Varsity Impact 2021 Guards

<p>Here we’re taking a look at some 2021 guards who may well be known commodities on the scene to a degree, but after supporting roles or under-the-radar seasons a year ago will be moving up to feature roles for their teams this winter (in no particular order).</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="869590" first="Travis" last="Burrus"], 5-11, PG, South Cobb</strong></em></span></p> <p>With so many talented options for the Eagles it would be easy to write off the PG as nothing more than a distributor, and while Burrus is one of the state’s best at that skill he can do a ton of other things, loved seeing him get to the rim with both proficiency and strength this summer for Team Huncho and its cast of studs, his speed with the ball has no peer and his decision-making is also among the elite in the state, size means little in today’s game and being at or around 6 feet is no detriment at all to this really good-looking lead guard prospect.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="869593" first="Jaden" last="Harris"], 6-3, CG, Norcross (pictured above)</strong></em></span></p> <p>Huncho getting much-deserved props with two of theirs right out of the gate, like Burrus, Harris was just too impressive to ignore all summer, his physical gifts at his size immediately scream must-see prospect, the passing, defense, speed and shooting are all high level and with the Blue Devils meshing a slew of talented guards into a unit this year Harris’ experience on the varsity will be huge as he assumes a much larger role in his senior campaign, college coaches already find their way to The House of Blue often and once this team finds its stride Harris and Norcross’ other strong prospects will be busy on the phones.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="806746" first="Jax" last="Bouknight"], 6-2, SG, Blessed Trinity</strong></em></span></p> <p>When I saw BT play in the AAAA playoffs last year Bouknight was easy to find on the floor for his hustle, smarts and shooting ability from long-range, what he added this summer may be mild mystery in conception but the results were staggering, the shooting is still there even with a few steps back added to his already boundless range, but it was the basket-attack and explosiveness off the bounce which had myself and other onlookers nodding our heads in obvious envy, he posted some of the late summer’s best individual scoring performances and the relative quiet of his recruitment simply cannot last as any next-level team with a pulse would be able to see his on and off the court value.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="806753" first="Brendan" last="Rigsbee"], 6-3, SG, North Gwinnett</strong></em></span></p> <p>Recently committed to Alabama-Huntsville, Rigsbee like Wolves teammate Bouknight had the kind of summer amidst Covid which couldn’t be denied or masked, I caught him and his Bulldogs team several times last season and he was impressive even in playing a supporting role to a veteran core and super soph [player_tooltip player_id="758360" first="RJ" last="Godfrey"], this will be a year when Rigsbee can put his considerable talents on display combining a smooth stroke from distance with unexpected but undeniably explosive finishing ability at the cup, he’s often a highlight reel in waiting and like Bouknight the kind of kid coaches dream of on and off the court.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1047102" first="Justice" last="Devone"], 6-4, CG, Douglas County</strong></em></span></p> <p>Deep with talent, it can be tough to crack the rotation at a place like DCHS, however it’ll be hard to keep Devone off the floor after the summer he had showing a versatility at multiple positions that potentailly signals big things, with [player_tooltip player_id="806725" first="Jaylen" last="Jackson"] transferred to Greenforest, Devone can step into a larger ball-dominant role his senior season alongside returning notables [player_tooltip player_id="869594" first="Omarion" last="Smith"], [player_tooltip player_id="869637" first="Omari" last="Fonteno"] and another cast of up-and-comers, love his ability to score from all over the floor and guard at least 3 spots, a big season to get his name out after a really impressive showing for the Atlanta Astros in July and August.</p>