From serving as an eighth-grade captain on St. Albans’ JV team to playing for Next Level, one of the nation’s best 2030 clubs, Bear looks comfortable against top competition. At The Spotlight, he made stops on defense, made plays between the lines, and helped create scoring opportunities at the other end.

His strength stood out most on defense. Wherever dodgers tried to go, he used his upper body to steer them away from dangerous areas. His crosscheck brought to mind recent UMD commit Noah Brown, especially when defending near the goal line and on the island. That strength carried through to his stick, too. Trying to get past it was like pushing on a door marked “pull.” Dodgers weren’t going anywhere—he shut off topside against lefties and underneath against righties. Bear was quick off the ground and showed enough offensive feel that it wouldn’t surprise me to see him get some varsity reps at Landon next year. He scored off a rebound in the game I watched and did an excellent job drawing defenders before moving the ball. On one play, he collected another high rebound and stepped into a shooting motion, pulling multiple defenders toward him before dumping it inside to a wide-open Jeremy Julio for a slick twister dunk.