3A/4A State Stockrisers: Two Players from Each Position

Two Point Guard Recruits: [player_tooltip player_id="674438" first="Maleek" last="Arington"] defends [player_tooltip player_id="942046" first="Tucker" last="Molina"] Photo Credit Doug Dobkins I recently spoke with 13 college coaches about a variety of high school prospects and what made them interested or not in those players. The coaches represented five different levels: NCAA D1,2,3, NAIA, and JuCo. Besides making it to the state tournament, most of the players discussed were on a good AAU/Grassroots teams and/or attended the university’s summer camp. So familiarity with the prospect was already pretty high. College coaches have an impossible job- predict the future. It is an art more than a science. If they fail to project growth and maturation correctly or fail to accurately evaluate talent, they will be fired. Qualities of the top prospects- Not all coaches will value these attributes in this exact order but. . . <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;">SAT’s- Can you get into college and stay eligible?</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Shooting- Three-point shooting translates to the next level; backing down a 150 lb freshmen doesn’t</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Size- (Height then strength) - You may not get taller in college but you will lift weights</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Quickness- (lateral then vertical) -Filling a lane and dunking is nice; lateral foot speed is better</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">IQ/Feel/Decision Making- Two bad decisions in one game and your stock drops</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Toughness/Effort/Attitude/Reputation- Score too low here and nothing else matters</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Ball Handling- Extremely important but also easy to find </li> </ol> Defense doesn’t matter? If a prospect has size, lateral quickness, IQ and toughness… they either already are or can be taught to be an excellent defender. A college team with scholarships may like a prospect but to be recruited that prospect would need to be in the right position and in the right class. A coach may love a player in the class of 2020 but is not pursuing him because all scholarships have already been used or he has young players at that position already on their roster. There are essentially only three positions: Point Guards, Wings, and Posts. Point Guards This position may also include a scoring point guard or “combo guard”. The most valuable asset of a point guard? Decision making and running the show. Scoring 20 is nice but a 4-1 assist to turnover ratio is much more valuable. It is just much harder to find a smart player with vision, feel, IQ, and unselfishness. [player_tooltip player_id="674438" first="Maleek" last="Arington"] and [player_tooltip player_id="942046" first="Tucker" last="Molina"] are true point guards. They should have the ball in their hands every possession. Coaches who want a pass-first point guard to run the show for them, love these two players. [player_tooltip player_id="674422" first="Koren" last="Johnson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="674424" first="Braeden" last="Smith"] are seen as combo guards. They do not need to bring the ball up the floor every time and can be used on the wings. Coaches who like to get scoring from point guards see these two being very successful at the next level. Wings Coaches want as much athleticism and shooting as possible. Defensively wings need greater flexibility than point guards. Wings are more sought after when they can defend a quick point guard without getting blown by and/or defend a post player down low without being manhandled. Jackson Dorsey | 6-6 Wilson- Class of 2021 | Dorsey averaged 10 points in three State Tournament games without making a single three but the sturdy and bouncy athlete competently defended positions 1-5 against top competition. [player_tooltip player_id="843738" first="Champ" last="Spencer"] has good size and shooting skill. He also averaged 10 points in the State Tourney but he hit five three-pointers. In those four games, Sumner was playing zone defense which makes it more difficult to evaluate his lateral quickness. Playing on a good AAU team that plays man to man defense against quickness is valued by coaches. It makes for more accurate and reliable evaluations. Posts When coaches look at bigs they prioritize size, having good hands, shot selection, and not turning it over. Being a shot blocker is nice but not fouling, getting off the ground quickly for rebounds and setting good screens rank higher than swatting a point guard’s shot into the second row. If a big is undersized, they need to be able to pick and pop- meaning occasionally they can step out from the high post area after a high ball screen and hit a three-point shot. It is easy to envision UW commit [player_tooltip player_id="611188" first="Jackson" last="Grant"] in this role. [player_tooltip player_id="843740" first="Gavin" last="Gilstrap"] has the size, good hands, takes good shots and does not turn it over. Adding a three-point shot and getting quicker off the ground will dramatically raise his stock even further. Size and shooting is so valued because improving height and shooting is difficult. Any player that has good size who can really shoot it, will have many interested coaches Any team loaded with size and shooting is hard to beat. Just ask anybody who played 4A State Champs Mt. Si.