Film Room: Highlighting 2023 Prospects (II)

<p>Back in April, as it became more and more bleak for Southern California basketball players to get back in the gym to improve and be evaluated, I began an initiative to help players improve their games virtually.</p> <p>The gist of the program was this: I offered to review a prospect’s full game film and provide a detailed scouting report on that player’s strengths and weaknesses, along with some workout tools developed by a friend and trainer.</p> <p>The idea quickly took off and as my email inbox filled with submissions from across the country, I thought it would be great to highlight some of those players on the Prep Hoops platform, as well. So, here are a handful of 2023 prospects I reviewed over the last few months.</p> <p><strong>Josiah Scott</strong>, Mar Vista - Scott has big time scoring feel for a young point guard prospect. He creates space on the perimeter to get open looks from three, but also uses quickness and shiftiness to get into the paint where he can drop in a soft floater. Scott is on the smaller side at 5-feet-7, but plays much bigger than his size. He’s a reliable decision maker in transition and half-court settings and has good feel in pick-and-roll situations.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="994941" first="Malik" last="Khouzam"]</strong>, Walnut - A lot of times it takes freshmen a little bit of time to get used to the physicality of the varsity setting, especially on the defensive end, but guarding was a strength of Khouzam’s. Offensively, the 5-foot-9 guard was a consistent shooter off the catch from three-point range who did a nice job of letting the game come to him and not forcing the issue.</p> <p><strong>Nate Simon</strong>, Jurupa Hills - Simon was a pleasant surprise and a guy who should be on the college radar in a few years. The 5-foot-10 combo guard is wired to score and can do so in a variety of ways from breaking down defenders in isolation and scoring in the paint to hitting step-back three-pointers off the bounce. Simon is a crafty and reliable ball-handler who can create for himself and teammates.</p> <p><strong>Cole Murray</strong>, Carlsbad - Murray is trending as an intriguing combo guard prospect due to his shooting ability off the catch and off the bounce to go along with his ball skills and decision-making. Murray has a balanced jump shot with a quick release and moves well without the ball. As the primary ball handler, Murray doesn’t dribble the air out of the ball and is a willing and capable passer.</p>