Recruiting Report: Haden Deaton (2017)
McCutcheon walked into the year with high hopes of being one of the better teams in the state. They have more than a few good players this season. Junior Haden Deaton is one of them and he thinks they are…
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Continue ReadingMcCutcheon walked into the year with high hopes of being one of the better teams in the state. They have more than a few good players this season. Junior Haden Deaton is one of them and he thinks they are only starting to how good they can be.
After an early season loss to Lafayette Jeff in the J&C Hoops Classic, McCutcheon had to do a little bit of a reboot but since then have knocked off 15 wins and only 2 losses. They are the #9 team in the 4A AP Poll and head into this weekend with a chance to win the North Central Conference Championship if they can knock off Marion and either Logansport or Arsenal Tech.
“I think we have had a great season,” Deaton said. “We had a tough beginning in the J&C Classic and losing to (Lafayette) Jeff and in the Hall of Fame I think we showed to who was the 5th or 6th ranked team in the state. I think we are showing people how good we really are.”
A big reason for their success has been the improvement of Deaton. He’s taken big steps forward in his production and efficiency this season. With about 15 points per game, Deaton is shooting about the same the field but significantly better from behind the arc at 39%. Haden has also seen an uptick in his rebounding numbers and has become a better passer this season.
“It has gone really well,” Deaton said about his improvement behind the arc. “Being able to shoot the three a lot better than I was last year opens up a lot more things. They come out and guard and I can go dribble-drive and I think that has expanded my game a lot.”
He made some coaches take notice this past year for McCutcheon and on the AAU circuit with Grassroots Indiana.
Indiana Wesleyan, Indiana Tech. SE Louisiana State, and Alabama-Huntsville are a few of the schools he has had show interest so far. He’s been on campus to a few of them including Indiana Wesleyan.
“I love their team chemistry,” Haden said of the Marion, Indiana campus. “They seem like a great group of guys that really go out there and play really hard for each other every night and it really reminds me of us. I think we really have great team chemistry and it reflects back on them and their coaching staff is really, really great.”
Schools really like his size and skill but maybe most of all his work ethic. At 6’4 and growing, Deaton is very aggressive and understands how to play defense and create opportunities, a trait of many players from McCutcheon. Deaton represents a high-floor player and that is mainly due to his work ethic and aggressiveness.
The high school season is coming to a close but McCutcheon and Haden Deaton are getting better and ready to take on all teams. First up is the NCC Tournament this weekend. Next, the State Tournament.