Prospect Spotlight: 2020 Byron Joshua (Video)
Crescent City point guard Byron Joshua is beginning to establish himself as one of Louisiana’s top players in the Class of 2020. After leading the Pioneers to the LHSAA Division V state title this past season, Joshua has continued to impress during the spring and that trend continued in last weekend’s Exposure HoopFest tournament in New Orleans.
The 5-foot-9 floor general was one of the tournament’s top players regardless of class and led Elfrid Payton Elite to a 51-45 comeback win over NOLA23’s 16U team in one of the tournament’s two showcase games.
Defenders had a tough time keeping Joshua in front of them due to his quickness and ball handling ability and he also has a smooth stroke from deep he’s comfortable taking in set situations or off the dribble. He does struggle at times finishing around the rim due to his size but he contorts his body well to draw fouls in traffic and also shows flashes of finishing through contact for and-ones.
Defensively, Joshua has stretches of being a pesky on-ball defender getting into defenders’ space and forcing them to handle the ball. He also has good athleticism, moves well laterally and will elevate for a surprise block on occasion.
Joshua said he hasn’t heard from any schools as of yet and while his size may scare off some Division I teams, he certainly has the skill set and mentality to be a big-time player.
In the aforementioned Division V state championship game, Crescent City trailed Jehovah-Jireh by 11 in the third quarter after Joshua got in first-half foul trouble and didn’t score. The Pioneers eventually came back to win 69-64 in overtime behind 18 second half points from Joshua, who also scored the first four points of the extra period.
Here’s a look at how the emerging prospect performed in the Exposure HoopFest tournament against 16U teams NOLA23, the Louisiana Lighting and Team Mitch, who knocked EPE out of the semifinals on a last-second shot.