Recruiting Report: Trystan Pratapas (2016)

<h2>Trystan Pratapas</h2>It’s been an eventful four months for Trystan Pratapas, since we last talked to him in March his recruitment has continued to swell, and he switched schools, he'll even be in a different state next season. In June Pratapas was invited to ELEV8 Basketball Academy in Delray, Florida for a visit, he liked it so much he decided to enroll. It’s not just ELEV8 that has taken a keen interest in the 6-foot-5 guard, but some new interest has come his way from the Ivy League, and a variety of other Division I and Division II programs. “It’s been the same kind of schools showing interest, and I’ve picked up a couple new ones like Dartmouth, Columbia and a couple other Ivy League schools. No one's offered me yet, I’ve talked to a couple Division II schools as well that have really, really shown interest in me; Hillsdale College (MI) and Palm Beach Atlantic (FL),” said Pratapas. “I’m planning on taking a couple visits in August, I’m planning on maybe visiting UNC-Greensboro, and then North Florida or maybe Florida International in Florida since I’m going to be down there. I’ll be reaching out to them because they haven’t really seen me yet.” Over the past year he’s seen a slew of interest come his way from high-major D1s to D2s, we asked him to whittle a list of the three schools he feels are most seriously recruiting him. “The three that are most interested Division I-wise are Air Force, Dartmouth, and Georgia Southern. We talk a lot and text throughout the week, and they all catch up with me every couple weeks.” He improved his stock this offseason while playing his 17U ball with District Basketball Club, and says he improved his leadership and ball-handling. “I thought I really improved vocally, I was way more vocal on the floor and I had some people tell me they liked the way I was communicating and that it was a big step that they thought I made since the last time they saw me play,” he said. “I also thought that I handled the ball a lot more for my team this summer, so I was creating more for my team and creating more for other than I normally do, so I thought those were the things I really improved this offseason.” In June he visited ELEV8 in Delray, FL, where he will spend his last season of ball before embarking on a college journey -- he’s leaving Georgetown Prep to attend the renowned Florida academy. “In April they (ELEV8) watched me play, then they contacted me and asked me to take a visit, and I did and I really, really loved it. I just think they’re going to have so many more coaches coming through, and so many more different people coming through to watch us play, so I thought it would be a really good fit for me,” said Pratapas. “We have a lot really good pieces, hopefully we all put it together, we’re going to play in a lot of national tournaments.” <h2>March 24, 2015</h2>One of 2016s fast-rising prospects Trystan Pratapas has seen his already heavy recruitment ramp-up as he heads into his important 17U grassroots season. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard has been receiving interest from plenty of Division I schools across the east coast and has added some more to the list since we last talked to him in February. PHM’s 68th-ranked 2016, Pratapas recently began practice with District Basketball Club and says the goal is for he and his teammates to pick up as much exposure as possible this summer. “We’re really meshing, we have some really quick guards that can beat guys off the dribble and some good shooters, and two really big guys -- they’re really good, they’re bangers and good finishers down low,” said Pratapas. “So I think we have have some nice pieces to win some games this AAU season.” “Making it to Sunday, those end games when everyone is watching is the goal, so we can get the guys on the team as much exposure as we can.” Pratapas already had been receiving interest from Wake Forest, Cornell, Holy Cross, Quinnipiac and Yale -- he’s added some new names to that list, including a Big Ten power. “Within the last week Lehigh, Georgia Southern, Furman, Army, Wake Forest and Michigan have been in touch. It’s been mostly texts, they’ve gotten my number and have reached out to me,” he said. Michigan assistant coach Jeff Meyer went as far as to call the talented junior's high school coach. “He said that in 2016 they are really going to be looking for some guys that can really shoot it and they’re really excited to start the recruiting process and to watch me this summer. They’ve heard a lot about me from people in the area and my high school coach and AAU coach so I’m really excited,” said Pratapas. “It’s really crazy because I always talk about Michigan and Wisconsin being my dream schools because those are my two favorite schools -- it (Michigan) just seems like a great place and I really like their style and everything, so it’s pretty crazy.” <h2>February 20, 2015</h2>With a slew of Division I interest, a summer with a new AAU team quickly approaching, and his team’s post-season currently in session, Georgetown Prep 2016 Trystan Pratapas has a lot on his plate. The talented shooting guard has had his share of success this season with the Little Hoyas, but Pratapas explained to PHM that it hasn’t come easy. “Night-in and night-out I’m heavily guarded by the other team’s better defensive players and it’s really hard because they don’t want me to get a catch,” he said. “So I’m working extremely hard off screens to get open looks for us to try and score the ball.” He’s averaging 14 points per game this season and has made 67 3-pointers at a 45 percent clip, and at 6-foot-3 he says he’s able to create open looks for himself. “I’m a good shooter I can really shoot the ball, I really like to create my own shot with some ball fakes and some one and two dribble pull-ups,” said Pratapas. “I feel like I’m a really good passer and I can find my guys really, really well.” With decent size and great shooting, the talented junior is confident in his offensive abilities at the next level -- it’s his defense that he’d like to try and perfect. “In Division I basketball every guy is just as talented as everyone’s best players in high school,” said Pratapas. “So it’s going to be a challenge defending other shooting guards and trying to defend everyone on the court at that one, two or three position.” He’ll hone his defensive skills this offseason while playing with the newly-formed District Basketball Club, a partly Adidas sponsored team. “I really want to win some big tournaments and have our team play really well in front of some college coaches this summer,” said Pratapas, who has already been spotted by a number of D1 programs. “Wake Forest was in touch with me last week, Cornell has been in touch with me a lot, Holy Cross, Bucknell, Yale and Quinnipiac have been in touch with me the most,” he said. He has taken an unofficial visit to Cornell and had a couple workouts with the Big Red, and he hopes to make it to the other interested schools sooner than later. “I really want to visit Bucknell, they’ve been wanting me to come visit for awhile,” said Pratapas. “And we’ll see, I hope those other schools invite me to visit.”