The 2026 Pangos Frosh/Soph Camp series got underway with the West being the first of four stops across the country. This regional underclass-oriented camp that began over 20 years ago in the West featured some outstanding front court talent. The 2029 and 2030 classes in the West were well represented at McBride (Long Beach, Calif.), with a versatile forward standing out from the pack.
Each year at the Pangos Frosh/Soph Camps, some of the nations’ best young talent is on display as they begin their journey of participating in elite grassroots events. The fall calendar for high school teams in Southern California is a full one and there is never a dull moment it seems. There are events every weekend, but plenty of the West Region’s elite talent was able to attend the event and the reality of the cramped calendar also created opportunities for new blood.
What separated the elite players from the pack of 160 participants from nine states was talent, but what separated the Most Outstanding Player from other elites was consistency. Perhaps there were players more physically talented or with a bit more long term upside, but the player who exemplified what it takes to put his stamp on a showcase camp such as the Pangos All-West Frosh-Soph was 6-foot-7 2029 Kaleb Banfield of CIA Bell Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.), a program that will enter 2026-27 as the defending FAB 50 national champion.
Banfield is new to the American grassroots and high school setting, but came to camp quite prepared and confident, thank you very much. He scored with a variety of moves around the basket, utilized a terrific face-up game and kept defenders hapless with timely outside shooting. Quite frankly, no one in camp came close to the Branson, Ontario (Canada) native’s overall package of smarts, ability and knowing how to play the game “the right way”.
“I was very confident coming in and I feel like when we came here with a chance to do our thing, we’d do it,” Banfield said of his talented high school teammates.
Banfield came to the Valley of the Sun in August and left the camp with three-game averages of 27 ppg (38-of-54 from the field), 19.7 rpg and 3.3 apg. In the Creme of the Crop Top 30 All-Star Game designed for the most deserving campers, Banfield finished with 14 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals among 14 players who entered the box sheet with seven in double-digit scoring.
Leading the way for the winning White-jersey wearing club was Banfield’s teammate at CIA Bella Vista, 6-foot-2 2030 (freshman) Harlem Noel Graham, who earned game co-MVP honors by canning four 3-pointers in a five-minute span to spark his team to a 134-105 victory over the Black-Jersey Wearing Clubs. He shared MVP honors with 6-foot-7 2029 Cuneyt Demirozu of Campbell Hall (North Hollywood, Calif.) via Turkey. A strong wing with a good outside shot, he finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers.
The international impact of high school basketball hit full circle when CIA Bell Vista won the 2026 FAB 50 national title by capturing the EYBL Scholastic Tournament and Chipotle Nationals with a roster full of international talent, from six different countries to be specific. It looks like if and when the Bears challenge for the national title in future seasons it will once again rely on international players. Nine players from the program were chosen for the camp’s top all-star game and no less than 11 players were considered among the camp’s top 30 performers.
- Besides Banfield and Graham, other program standouts in attendance included Sierra Leone native, 6-foot-10, 240-pound 2029 Benjamin Davies, arguably the top true post player in attendance. The others that would fit into that category were 6-foot-8 2029 Roman Felix of San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno, Calif.), the son of former NBA player Noel Felix, and 6-foot-9 2030 Leo Morrow-Brown of Crean Lutheran (Irvine, Calif.) via Nottingham in Great Britain by way of the Ontario London Basketball Academy in Canada.
Only one 2031 prospect was chosen for either of the two all-star games and that was CIA Bella Vista’s Alijah Alexander, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound rebounding phenom from Canada who just turned 14 in August. Alexander already has a terrific size to skill ratio and was probably the participant with the best long term upside.
6’8 ’29 Roman Felix of San Joaquin Memorial (CA)/ Oakland Soldiers brought level of intensity up every game at @FCPPangos All West Frosh/Soph.Constant offensive rebounding threat,played through contact on both ends,&produced.
More #Pangos on @Ballislifehttps://t.co/LxTbopG3Hv pic.twitter.com/ruW9tuoRLj
— Rodger Bohn (@rodgerbohn) September 14, 2026
Among 2030 players that title goes to Morrow-Brown and 6-foot-11 big man Logan Kish of Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.). Kish was arguably the best rim protector in attendance and more importantly, didn’t do anything on the court he wasn’t capable of as a relatively novice of the game. His vast improvement over the last eight months to a year impressed the national scouts in attendance.
Cream of the Crop Learning Lessons
Contrary to last year’s all-star games that were perhaps the best set of Cream of the Crop games ever played in the camp’s 20-year plus history, this year’s games didn’t quite live up to their advance billing. With so many players in the same talent range, there was eager anticipation for the Cream of the Crop Top 30 and Top 60 All-Star games to act as separators.
They didn’t.
The Black Jersey wearing team quickly fell behind and lost its “Mojo”, trailing 69-37 at intermission and falling 134-102 in a contest that quite frankly wasn’t the evaluative setting hoped for going into the camp’s second day. It was a good lesson for young players to not forget about the fundamentals of always competing, executing crisp passing and post entry passes, picking up in transition and chipping away at a deficit with quality shots. The game was put in context and didn’t necessarily hurt anyone, but it certainly didn’t help any of the players on the Black Jersey wearing club.
The team’s leading scorer in a losing effort was 6-foot-2 2029 Judah Van Ewijk of Riordan (San Francisco, Calif.). He, along with camp veteran Phil Reed, a 6-foot-2 2029 from defending L.A. Cit Section champ Palisades, were the two best point guard in attendance.
Van Ewijk, who scored a team-high 17 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists, was disappointed in the team performance but took the lesson to heart.
“I need to do a better job of keeping my teammates involved,” Van Ewijk said. “I was trying but it was hard. I have to get the game to slow down and work on becoming a more efficient shooter.”
Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
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