"Three-Level Heat and Clamps on the Wing"

Zeballos Aulenbach

@zebaulenbach5

6'7, Class of 2027

Experience Prep, TN

Zeballos can get a bucket from all three levels, but what I like about this two-way wing is how much he can give you when the ball goes somewhere else. He can guard multiple positions, mix it up on the boards, and make plays for his teammates. Give him room, and he can make you pay with his jumper. Close out hard, and he can attack off the bounce, get into his middy, or take it to the rim. Send help, and there’s a teammate he can bring into the play. That’s where his versatility gets fun to watch because the first option can get taken away and he still has ways to make that possession count.

Last season gave him a better feel for what it takes to compete at a high level on a consistent basis. It’s one thing to show what you can do when everything is clicking. It’s another to give your team something it can count on when the jumper feels off, or the game comes at you faster than you expected. That experience mattered to him because he came out of it with a better idea of what he wants his game to look like from one night to the next. He wants to be steady enough for his team to know what it’s getting and versatile enough to give it whatever the game calls for.

Confidence and shooting are two areas where he feels he’s made his biggest improvement. Those improvements go hand in hand for a wing who can attack more than one way. When he trusts his shot, he can rise when the opening is there. Once defenders have to respect that, he can use their momentum to get past the closeout and force the help to make a choice. That’s where his growth as a more versatile player shows up. He can trust himself to take the look he’s earned or stay with the play long enough to find a better one for somebody else.

When I asked him about adversity, his answer came back to patience. He believes that staying patient will pay off, and I like that answer because it tells you how he looks at his own growth. Confidence can take time to catch up to the hours you’ve put in, especially when you’re adding things to your game and trying them against tougher competition. He’s willing to give himself that time and stick with it. That patience gives him room to take on a bigger challenge without expecting everything to fall into place on the first day.

That bigger challenge is what led him to Experience Prep. He wanted to test himself, develop his game, and compete at a higher level, and he saw a fit in a program that would give him a chance to do all three. He’s just getting started there, and he already knows what he wants out of the move. He wants the competition to bring more out of him, and he wants his new team to feel what he brings in games that matter. The fit works both ways for him. Experience Prep gives him a place to push himself, and he comes in looking for ways to help the team win while he grows into his role.

His offseason focus covered shooting, ball handling, strength, conditioning, and athleticism. He stayed consistent and found time for extra reps whenever he could. I like how those areas fit together for a wing. A tighter handle will help him get to the spot where he wants to shoot. More strength will help him hold his line when a defender gets into his body. Better conditioning can help him get back on defense after a long offensive possession and still have his legs when the ball comes back to him late in the game. He put time into skills he can use together, and that can make a difference when the game asks him to do more than one thing on the same trip.

Ask him what gets overlooked in his game, and he’ll point straight to his defense and what he can do without scoring. That stood out to me because he takes pride in the little things that can swing a game. A good defensive possession can start with getting a ball handler to give it up and end with putting a body on somebody so the team can get the rebound. The shot that falls at the other end might get the attention, but that stop is what gave his team a chance to get it. He understands the value of those plays, and that gives his coaches another reason to trust him when the game gets tight.

His goals are to have a successful season, become a more complete player, help Experience Prep win, and earn a DI scholarship. I like that his team has a place in the goals he set for himself. He can chase that scholarship while making a teammate’s job easier, and there’s plenty of room for those two things to go together. His family, his goals, and his dreams fuel his fire. That’s what he carries with him into a new program, where the chance to challenge himself is the very thing he came looking for.

I like his potential as a second-side attacker. When a teammate draws help on the first drive and the ball swings to him, he has the tools to make that advantage count before the defense gets set again. A quick catch-and-rip can get him past a late closeout, and a controlled stop gives him a good option if the defender at the rim steps up early. That’s a spot where his feel for when to go and when to move the ball can make the whole group harder to guard.

There’s real value in a wing who can help his team get into transition without waiting for an outlet. When he comes down with a clean board, his ability to take the first few dribbles himself can buy a teammate time to get ahead of the defense. If a defender steps up to stop him, an early pass can put that teammate in position to finish. That’s a way his tools can come together and give Experience Prep easier baskets while giving him room to grow as a decision-maker in the open floor.