Recruiting Report: Josh Cornish (2018)
The list of successful guards who came from Calvert Hall College High School to play in the professional ranks is one of the longer one in comparison to other schools in the Baltimore area. Juan Dixon, Gary Neal, and Ricky Harris are ones that come to mind right away. Rising senior Josh Cornish hopes to be the next player added to that list.
Cornish is a 6’3 combo guard that averaged 17 points for the Cardinals last season. He and backcourt mate Brendan Adams make up one of the most exciting tandems in the city, and as long as they are crippled with injuries as they dealt with for the duration of last season, Calvert Hall will likely be a top team in the MIAA A Conference.
After watching film on Cornish or watching in person for a few minutes, it doesn’t take long to realize he is a natural scorer. He can score from all three levels, but he shines brightest in catch-and-shoot situations from three-point range. Once Cornish is able to gather his feet, his release is extremely quick. This isn’t to say him gathering his feet isn’t but there are times in transition when he goes from sprinting to quickly stopping on a dime for a catch-and-shoot.
With a combination of his height, good elevation, and quick release, Cornish can expose any delayed close-out from a defender. While Cornish looks most comfortable shooting off the catch, he can make defenders pay on aggressive close-outs with a one-dribble pull up jumpshot in the 15-18 feet area.
This spring/summer as Cornish plays for Team Melo Red 17U, he wants to focus on becoming more of a point guard. For the Cardinals, he is featured more as a guy who plays on the wing and one who utilizes many off-ball screens. Even tough at 6’3 he could still be used as a combo guard in college, Cornish believes his primary position will be point guard.
Cornish told PrepHoops holds one offer from Southern Utah and is garnering interest from Siena, Old Dominion, Quinnipiac, UMBC, Long Beach State, and Boise State.
“I’m looking into the playing style,” Cornish told PrepHoops in accordance to what is at the top of his priority list. “I like pushing the ball, fast-paced, and scoring a lot. So I want to go to a program where they score a lot of points and are guard-based.”
In his off time this offseason, Cornish has been studying Bradley Beal’s game film and the way he utilizes screens. Beal is becoming more of a ball dominant player with steady improvement of his ball-handling skills for the Washington Wizards. Head Coach Scott Brooks is allowing him to be featured in much more pick-and-roll sets with Beal being the guy with the ball. Cornish is hoping that type of play will carry over to his senior campaign next season.