Scouting and Highlights: Myron Gardner (2019)

Myron Gardner is a 6'5" forward who plays his high school ball with Detroit Loyola and his AAU ball with 1Nation. Gardner is considered a top-10 prospect in Michigan's 2019 class and for good reason. The forward had a successful spring/summer, as he picked up his first 3 D1 offers. Given the fact that he's young and fairly raw, undoubtedly there will be many more to come. Here's my take on Gardner's game: Strengths: Athleticism - There are few things Gardner can't do athletically. He's the total package, with strength to play bigger than he actually is as well as the speed/quickness to run with the guards. He's capable of coming down the lane and dunking over defenders. I've seen him have put-back dunks on multiple occasions. Gardner's combination of athleticism and strength allow him to be a beast on the glass as well. Motor - A big part of what makes Gardner so good is his unrelenting motor. The forward commonly dominates the glass on both sides of the ball, something that is a direct indicator of effort. His motor also makes him a menace defensively - he does a great job of moving his feet and keeping his man in front of him. Additionally, he frequently jumps passing lanes for easy steal-to-dunk opportunities. Defense - Gardner is already a high-level defender capable of guarding multiple positions. He's filled out his frame well for being a 2019 - his body is as college ready as they come in high school. As I touched on before, Gardner excels at defense in a variety of ways. In addition to the aforementioned skills, he also does a great job sliding over on help defense to protect the rim. He's a good shot-blocker for a 6'5" forward. Finishing - Gardner has a lethal combination of high-level athleticism to go with Russell Westbrook-like aggressiveness. This makes him hard to stop when he wants to get to the rack. Given that, as well as the fact that he has a soft touch around the rim, you get a guy who's really good around the rim. Also, Gardner is capable of double-clutching and still getting the lay-up to fall with consistency. Areas For Development: Shooting - Gardner is by no means a bad shooter. In fact, he's actually a capable shooter, especially if he gets hot. However, today's game values shooting perhaps more than any other skill - and Gardner is certainly not an elite shooter. If he can become a consistent, knockdown shooter he will take his game to the next level. Playmaking - At this point I'm just nitpicking, as Gardner is already a decent playmaker. However, if you had to choose a part of his game that is his "weakness", you could say playmaking. Besides his jumper, there is no obvious part of Gardner's game that is lacking development.