Prospect Spotlight: John Joyce (2020)
Last season at Bishop Garrigan, then-sophomore John Joyce quietly strung together on of the more impressive campaigns of any other 2020 prospect.
Now, the 6-foot-1 point guard is ready to take his game to the next level, and could be showcasing his abilities at Wells Fargo Arena come March.
We recently caught up with the talented floor general. He says being a pass-first point guard is his priority, and he revels in the fact that he has plenty of bigs surrounding him to feed.
“I have a lot of really good bigs around me, so when I’m out there I just try and get in the paint and see if I can get them an easy lay up or a shot,” said Joyce. “I’d say ball-handling is what I’m best at. And then I need to get better around the rim.”
This offseason, he’s been staying busy. He played with AFES 16U in the spring, and then spent his summer focusing on baseball.
“We (AFES) were just playing in tournaments around the Des Moines and Ames area and I was working on being more vocal on the court and just finding guys for easy buckets,” said Joyce.
As sophomore with the Bears, Joyce went for 10.9 points and 4.1 assists per game. He also led the team steals. This year, he’ll do a lot of the same.
“My role this year is going to be basically the same as last year. I’ll be a pass-first guy and maybe look for my shot later in the game,” said Joyce.
“Getting TJ (Schnurr), Angelo (Winkel) and Cade (Winkel) the ball will be a big part of our success. And then just setting the tone defensively is going to be a big thing for me.”
Joyce was a starter on the baseball team as a sophomore this past summer, but he says it’s hoops that he’s hoping to pursue in college.
“I want to play basketball in college,” said Joyce. “I don’t have any offers or haven’t talked to any coaches yet, but, I’m guessing that will pick up this year, just being around all those good players, there will be a lot of coaches in the stands.”
John Joyce is ranked by Prep Hoops as a top 75 prospect in his class. To see the full ranking of Iowa’s 2020 class, click here.