Fab 40 Middle School Showcase Top Performers (Part 1)

[Jacksonville, NC] — The annual Fab 40 Middle School Showcase brought out some of the top middle schoolers from Eastern North Carolina this past Saturday. Anthony Bruton does a great job every year on bringing in talent to Jacksonville for the day and I was lucky enough to be there and got a good head start on some of the younger talent in the state. Below is the first part of my top performers list. Photo: Fab 40 MS Showcase [Rodmick Allen] | [Wilmington, NC] | [Class of 2025] Allen took home MVP honors after leading his team to a 2-0 record on the day. Allen was by far the most dominant player at the event on Saturday and showed why he is a promising lead guard in the state of North Carolina. He is an excellent passer and was distributing dimes to his teammates all day long. When his team needed a bucket, he was able to score and showed that he has deep range on his jumper. Allen finished with an average of 14 points and 5 assists on the day. Currently standing at 5’10, Allen reminds me a lot of DeLonnie Hunt who is currently a freshman at Wagner.   Photo: Fab 40 MS Showcase [Howard Herbert] | [Fayetteville, NC] | [Class of 2025] Herbert stood out right away because of his size and frame standing at 6’1. Herbert was the third leading scorer on the day averaging 11.5 points per game. He showed that he can score the ball at all three levels as he was unstoppable attacking the rim largely because of his strength and size advantage he had over everybody else. He is a confident shooter and can shoot it well from the perimeter and showed that he will be scary getting out in transition at the next level. His size allows him to have a lot of versatility on defense and guard multiple positions.   Photo: Fab 40 MS Showcase [Mason Dobie] | [Kill Devil Hills, NC] | [Class of 2025] Nobody scored the basketball better than Dobie on Saturday and was a no brainer for “Best Scorer” on the day. Dobie averaged 14 points on the day but what stood out the most was how efficient he was as he finished at 78% from the field. Another thing that really stood out was his activity when the ball was not in his hands, as he was constantly moving to get open. By the time Dobie finishes his high school career, it will be fun to see how many points he scores because his jumper is extremely smooth and you think it is going in whenever he shoots the ball. Dobie is currently 6’0.   Photo: Fab 40 MS Showcase [Zeus Batts] | [Wilmington, NC] | [Class of 2025] Batts took home the award for “Best Defender” on the day as he was a constant threat on that side of the ball all day long. Batts who is 5’10, plays with that “dog” mentality which helps keep the energy high for his team. Batts is shifty and quick which allows him to stay in front of defenders well. Whoever he was guarding was not getting a lot of offensive production on the day. Offensively, he ran the offense well for his team and displayed some nice passes.   Photo: Fab 40 Middle School Showcase [Trevor Best] | [Wilson, NC] | [Class of 2025] Trevor has a bright future as he showed some good potential at the lead guard spot. He has a good handle and can get past his defenders with ease. He is a confident shooter and is not afraid to shoot it from anywhere on the court. The next step in his progression will be learning to make the right decision. Once he understands when to do what, Best will be one of the better lead guards in Eastern North Carolina.   Stay tuned for more from Prep Hoops Next!