Prospect Spotloght: Justin Stephens (2019)

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Currently Ohio’s 27th-ranked 2019, Trotwood Madison center <strong>Justin Stephens</strong> is eager for his recruitment to begin, and could see a big bump with it as he heads into his 16U grassroots season. </span> He played with Team Flight last season, and will play with them again as he heads into his spring and summer. Stephens is hoping that’s when the recruitment begins. “I haven’t heard anything from college coaches yet, but I’m working on it,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot, worrying about whether colleges will come and see me, and if I’ll get enough exposure. That’s always something that you have to worry about as a player, is getting to that next level.” The Trotwood Madison standout considers shot-blocking and rebounding to be his best strengths, and made it very clear during our phone conversation that he’s a rigid team player. “I consider my strengths to be rebounding and blocking shots, and being there for my team when it’s really needed,” said Stephens. “And then making post moves when I get the ball in the post, and just making the easy shots.” The shot-blocking specialist elaborated on his prowess. “I focus on it a lot with my jumping, and I’m always in good position on help-side,” said Stephens. “Blocking shots used to just come naturally, but now I really work on it a lot too.” After a stellar freshman season with the Rams, Stephens is now an even more critical piece to the team. “Well my role is to rebound, block shots and get the easy points, and I just need to be there for the team,” said Stephens. “And now that I’m a veteran I need to be there for my team even more, and be more reliable than I was last year.”