Fan Guide: Five to Watch
The best players and prospects at 3A who don't play for Rainier Beach
Five players to watch at the WIAA State 3A Tournament who don’t play for Rainier Beach High School. The players I did not see in person, I watched on video.
Jaden Ghoreishi, Mt. Spokane (6-foot-9 senior center)
Last year’s Greater Spokane League MVP missed the entire 2025-26 GSL season after being diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs. He returned for the Wildcats’ 59-53 victory over Prairie in Round 2, delivering 15 points and 9 rebounds off the bench. The Colorado State commit moves well, has handles so can take the ball off the board and transport it up court or catch it at the elbows and short corner to attack. Ghoreishi is slender and a decent shot blocker, but opposing posts can use body contact to create space.
Justus Holt, Lincoln Tacoma (6-5 sophomore forward)
Like his playing style, Holt has been like a freight train coming down the stretch and sparking the Abes to a quarterfinal spot in the tournament. He scored 23 points during Lincoln’s 71-58 upset of O’Dea. At this stage of his young career, he is a Charles Barkley-type, undersized power player who really took on the Fight Irish’s physicality with zeal and aplomb. Holt has a solid body, is a good inside finisher who can maneuver off the bounce from the foul line, and is difficult to stop on downhill drives.
Tytan McNeal, Eastside Catholic (6-5 sophomore wing)
McNeal is arguably the best athlete in the state. He averages 17 points and 8 rebounds, and is the Metro League Sound Division’s defensive player of the year. Even more notably, he is the consensus national No. 1 tight-end prospect in the 2028 class, with offers from the likes of Arizona, BYU, Cal, Florida, and Miami. Not surprisingly, on a basketball court, McNeal is a hyperactive force who can hit the three, put the ball on the deck and make plays, defend straight up and patrol passing lanes for run-out dunks.
Davion Shareef-Dulaney, Lincoln Tacoma (6-3 sophomore combo guard)
You’d swear Shareef-Dulaney was a poor’s man version of RB freshman JJ Crawford. He has the same lanky, spring-loaded body, flowing locks, and fluid, twitchy game. He had 42 points and 20 rebounds against Mount Tahoma. Teammate Holt is getting most of the flowers for the Abes’ upset of O’Dea, but Shareef-Dulaney can be spectacular at both ends and, like Crawford, likes shooting the three in movement, either off the bounce or stepping back. He’s already been offered by WSU, Boise State, Montana.
Jackson Whitaker, Liberty (6-3 senior guard)
Whitaker is the tournament’s gas station attendant – he can fill ‘er up. The Seattle Pacific commit not only hit 43 points in a 79-69 win over Seattle Prep that put Liberty into the 3A bracket, he scored 52 in a 86-50 victory over Tennyson (Ca.), including 40 in the first half, has scored 2,000 career points, and averaged more than 25 points in his junior and senior seasons. He uses more change of speed and direction than explosion off the bounce, has a quick release spot-up three, is adept with either hand, and makes plays for his teammates.
MORE 3A FAN GUIDES
Watch Wednesday’s South Seattle Emerald for Beach’s “Family Business”