Top 250 Expo: 2020 First Team
The senior class welcomed a unique group of college-seekers, many of whom are late bloomers on the recruiting trail. But these five came in with a different agenda, as today’s performances proved they’ll have no trouble wooing college programs. Malik…
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Continue ReadingThe senior class welcomed a unique group of college-seekers, many of whom are late bloomers on the recruiting trail. But these five came in with a different agenda, as today’s performances proved they’ll have no trouble wooing college programs.
Malik Abdul-Wahid – Brookfield Central: Abdul-Wahid played a versatile game today, as his shooting, ball-handling, and aggressiveness all looking more impressive than a year ago. His handle allowed him to operate like a small-forward, so instead of post-ups he created on the wing and drove towards the rim with a full head of steam. His aggressiveness was also much improved. In the paint, he shook off defenders like wiping dust off his shoulders, as he hauled in rebounds and rose back up to finish for a large chunk of his points.
Jacksun Hamilton – La Crosse Logan: I was introduced to Hamilton today through his rebounding and a revving motor. The forward’s size was a huge mismatch against opposing forwards, and he capitalized on the advantage. The loose-ball magnet made his rebounding efforts look incredibly deliberate. Offensively, he could barrel into the post for hard-fought layup attempts, which he did from the get-go this morning.
Senior Wisconsin analyst Evan Flood dubbed him as a senior ready to break out next season. That couldn’t be more on-point.
Jacob Newhouse – Kaukauna: I mistook Newhouse for a center a few times this summer. If today’s performance has any big-picture meaning whatsoever, then Newhouse is fitted for playing power-forward or even small-forward with Kaukauna. In the last game, he had back-to-back moves where he finished with some variation of a double-clutch layup (one, a reverse, rimmed out but was an acrobatic move nonetheless). More importantly, those plays followed a three-point shot and a mid-range jumper.
It’s camp basketball, but he had the luxury of another post threat in Abdul-Wahid on his team. That gave him the liberty to be versatile, and he showed some flashes of perimeter production with that freedom.
James Randolph – Wauwatosa West: Much like Newhouse, Randolph could branch out today not having the fit inside a rigid center role. He attempted another mid-range touch shot which was promising, but he could put the ball on the deck and score in traffic, and that ultimately earned him a spot on the first-team ballot.
He maneuvered to the rim with crossover moves and euro-steps. Albeit rarely, the moves were successful and were improvements from just a few months ago. And, of course, his post play was a plus once again. Randolph finished with his back to the rim and made himself an easy player to feed with his wide stance.
Daivon Winters – Waukesha North: Let’s just be clear, here. Daivon Winters wasn’t expected to be on this list. For the unranked player-turned-first-teamer, whose name I nearly misspelled in multiple Twitter posts, there wasn’t much of an expectation for him at all.
That changed about as quickly as his drives to the hoop.
The guard sports the late-bloomer title as nicely as anyone. Winters is shifty with impressive footwork and a quick first step. His athleticism was the most visible of all his traits today, as his driving and attacking led to high point totals and highlight finishes. Winters’ awareness and hands were a pair that worked in tandem to cause defensive havoc, too.
In line with most late-bloomers, there are parts of the game that are more potential than reality. His jumper is a work-in-progress mechanically, for example (despite some deficiencies, it went down at a rate as high as anyone’s, especially on off the dribble attempts).
Overall, here’s a kid that will start to hear his name more and more come next season. Ask me how we didn’t notice him until his senior year and I couldn’t give a good excuse.