Top 10 national recruits Caleb Holt, Bruce Branch III, Christian Collins to star at 10th Crush in the Valley

Florida national power Prolific Prep returns to home base in Napa to host star-studded event that also includes showdown of future Stanfords stars Julius Price, Elias Obenyah

Prolific Prep junior guard Nasir Anderson with a throw down early in the 2025-26 season. / Photo by Jeff Klein

NAPA, Calif. — The always entertaining Crush in the Valley Showcase returns to Napa Valley College this weekend as does the organization which originally created it.

Prolific Prep, which after 11 seasons moved from Napa to Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) last spring, is the No. 1 team in the High School On SI national boys basketball computer and human rankings.

The Link, who feature two national top 10 2026 recruits in 6-foot-5 guard Caleb Holt and 6-7 guard Bruce Branch III, return to California to play three games, including a Saturday tilt against national No. 6 Bella Vista College Prep out of Scottsdale (Ariz.), which feature's the national No. 21 senior recruit in Jaxon Richardson, a 6-6 small forward.

Prolific Prep senior guard Bruce Branch III hopes to make his mark at the Crush in the Valley Showcase at Napa Valley College Jan. 23-25. / Photo by Jeff Klein

SATURDAY SCHEDULE

9 a.m. — Fortune Early College-Sacramento (11-5) vs. Fremont-Oakland (11-7)

10:45 a.m. — Brave Christian-Dublin (16-4) vs. Vanden-Fairfield (16-5)

12:30 p.m. — Clovis North (14-9) vs. Moreau Catholic-Hayward (16-3)

Moreau Catholic's Isaiah Clendinen (4) had 16 points in Monday's win over Palma. / Photo by Sam Stringer

2:15 p.m. — DNA Prep vs. Southeastern Prep (27-8)

4 p.m. — Riordan-San Francisco (14-1) vs. Modesto Christian (14-5)

6 p.m. — Bella Vista Academy (13-2) vs. Prolific Prep (21-3)

7:45 p.m. — Salesian-Richmond (18-2) vs. St. Joseph-Santa Maria (22-2)

Julius Price goes in for an empatic slam dunk during his team's decisive win over De La Salle at the 28th MLK Classic on Jan. 19, 2026 / Photo by Sam Stringer

9:30 p.m. — St. John Bosco-Bellflower (17-5) vs. St. Mary's-Berkeley (12-7)

MAJOR STAR POWER

Prolific Prep, coached by Ryan Bernadi, will likely boast the first two picks of the 2026 NBA Draft in alums Darryn Peterson, a 6-6 point guard from Kansas, and BYU 6-9 forward A.J. Dybantsa.

Peterson starred on the Link last season, not only leading the Link to a 35-6 season and Chipotle National semifinal berth, but also a 69-52 win over Dream City Christian at the same Crush in the Valley Showcase. Peterson had 27 points in that game that was played at Contra Costa College in San Pablo.

Prolific Prep's Darryn Peterson goes up for two of his game-high 27 points in last season's win over Dream City. / Photo: Greg Jungferman

• 2025 CRUSH IN THE VALLEY | Live updates summary

Dybantsa was on the 2023-24 Prolific Prep team before transferring to Utah Valley Prep. He played in the 2024 Crush in the Valley Showcase but was injured in the third quarter and didn't return. Led by current Washington Husky standout Zoom Diallo, the Link won the premier game of the Crush in the Valley, 83-79. Remarkably, Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 player in the Class of 2026, was also on that Prolific Prep team. He's now at Rainier Beach (Seattle, Wash.) after his junior season at Notre Dame Sherman Oaks.

• 2024 CRUSH IN THE VALLEY | Live updates summary

The 2025-26 Link, 21-3 after a 91-52 win over DNA Prep (Calif.), are also filled with loads of talent.

CURRENT LINK BLUE CHIPPERS

Holt, ranked No. 4 by 247Sports, is up to 22 college offers and according to 247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein: "is physically imposing on the perimeter with a terrific combination of length, strength, athleticism, speed, and a wealth of intangibles. He’s competitive, plays hard, and imposes his will on both ends of the floor. He also has good perimeter size at 6-foot-5-plus with a 6-foot-9 wingspan." He appears to be leaning toward Arizona or Houston, but don't count out Kentucky or Arkansas.

Branch, ranked No. 6, also has 22 offers but his recruitment is all over the map. According to Finkelstein: "Branch is a big wing who is long and skilled with developing guard skills. His shooting is a legitimate, and still ascending, weapon. He leans back into his shot more so than he does rise up, but his release is very fluid."

Bruce Branch III is long and so is his shooting range. / Photo by Jeff Klein

Other top senior recruits for the Link are Kansas-bound 6-9 center Davion Adkins and 6-9 power forward Alex Smith (Ohio State), ranked No. 68 and 119 respectively by 247Sports. Teammate Nasir Anderson, a 6-4 point guard, is the No. 8 national recruit from the Class of 2027, and Draydne McDaniel, a 6-7 forward, is one of the top freshmen in the country.

MORE HEADLINERS

* The other biggest name in the showcase is St. John Bosco 6-8 power forward Christian Collins, who doesn't play until the final game of the night, scheduled at 9:30 p.m. against St. Mary's-Albany. Collins is ranked No. 9 in in the country and has 23 offers with USC, UCLA, Kentucky, Alabama and Arizona in strong contention.

St. John Bosco's Christian Collins goes over three Eastvale Roosevelt players 12-30-2024. / Photo: Heston Quan

* More nationally ranked players in the event include (ranked by 247Sports): No. 27 PF Tony Bryant (Southeastern Prep, Missouri signee), No. 88 PG Julius Price (St. Joseph, Stanford); No. 99 CG Elias Obenyah (Salesian, Stanford).Other state-ranked:No. 15 CG Andrew Hilman (Riordan, USF); No. 16 C JP Pihtovs (Riordan); No. 28 SF Joustin Reyes (DNA Prep)

Stanford-signee Julius Price with two of his 16 points helping the Knights to a 19-point victory over host De La Salle on Monday at the MLK Classic. / Photo by Sam Stringer

* Along with three top 10 national players, there are four top 10 California teams in action, with two of them squaring off against one another: No. 6 St. Joseph versus Salesian in a rematch of the game played last season. St. Joseph won that won going away, 76-67 as Price (16 points) and Gunner Morinini (4 three-pointers, 14 points) led a big second-half surge after Salesian took a quick lead in the third quarter. Salesian's Obenyah and Carlton Perrilliat Jr. each carried Salesian with 20 points and lead the Pride on the payback tour. It's very likely that St. Joseph will return to the Northern California tournament — last season it was placed in the South — so this very well could determine the No. 1 seed in about six weeks.

Salesian senior Elias Obenyah goes up for two of his game-high 26 points during a 74-62 win over Modesto Christian in the 28th MLK Classic at De La Salle on Jan. 19, 2026 / Photo by Sam Stringer

* Salesian was originally scheduled to play St. John Bosco, however when the teams met at the Damien Classic in December, a 61-58 Salesian win, all parties agreed to switch it up. St. Mary's, originally supposed to play St. Joseph, will now play Bosco.

* What gives the Salesian-St. Joseph matchup some extra juice is that fact that each team's leading scorers — Price and Obenyah — will be teammates next season at Stanford.

* The other premier high school game is Riordan versus Modesto Christian. This also has some significant postseason ramifications as both will likely be picked for the Northern California Open Division. Modesto Christian, led by junior guard Trevor Dickson (20.8 points per game), has somewhat of a score to setting having lost twice to Riordan over the years, 82-51 in 2020 and 55-41 in 2019. Riordan, with a very long, deep and talented bunch, would appear to have too much for the very young Modesto Christian team that boasts just one senior (6-3 guard Cole Martin) to go with three freshmen, three sophomores and five juniors. Riordan, the defending NorCal Open Division, has won 10 straight since its only defeat, 53-40 to Crean Lutheran on Dec. 11.

Riordan guard DJ Armstrong (1) dribbles through the San Joaquin Memorial defense / Photo by Sam Stringer