Prospect Spotlight: John Mareno (2018)
If you’re looking for a solid three-pointer shooter who can also set his teammates up to do the same, look no further than John Mareno.
This Lake Brantley rising senior prefers to start his game from outside the three-point line when others may work from a short-distance, then move out as they go. Either way, he’s more than effective from deep.
As defenses get tired, Mareno does a solid job of sliding past defenders on the way to the cup. If the D does close-in around him, he has great vision which allows him to dish it out-of-the-paint in a quick fashion to set up scoring.
While shooting is his biggest strength, ball-handling is a close number two. Mareno is great at keeping a dribble with his head up and kept the assist/turnover ratio down in the game I witnessed.
On the defensive side, there wasn’t a time where I saw him take a play off. If ball-handlers attempted to drive his way, he made every shot difficult.
His next steps to becoming a more well-rounded player include getting more contact on free-throw attempts and being more of a challenger on the rebounding glass. With his last season approaching, look for Mareno to put his bid in as one of the better guards to ever come out of Altamonte Springs.