Prospect Spotlight: Dominic Strother (2021)

There are always hidden gems in every part of Virginia, and that’s where AAU gives us the opportunity to find guys we wouldn’t get the opportunity to find otherwise. That’s the case for sophomore big man Dominic Strother of Central-Woodstock out of the Harrisonburg area, who I got a chance to see with Boo Williams 15U this spring.

The 6’8” big man is hard to hide as he towers over everyone else, and while he’s a soft spoken kid his game makes a lot of noise. Playing with Boo has given him an opportunity to showcase his skill set, but it’s also put him in a situation where he has to up his game as he isn’t used to playing against this level of competition in the high school season.

“Playing at this level has made me play faster and stronger than I have in the past,” Strother said. “Playing with and against this level of competition has made me step my game up a lot.”

As a sophomore last year, Strother was a big mismatch, and while he’s still learning how to be effective on both ends he used his size and skill set to help Central to one of their better seasons in the past few years. He helped them land a spot in the state playoffs, and while they were knocked out early it still is a positive season for them moving forward.

“This year, we lost in the first round of the playoffs,” Strother said about his high school season. “This year we’re losing about four seniors, but we have a good amount of guys ready to step in and I’ll be ready to take over as a junior.”

Strother has a new school big man’s game, as he thrives as a trail man, a pick-and-pop guy and as someone who can take the other big man out of the paint for driving bigs. He has good ball skills as he can shoot and put it on the deck, and he’s a good passer as well.

He’s very humble and modest about his game when you ask him however.

“I can work from the outside-in, and on a good day I can really shoot,” he said modestly. “I can beat other big men off the bounce at the high post. Defensively is what I’m really working on, but I can block shots and everything. I know I need to get stronger and play better defense though.”

While many guys are obsessed with getting offers and exposure at this level, Strother is simply obsessed with staying in the gym and getting better during the offseason.

“The rest of the summer, I just want to stay in the gym, lifting weights and getting big, working on my game and all of that. I have a set schedule, a calendar of sorts, of different basketball related activities that I’m going to work on all summer and try to go to basketball camp as well.”

There are rumors that he will take an extra year and finish in 2022, which should help Strother as he needs to fill out and improve his body as well as his athleticism. However, he has the physical tools and skill set to be an intriguing big man moving forward.