Recruiting Report: Jared Hankins (2019)
A guy who is on my radar to break out this summer is Lawrence North’s Jared Hankins. The 6’4 small forward is an electric player who can fill it up in a hurry. His ability to shoot the ball is his best asset as he has the potential to drop five or six 3-pointers in a row on a team. On defense, he isn’t a slouch either as he plays elite defense. He has a great build and is very strong allowing him to defend bigger players very well. Hankins is a complete player and is only getting better.
This summer Hankins is running with Indiana Elite Fastbreak 2019 and in the NY2LA tournament in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this past weekend, he put on a show. He scored 63 points over a span of three games. Last year, in a AAU game he scored 51 points and really started to score the ball really well. This year, Hankins is starting out really well once again and he is looking to gain his first D1 offer.
“(At NY2LA) I think I did well,” Hankins said. “I’m a humble person so I feel there is always room for improvement. Overall, I feel that I shot the ball well and did a good job of getting to the basket.”
Over the past year seeing Hankins development he is a totally different player. He is stronger and quicker with the ball this year. Hankins is able to shoot the ball a lot better and he is able to get to the basket more so making him more multi-dimensional on the offensive end. Hankins agreed saying that he is “more developed” and “more explosive”. Will Hankins seeing these two things in his development as well, it only affirms what we have seen in his play.
Hankins right now is a low major player. He has taken unofficial visits to 13 different schools including Ball State and Evansville in state. He could break out this summer and rise up to a mid major type of player but right now he would fit really well in a system that utilizes guys who can shoot the ball and defend. His game would fit perfect at a low major program currently.
Hankins is continuing to work on his game to make himself more versatile this summer and once he becomes confident in the things that he is working on, he could become a totally different player. I would look for Hankins to get a couple offers this summer with a few more big tournaments coming up.
“I am working on my handle going both ways and continuing to develop my jumping ability,” Hankins said.