Top 8 Sophomores in Texas
Contributed by Andrew Phipps The state of Texas is home to many of the top prospects in the country from year to year and our 2022 class is no exception! Here’s my take on the top eight players in a…
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Continue ReadingContributed by Andrew Phipps
The state of Texas is home to many of the top prospects in the country from year to year and our 2022 class is no exception!
Here’s my take on the top eight players in a loaded class:
Keyonte George Keyonte George 6'5" | SG IMG Academy | 2022 State #4 Nation FL | 6’4 SG | Lewisville
Kevonte is a very impressive guard with great size and strength who likes to bully smaller guards in the post and when he drives to the hole. He knows how to contort his body to avoid bigger defenders very well. George has a quick and tight handle and knows where he wants to get on the floor, he likes the high post mid-range shot as well as the pull up 3 from top of the key. When Kevonte has a bigger defender switched onto him he loves to play with them and get to his spots behind the arc and in the mid-range. Another aspect of his game that stood out to me was his touch on floaters and runners in the paint, even after a tight spin move to beat a defender. His work in the post was also very impressive, you could tell he has spent time working on post and triple threat moves to keep defenders off balance.
George is not the best on ball defender, he gets destroyed by a lot of screens most likely due to his lack of time in the weight room. On the other hand, he still managed to maintain decent positioning covering the screener while recovering to get back on ball. I was impressed by his nose for the ball, he seemed to play the defensive passing lanes well coming up with several steals.
In the particular video that I watched he did not seem to create much for his teammates, but how he attacks angles and space, it should not be difficult for him to add to his game. He also seems to move well without the ball from the wing to the corner as a teammate drive. He caught multiple defenders watching the ball while he dove to the corner or the wing and managed to get wide open looks. He also rebounds the ball well for his size, there was a particular play where he out rebounds a larger forward who had better positioning than him along his own baseline and takes the ball the length of the court in six dribbles to finish an up and under layup plus the foul.
The thing that stood out to me the most is that he knew that he was the best person in the gym, he has a palpable confidence and swagger about his game. Against tough competition in Duncanville, the 2019 Texas High School State Champions he took over the game when his team needed him the most and scored the last 5 points in overtime to give them the win. His game reminded me a lot of Devin Booker with his work in the post, yet soft feathery touch in the lane and flame thrower jump shot.
Bryce Griggs | 6’1 G | Hightower
Bryce Griggs is a flat-out scorer, in two separate meetings against top ten ranked team in the State- Shadow Creek, he scored 46 in district competition and 43 and a victory to force them out of the state playoffs. Griggs has played against higher competition his entire high school career as he started on varsity as a freshman, averaging 21 points, 3.4 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. During his freshman campaign he shot 44% from field, 34% from 3 and 76% from the free throw line. His sophomore year he bumped his totals up to 24.6 points 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 46% from the field 32% from 3 and 80% from the line.
Griggs finishes through contact with ease, even from bigger defenders while he attacks the rim. His is an elite finisher with both hands and is smart with his body to avoid contact as well as draw fouls. Griggs loves getting defenders to jump one way as he has the ability to hang in the air and come up on the other side of the rim. He has a great shooting form even while coming off the dribble. He is smart out of the triple threat and loves to get the defender leaning one way and hit him with a quick one dribble pull up to the opposite side. He did this on multiple occasions on the base line and even behind the three-point line. He has great confidence in his shot pulling from “Curry range” a few times during the game.
An aspect that stood out to me was his tight handle and ball control. Griggs seemed to have the ball on the string and toyed with defenders as he was getting pressed. Shadow Creek maintained a full court press most of the game and he ate it up, even when they put bigger and longer athletes on him. He also was able to create for his teammates a lot because of this, consistently making the right read and finding easy looks for them. His game reminds me a lot of Kyrie Irving with his ability to finish in the paint among bigger defenders, tight handle and confidence in his offensive game.
Colin Smith Colin Smith 6'8" | PF AZ Compass Prep | 2022 State #115 Nation AZ | 6’7 SF | St. Marks
Against a clearly poorer competition, Smith torched a team for 42 points and shot 69% from 3. Smith is an incredibly large sophomore who must have had a late growth spurt as he had a guard like ball control and moves out of the post and in the mid-range. He is incredibly comfortable shooting of the catch, as well as a one dribble pull up out of his triple threat. He was able to hit multiple threes off that one particular move catching the smaller defenders with his jumper as they were so scared of him driving to the paint. He also loved the step back jumper and hit multiple defenders with it in the mid-range and behind the three-point line. While you could tell he is not a sharpshooter, he seems confident when he is open, and his driving nature really opens the floor for himself.
Against this competition, Smith looked comfortable attacking and adjusting his body to absorb contact as well as moving around defenders while using his gather step. Now in this case, I would have been worried if he did not abuse this competition in the paint, but I was impressed by his shooting motion and range that was opened by the other teams fear of his size. He also kept his head up and created great looks for his teammates in the break and while he drives, he routinely found his open shooters in the corner.
The thing that stood out above everything was his size and athletic ability, Smith is a remarkable athlete who could have played whatever he wanted. On one particular play he chased down a layup attempt and smacked the backboard above the square. While this game I witnessed was against poorer competition I was floored by his impressive moves and length against smaller defenders. Colin Smith Colin Smith 6'8" | PF AZ Compass Prep | 2022 State #115 Nation AZ reminded me a lot of Brandon Ingram with his work in the mid-range and behind the three-point line yet with the ability to attack the basket and make defenders look silly for jumping with him.
Trae Clayton Trae Clayton 6'5" | SF Dallas Kimball | 2022 State TX | 6’5 SF | Oak Cliff Faith Family Academy
Trae Clayton Trae Clayton 6'5" | SF Dallas Kimball | 2022 State TX is a large forward who lived in the paint due to his size and nature of the high school game. Clayton is a tough and active on ball defender who possesses enough strength to bump players off the ball and he attacks passing lanes well coming up with two steals that led to transition buckets. In the game that I witnessed against superior, and older talent he was able to really hold his own well on the defensive end and did not get bullied by stronger opponents.
Clayton rebounded the ball very well on the offensive and defensive ends, but simply based on his size and athletic ability. If he can get better positioning on both ends of the court, he has a chance to be a tenacious rebounder. He is great at keeping the ball up high and using his strength to fight off defenders while battling for offensive boards accounting for multiple put back layups during this game.
If he continues to grow, he could become a power forward with a good catch and shoot jumper or develop his ball handling and become a ferocious attacking shooting guard. He is the definition of an inbetweener, and these next two years will be telling for him as he grows into his body and game. He liked shooting jumpers so he must be confident in them, but in this game, it was not falling, and you could tell he was rattled by it. I did not get a chance to witness his best game as he was clearly uncomfortable in this game against top competition, as he forced a lot of bad and uncomfortable jump shots for himself. On the other hand, his natural ability to live in the paint off his strength and size was very impressive. He reminded me a lot of Julius Randle, a raw big body forward with a knack for mixing it up down low but prefers to keep his game on the outside.
Austin Nunez Austin Nunez 6'2" | PG San Antonio Wagner | 2022 State #97 Nation TX | 6’2 PG | Wagner HS
Austin Nunez Austin Nunez 6'2" | PG San Antonio Wagner | 2022 State #97 Nation TX has a quick jumper with great start and stop ability to break down his defenders. He has a knack for getting to his favorite spots behind the line from simply running full speed and stopping on a dime with a snatch back dribble to freeze defenders. He hit a good number of threes in this game but did it on many shots that created long rebounds that lead to transition buckets for the other team.
He recognizes that he is undersized and does not like driving into the lane and got away with it this year because of the dynamic athlete he shared the back court with, Tre’ White. There were few instances of him getting around a defender in the half court setting and getting to the rim, instead he shifted the defenders enough to get off his quick shot and lived with the results. I would have been more impressed if he took the initiative to drive as it would have clearly created more open looks for his teammates, but the offense flowed well with him at the helm even despite the number of jumpers he took.
The playmaking aspect in his game was still there, he was responsible for inbounding the ball on most set plays and consistently made the right reads that turned into open jumpers and layups for his teammates. He also made crazy passes after spinning around defenders in a full court press. There were three instances of him getting trapped with a double team just beyond his own three-point line and he made a ridiculous cross court pass to an open teammate for open jumpers or free layups. His game reminded me a lot of a young raw Trae Young as he for sure has next level vision and a jumper but needs to work on more aspects to his game to complete as a player. The next step I would like to see him take is the ability to pull off a quick floater or runner in the lane and enhance his ball handling skills to increase his chances of blowing by a defender to get in the lane, collapse the defense and kick to find open shooters.
Cason Wallace Cason Wallace 6'4" | CG Richardson | 2022 State #6 Nation TX | 6’3 SG | Richardson HS
Cason Wallace Cason Wallace 6'4" | CG Richardson | 2022 State #6 Nation TX is a 6’3 guard with great defensive instincts. He plays extremely hard on this end of the floor, is an active on ball defender with a knack for staying in front of the ball and causing turnovers with his active hands. Wallace is also a very intelligent player who sees the floor well when he has the ball in transition as well as making good half court decisions. I could really see him growing and transitioning into a Bradly Beal type of player and becoming that kind of scrappy on ball defender, yet still someone who can run and maintain an offense.
Wallace is an incredibly smart defender even at a young age, he is great at fighting through screens and maintaining positioning. He also has a sneaky knack for knowing where the ball should be swung next and making lurking steals in the passing lane. He fights on that side of the defensive end as hard as most top players do on the offensive end and wreaks havoc on that side of the ball because of it. He is also incredibly smart about funneling players into the help defense, routinely creating easy blocks for his centers. Most sophomores don’t have the athletic ability and hustle to do what he did at 5:54 of this video where he forces his opponent to make a mistake with intense on ball defense on his own baseline, immediately has his head up and pushes the ball down court in six dribbles, spins off a defender and easily finishes over him.
I think Wallace is growing his game perfectly to transition into the NBA, with many combo guards having to shoulder the point guard role and the entire offense at times. Cason’s game has that ability, he is an intelligent player who also knows how to stay away from contact while driving in the lane. He showed great use of his favored hop step to split defenders in the paint and in transition splitting traps. He has great footwork as well as the hop step back in his arsenal. He is a confident shooter as he made two deep contested step back threes, but he is most comfortable driving and absorbing contact to draw fouls even on bigger and clearly stronger defenders.
Rylan Griffen Rylan Griffen 6'5" | SG Richardson | 2022 State #72 Nation TX | 6’5 SF | Richardson HS
Rylan Griffen Rylan Griffen 6'5" | SG Richardson | 2022 State #72 Nation TX is a 6’5 forward who has long lanky arms who does not seem like he is done growing. He is strong when he has the ball in his hands and loves to drive and finish through contact. His defenders know he wants to bully them for most of the game so whenever they start to get physical back, he just rises over them with a soft right-handed floater. He is also a great and confident shooter with a straight jumper and a high release. Defenders normally do not have a chance at contesting his shot as he rises over them and keeps the ball high with a Kevin Durant type jumper.
Griffen also seems to be an intelligent player, routinely making great off ball backdoor cuts creating easy looks for himself as well as some impressive highlights catching some nasty lobs. He has great vision with the ball and is good at sharing the spotlight and the ball and makes a great one two punch with his sophomore counterpart Cason Wallace Cason Wallace 6'4" | CG Richardson | 2022 State #6 Nation TX . Griffen is a great shooter that makes defenders scared, and when he feels them get to close, he blows by them to dominate with his size in the paint. He knows he is a big body with the ability to bang down low at this level and he backed down defenders to get into comfortable layups and turnarounds.
Rylan has a good handle for his size, but it clearly needs work as well as ability to finish with his left hand. He is so used to dominating with his right its understandable why is he is so comfortable with it. On the other hand, the dribble pulls up I saw to get comfortable three pointers as well the side step jumpers he took are a strong indication that it will not be long for him for us to see his offensive game explode with an abundance of deadly moves.
Shawn Jones | 6’6 SF | Shadow Creek HS
Shawn Jones is a 6’6 forward who is an athletic freak. He has a powerful hopping ability that strikes fear in his opponents when he leaps. He is an active rebounder who gets great positioning and boxes out defenders for explosive tip dunks as well as defensive boards. Jones is known for creating tremendous highlights with these tip dunks and high-flying lobs. He is a smart runner of the floor creating easy dunks in transition for himself. His game could transition very well to the next level, especially if he continues to grow and end up becoming an athletic rim running freak much like the most recent number one overall pick in the NBA draft, Zion Williamson.
Jones’ game is not all high flying, he is a good shooter if he is a set and is shooting off a catch, there were not many attempts off a live dribble in his highlights. On the other hand, he did hit a game tying three where he inbounded the ball to a guard and immediately ran to his comfortable spot and hit a fading three off the catch. Shawn even has a tough little runner that he likes to attempt as he drives in the lane that he can get off with ease with his large frame. He could end up on highlight reels for the next two years and make a very prominent name for himself, lookout!