As he has watched the players on his team recently, DFW Elite Director Corey Hedgewood keeps having flashbacks to 2012.
These aren’t just glimpses. A decade has passed, yet Hedgewood is seeing the exact same thing he saw in 2012 when a program that has won just about every major event hit its zenith.
“The only thing that this team is really comparable to is 2012,’’ said Hedgewood, whose program is based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but also draws players from throughout the rest of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. “We are built around crafty young guards that should carry us and make us very competitive on the national level.’’
Although DFW Elite has plenty of talent from the Class of 2023 and in the frontcourt, its real strength will be from youth in the backcourt. The team will be coached by Zoderick Green and Hedgewood said that he and Green expect to be competitive on a national level.
DFW Elite’s 17-and-under team will be headlined by a member of the Class of 2025. That’s Vivian Franklin, a 5-foot-7 combo guard who is ranked No. 60 in the nation in the Class of 2025 by All-Star Girls Report.
“She played on our 17s team last year as an eight grader,’’ Hedgewood said. “She’s just a lights-out shooter from anywhere on the floor.’’
Franklin will be joined in the backcourt by classmate Ruke Ogbevire, who is new to the DFW Elite program. She’s a 5-9 combo guard, who is ranked No. 188 in the Class of 2025 by ASGR.
“She’s a great scorer,’’ Hedgewood said. “And I think she’s going to turn a lot of heads this summer.’’
Franklin and Ogbevire are both on the radar of most Power 5 programs. He said the same is true of guards Kendall Robinson and Shunteria Anumele, both members of the Class of 2024.
Robinson is a 5-10 combo guard and Hedgewood had high praise for her as he, once again, reflected on his program’s past.
“She reminds me a lot of Odyssey Sims,’’ Hedgewood said.
If you follow women’s basketball even remotely, you almost surely have heard of Sims. She starred for four years at Baylor and currently plays for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream. Sims is just one of many former DFW Elite players to go on to star in college and professionally.
The list also includes Brittney Griner, Moriah Jefferson, Aaliyah Wilson, Alexis Morris, Brianna Turner, Tearia McCowan, Chennedy Carter and Endyia Rogers.
Hedgewood said Franklin, Ogbevire, Anumele and Robinson all have a chance to join that list.
“Shunteria is a very crafty guard,’’ Hedgewood said. “She is an absolute wizard with the ball and has great ball-handling skills. She’s a table setter.’’
Hedgewood said DFW Elite has one other player that isn’t currently on the roster of its top team that could be a big factor before all is said and done. That’s 5-6 guard Jamari Milton. She is a member of the Class of 2026 and will begin the season on the Under-16 team.
“She’s one of the best scorers in our program right now,’’ Hedgewood said. “It’s quite possible we’ll move her up to the 17s team before the summer is over. We’ve got her in a plastic bag right now. We want her to dominate her age group before we let her into the big fish tank.’’