Oklahoma State, Washington and TCU.
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Aric Demings is a player to watch
Demings, a 2023 guard, has gained a lot of attention after having a monstrous game against Montverde Academy, and he continued his strong play this weekend. Demings dictated the pace of play and did a great job of commanding Urban DFW’s offense. He was constantly able to turn the corner on his defender, get paint touches and absorb contact in the lane. Demings’ ability to always make winning plays at both ends stood out above anything else. Demings holds offers from Loyola Marymount, Texas Rio-Grande Valley and Morgan State.
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Dink Pate shows flashes
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it was a very rough weekend for Pate, who was playing up on the 17U level. With that being said, Pate has the most natural gifts of anyone in attendance. He’s a great athlete with a great build, very good shot mechanics and advanced vision for someone his age at his position. The flashes were there. He put his head on the rim multiple times, had very acrobat finishes around the rim and showed the ability to consistently make the right reads. The upside and potential is definitely there, but he failed to have a huge impact on any of the games in which he appeared. The production should come once he settles into playing at the 17U level, but it was a tough first weekend for the four-star wing. Pate holds offers from Arizona, Houston, LSU, Ole Miss, TCU, Texas A&M and more.
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Most notable commit: Drew Steffe
Steffe, a Rivals150 Texas Tech pledge, was running the show for Pro Skills this weekend, and it’ll be interesting to see where his lead guard skills end up by the end of the summer. Steffe’s a natural shooter, but he was running the show a lot this weekend. The four-star guard made plays at the defensive end and showed off a nice-looking outside jumper.