ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Nothing on the youth basketball calendar compares to the chaos of live-period showcases.
For three days, thousands of players, parents and coaches are jammed into one convention center for high-stakes, high-level basketball. Props to the Select Events managing crew for keeping a massive slate of games largely on schedule and under control from my point of view. One of my favorite parts about these showcases is seeing just how much the players competing truly love basketball. It was commonplace to find AAU foes watching other games during their downtime, either because they're familiar with the competition or because they simply wanted to see elite talent play.
I've unpacked my notebook on New England area prospects over the previous three days, but I've still got some extra notes left. Some of these involve non-New England takeaways, some look ahead to the fallout from a live period showcase, and some are simple fun quirks that I'll remember from this weekend.
Here are five leftover thoughts from my time in Atlantic City.
ATLANTIC CITY STANDOUTS: 2026 |Â 2027 | 2028 and 2029
Two must-see stars from outside the region
I made one exception to my New England-centric viewing last weekend, watching Virginia-based YKS and Pennsylvania-based SLAAM face off in the top 2026 pool Sunday afternoon. Both squads boasted nationally-ranked superstars who lived up to their pedigrees in a 58-51 YKS victory.
Micah Ojo (YKS), ESPN's seventh-ranked player in the 2027 class, is an ultra-athletic 6-foot-1 wing who can score at all three levels and create separation for herself. Some of the pull-up 3s looked way too easy for a player her size and age. She's getting offered by most of the powerhouse college programs, including South Carolina.
Across from her was 27th-ranked 2026 forward Mimi Thiero (SLAAM). I got to watch Thiero twice (also catching SLAAM's game against the Maine Firecrackers) and it feels like she can get to practically any deflection or block she wants. She's 6-foot-4 and slender with super long arms and advanced instincts. Thiero is also sweeping up big-time offers such as Kentucky following the weekend.
Ojo and Thiero are two future college stars, and people who watched them in this setting should hold onto those memories.
An AAU first for me
Watching 10-plus consecutive hours of basketball is a work life I don't take for granted, but these weekends can still feel long for everyone. Sometimes you need a curveball, and we got one at about 7:15 p.m. Saturday night when the Atlantic City Convention Center fire alarms started blaring.
The current games were about halfway when the alarms went off. Hundreds of us filed out, confused, onto the outside road. I overheard one security guard say it was a false alarm. Then 20 minutes later, everyone was back and competing like nothing had happened. The teams in action got hit with an extra sprinkle of adversity, but fortunately there was no lasting impact – just a funny story.
Holding special court
The Atlantic City Showcase had more than 30 courts arranged for weekend basketball. But Courts 20 and 21 are the unwritten main event stages. These are situated in the middle of the convention center and the only true hardwood courts (the rest are a composite plastic-like material). The top teams had most or all of their games on courts 20 and 21, and these courts were frequently lined with college coaches.
Court 21 was especially intriguing, though, because of its design. It took me a minute, and I heard others figure it out quicker, but it's believed to be (working to confirm this) the Philadelphia 76ers' NBA Cup court from two years ago, with modified lines. Teams were definitely excited to play on the bright red surface.
The top local teams
Our Atlantic City Showcase recaps focused on individual standouts, but it's worth highlighting some of the teams that found success at the top levels.
MCW Starz's 2026 Power 24 squad went 3-1 and finished second in the 2026 Pool B; these pools are roughly arranged alphabetically by program strength, though it's an inexact science. Elsewhere in 2026: BCRI finished second (losing on the point-differential tiebreaker) and went 4-0 in Pool F, Bay State Jaguars E40 Gold (3-1) finished second in Pool J and Berkshire Reign (4-0) ended atop Pool L. Worcester Sting, RI Breakers and Bay State Jaguars E40 Bronze won their respective pools further down in the 2026 division.
The iBelieve Elite 2027 squad might have been the best relative to its peers, going 4-0 and winning the top 2027 Pool A. Team Sims also went 4-0 to prevail in Pool G and the Mass Huskies' Elzey National team finished 4-0 in Pool T.
Shooting Touch found success and won the 2028 Pool D with a 3-1 record. CT Northstars (Pool H) and Bay State Jaguars E40 Black (Pool J) each went 4-0 to win their groups.
Which colleges are targeting New England?
Live period weekends are worth monitoring because of the week that follows. We've already seen dozens of verbal offers announced on social media in just a few days— but some colleges in particular seem to be fixating on local prospects.
Stony Brook, as of Wednesday evening, had extended offers to Jae Scott (Bay State Jaguars/Wachusett) in the 2026 class; Kendra Foy (iBelieve Elite/Immaculate), Gabby Middleton (Bay State Jaguars/Newman) and Gracyn Barnes (Bay State Jaguars/Worcester Academy) in 2027 and Addison Brennan (iBelieve Elite/Wilbraham & Monson) in 2028. It's also worth noting the school offered two Mass Rivals (who played on the Adidas 3SSB circuit in Texas last weekend) players: Caterina Ravosa (Wilbraham & Monson) and Corinne Lomax (Tabor).
CAA rival Towson is also looking to New England, with offers handed out to 2026 stars Scott, Olivia Fleming (Mass Rivals/Northfield Mount Hermon) and Morgan Jenkins (Bay State Jaguars/Newman) as well as 2027 guard Zariah Ottley (Bay State Jaguars/Northfield Mount Hermon). Ottley and 2026 guard Bela Cucuta (iBelieve/Tilton) have each landed Iona verbal offers.
Don't read too much into this. Less than a week has passed, and different schools hand out offers at their own paces and quantities. Verbal offers, as I've written about extensively before, are complicated because they aren't tangible. It's simply interesting to watch what themes emerge as a viewer.
