Trending Up: 2020’s Who Raised Their Stock
The rising sophomore class has a long ways to go before needing to sit down and sort through any and all college interest and offers.
But as the coverage of high school and club basketball continues to evolve, and the skill sets of young players are developing faster than ever, the early scholarship offer has become much more common.
The following five class of 2020 prospects are the perfect example of sophomores-to-be who are receiving major college interest due in large part to their play during the spring and summer.
Chibuzo Agbo (College Bound/St. Augustine)
Agbo did not play with a club team on the circuit, but that didn’t hamper his viewership. The versatile 6-foot-7 forward stood out among other big men in the 2020 class due to his emerging inside-out skill set, big time motor and overall physicality on both ends of the floor. Agbo earned an offer from UC Irvine earlier this month the the Anteaters Elite Camp.
Lamont Butler (Earl Watson Elite/Riverside Poly)
As we covered in a Prospect Spotlight on Butler earlier in the summer, the Riverside Poly point guard is your quintessential floor general. The 5-foot-10 pass-first prospect showed improved jump shooting ability, offensive aggressiveness and blow-by speed in transition. Passing ability and unselfishness will never be a question with Butler as it’s his nature to get his teammates involved before looking to get his own. Butler still reports offers from UC Riverside and Montana with interest from a host of others.
Josh Christopher (Cal Supreme/Mayfair)
Christopher is one of the most naturally gifted players in this class and he used the summer to make sure to let everyone know about it. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard is an elite scorer off the wing as he can dance into rhythm 3-pointers or knock down the catch-and-shoot variety. Christopher also has a potent mid-range game complete with pull-up jumpers with great lift and baseline fade-aways with touch. Christopher reports offers from Arizona, California, Florida State, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UNLV and USC.
Johnny Juzang (Compton Magic/Harvard-Westlake)
The game comes very easy to Juzang, who is one of the top perimeter scorers in the class. The 6-foot-7 wing has an exceptional combination of offensive moves at the point of attack and counter moves against a good defender. Juzang strokes it from 3-point range with consistency, but is also an effective scorer and passer out of the mid-post. Juzang holds scholarship offers from Alabama, Arizona State, California, Cal State Northridge, Miami, Oregon, Tulane, UCLA, UNLV, USC and Washington.
Ziaire Williams (BTI/Sherman Oaks Notre Dame)
Williams is another prospect with high major potential who doesn’t reside with any circuit club team. Williams plays with BTI’s 2019 team during the spring and summer and the structured aspect of that team allows him to showcase his high basketball IQ and versatile all-around game. The 6-foot-6 burgeoning wing player continues to add more to his “off-the-bounce” game which has drawn offers from Boise State, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount, as well as interest from USC, UCLA, Stanford, Virginia and Wisconsin.