Recruiting Report: Darius McGhee (2018)
While many schools now seem reluctant to go with small guards, Blue Ridge is building a dynasty off of them, winning the VISAA Division Two State Championship in 2015 and following it up with a runner-up last season while starting…
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Continue ReadingWhile many schools now seem reluctant to go with small guards, Blue Ridge is building a dynasty off of them, winning the VISAA Division Two State Championship in 2015 and following it up with a runner-up last season while starting two point guards under 5’10”. With the departure of 5’8” Malik Johnson to Canisius, the Barons needed to replace the former state player of the year, and they did so with another 5’8” killer.
Darius McGhee is about the same height as his backcourt mate Josh Colon at Blue Ridge, but that doesn’t seem to both them too much.
“We’re both fast, and Josh is also a terrific shooter,” McGhee said. “We’ll just pressure the ball, run up and down the court and make shots. We can keep the flow of the game going that way.”
Watching them go at it in practice was fun to watch, as they laughed with each in between plays, but they were going at each other’s throats each time down the floor. They may be one of the smallest backcourts in the state, but there’s no question that they’ll compete with the best of them because of their quickness, toughness and the fact that they can both get busy when their team needs them to.
McGhee brings a skill set to the Blue Ridge backcourt that is useful for any team, and it’s that he can flat out score the basketball with the best of them. Last season at Roxboro Community High School in North Carolina, he broke the NC state single season scoring record, averaging 36.4 points per game, dropping 50 or more on four occasions and 40 or more on 12 occasions.
Darius McGhee was the third leading scorer in the nation last season.
Despite his size, McGhee is super explosive with a 44 inch vertical, and he can let it go from anywhere in the gym as well. While he he knows he had a great season, he doesn’t get overwhelmed with the accolades or attention, and instead says he was focusing on what was best for his team.
“Last year, all my teammates seemed to be very passive, so I was just trying to create shots and make shots, but not in a selfish way,” McGhee said. “They were just willing to give up the ball a lot and they asked me to shoot the ball a lot and I did it.”
His season was one that caught the eye of a number of division one colleges, including High Point, Campbell and East Carolina. He put on a scoring display in the BooPlex Jamboree the other weekend where Blue Ridge went 3-0, and he fits into the Blue Ridge system well with his ability to pressure ball handlers and knock down the three ball off the bounce.
Whether he’s needed to score 30 points per game or just handle pressure and distribute the basketball, McGhee is excited about what they have at Blue Ridge, and is focused on just bringing whatever he can to a talented group to help them win.
“Just bringing good spirits and versatility,” McGhee said about what he can bring to the Barons. “I want to help out the seniors Josh [Colon] and Aamir [Simms]. Those are two players I really like to play with. Josh is a good ball handler, works out of the pick-and-roll, is a great passer. Aamir is one of the most versatile players I’ve every played with, just seeing him grabbing a board and going down court is just crazy.”
Blue Ridge has a talented group yet again, with the right mixture of size, versatility and firepower to be considered one of the favorites in the VISAA Division Two classification. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see them in Petersburg again this year, and it wouldn’t surprise us if McGhee played a big role in that as well.