Prospect Spotlight: Isiah James (2017)
With all the losses that Pike took after the last season with the departure of their starting backcourt and dynamic scorer in Derek Hawthorne, head coach Bill Zych needed to see some big development in his players for them to…
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Continue ReadingWith all the losses that Pike took after the last season with the departure of their starting backcourt and dynamic scorer in Derek Hawthorne, head coach Bill Zych needed to see some big development in his players for them to keep on track. Pike hasn’t had to deal with a massive overhaul in recent years but they have stayed consistent. This year, they are 15-4 on the season and looking great heading into a really tough final four games.
Part of the reason for their success this season is because some of those returning players have developed, most notably, Isiah James. James is a 6’6 forward who up until this season, has been much more of a back-to-the-basket player. However, he’s really become more of a wing forward with the ability to step out and score while still producing in the low post and being a solid rebounding threat.
Last year, James only scored 6.1 points per game and grabbed 6.9 rebounds. This season, he has upped that to 14.6 and 8.9. Part of that is his ability to play away from the rim. He’s begun an overhaul on his jump shot and he’s actually shooting three-pointers this year, going 11/38 for 29%. Not a great percentage but for a guy that hasn’t shot threes at all in his entire career, this is a massive development that could only be the beginning.
However, at the heart of this new scoring ability and improved jumper is James’ ball handling. He’s come a long way and it has allowed him to do all of these things and has commanded the respect of defenders, drawing them away from the rim, and allowing him to make more plays. He’s even averaging around 1.9 assists per game.
The improved handles have only really given him about six months of true development time and that isn’t enough to see where he is at as a finished product. He’s going to get a lot better in college and could do so at a pretty quick rate based on how fast he has improved this season.
So far, Marian, IU-East, Manchester, and Thomas More are the programs that have expressed interest in the developing forward. Could see a JUCO route in his future as well but after some more time working on his game, James has an easy DII ceiling. Would be a steal for any team this late in the process.