Prospect Spotlight: Braxton Bayless (2020)
Iowa’s 2020 class continues to take shape as top talent gradually emerges, and most recently it was Valley’s 5-foot-11 point guard Braxton Bayless who caught our eye.
The son of former Iowa State standout, Ron Bayless, Braxton was sensational two weekends ago at the Kings of the Court in Des Moines; with top-notch defensive instincts, and an ability to score at will, particularly at the rim.
“My strengths are ball-handling and my athleticism, and coming off screens; when I come off a screen, I feel like I can score pretty easily,” said Bayless.
“My mid-range and ability to get to the hoop is my best strength, and I’m going to continue and work on my shot.”
Another in a bevy of outstanding Valley youngsters, Bayless played with his own age division last winter, though he’d have likely played up with most any other program in the state.
Valley is absolutely loaded with 2019 and 2020 prospects.
“It was fun, it was a good experience and I played with a lot of good people. Everyone on that team could play,” said Bayless.
He does get the opportunity to go up against some of the older guys in open gym, and says the experience is helpful.
“I think it makes me better, going against Noah Samples and Luke Sueppel and guys like that, it helps me progress and makes me a more talented player,” said Bayless, who mentioned he might suit varsity next season, but will likely play with the JV.
“My coach and I talked and I’ll at least play JV, and I might suit varsity. But I’m not sure yet because it’s such a big school, so I don’t really know for sure.”
In the meantime, the marvelous young point guard will spend his summer with All Iowa Attack 15U.
“My role is to be the leader of that team, I’m the starting point guard so I have to be the leader. I’m the leading scorer and I rebound well. And team-wise we’ve been really good, we don’t lose often and we make it to the championship on almost every tournament we’ve played in,” said Bayless, who mentioned some initial recruitment could be a goal this summer.
“I want to get some interest from some schools, maybe some letters; start off at D2 and maybe work my way up.”