The 9th annual Holiday Hoopsgiving took place right after Thanksgiving once again at Shiloh High School on November 25th & 26th. Teams from all over participated and it was a great 2 days of action as always. Here are 4 prospects from the event who aren’t household names but left lasting impressions with their performances.

6’3” Ryan Sabol (2023/Gonzaga)
Sabol isn’t a heavily recruited prospect like some of the others on Gonzaga, but he was very important to their success at Hoopsgiving. He averaged 11.5 PPG on 52.9% shooting from the field to help them get 2 nice victories against local Georgia teams, Pebblebrook and Etowah. Sabol gives Gonzaga another ball-handler and someone who can complement their other backcourt players well. He’s an effective outside shooter and is physical when he attacks off penetration. What I probably liked most from Sabol was his defensive effort on Saturday when Gonzaga faced Etowah. He took on the challenge of guarding an ACC signee and was solid in doing so. Sabol picked up the full length of the court, turning Etowah’s PG and making it hard for him to get loose; I thought it was a significant part in Gonzaga jumping out to a big early lead and keeping it. He’ll definitely be a name that coaches become more familiar with this winter given his two-way abilities.

6’7” Cannon Richards (2024/Kell)
There never have to be any guesses about what Richards is going to bring to the court. He’s the same guy every time out and gives maximum effort whenever I watch him. Most notable is his approach to rebounding and 50/50 balls. Richards pursues the ball with reckless abandon and doesn’t mind fighting through contact to gain possession. His effort on the glass always seems to make a positive impact and it resulted in 8 RPG at Hoopsgiving. He also averaged 15.5 PPG on the weekend. Richards has continued to enhance his shooting ability, expanding his range out to 3 and hitting 12-15 foot jumpers with more consistency. The aforementioned rebounding ability creates easy putbacks for him and Richards is a reliable catcher on drop-offs & when running in transition. His presence has been steady so far this year and I don’t expect it to stop.

6’1” Elijah Lewis (2024/Greenforest)
The Greenforest backcourt of Lewis, Isaiah Lloyd, and Michael Robinson have all had good moments in notable events through the first month of the season. I liked what Lewis did at Hoopsgiving in particular, averaging 14 PPG for them against Kell and Wasatch. He is very confident and aggressive on both sides of the ball. He is pesky on defense, fast in transition, and a capable scorer in the halfcourt. Lewis gets good elevation on his jumper and is starting to prove himself as a guy who can heat up quickly & score in bunches. He knows what he wants to do and gets right to it. As he becomes more efficient and his game continues to mature, look for Lewis to gain a reputation around the Atlanta area.

6’0” Nazir Griffin (2023/Shiloh)
Now back at Shiloh after leaving the state last year, Griffin is making the most of his opportunities early in the 2022-23 season. He played with a lot of energy in both of the General’s games at Hoopsgiving, proving to be a big part in their 2-0 weekend. He scored 14 points in each game and was impactful on defense as usual too, averaging 3 SPG. Griffin has quick hands & feet defending on the ball; he uses this to ignite transition and attack in the open court with speed. I like his fearless approach as he gets to the paint and will try to finish or make something happen regardless of who is in his way. The competitiveness and intensity that Griffin brings gives him a good chance at being impactful in just about any game. Shiloh will have quality matchups and chances to be seen the rest of the year; Griffin will continue to open eyes if he maintains this level of production.