Thursday “Dagger” Sheet: Buford Showcase Standouts Part 2

<p>The second 3 games brought just as many talented players to the fore as the first 3.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="754282" first="Devin" last="McGlockton"], 6-6, Senior, PF, South Forsyth</strong></em></span></p> <p>We highlighted the trio of young talented at Cumberland Christian in our Emergers piece, but none of them or anyone else for CCS had an answer for the savvy and polished scoring acumen of McGlockton (love the help he's getting up front from senior transfer Brandon Stoudamire, incredibly versatile at around 6-1 with A+ athletic ability), the big guy had it all going scoring almost at will as he used his considerable scoring array and senior experience and put it all to high-end use on the way to 23, he can shoot it from deep, back you down, or catch and finish off the break, is an instinctive rebounder and post defender, been one of my favorite players in the area since last fall and also had a really strong summer playing alongside some other top-flight players with ATL Select All-Stars, whether he goes football or basketball at the next level he’s a steal and will be highly productive.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="725164" first="Jermahri" last="Hill"] and [player_tooltip player_id="870148" first="Malique" last="Ewin"] (pictured above), both juniors, Berkmar</strong></em></span></p> <p>The deep and talented frontcourt for the Patriots was in flight and bulldozing to baskets against a really strong Denmark team that just didn’t have enough answers on the frontline (although senior forward [player_tooltip player_id="869643" first="Joseph" last="Scott"] was tremendous once again in getting 22 pts for the Danes, including a monster 15-point 2nd qtr), Hill (along with 6-5 senior uber-athlete Dara Olonade) possesses such athletic gifts at a powerhouse 6-4 it’s hard to take your eyes off him on a possession as your waiting for him to do the spectacular, but he has refined skills to go with all of that physicality and showed off his deep-shooting as well as his finishing at the cup, he can guard anyone on the floor 1-5 and is to my eyes one of the area’s truest risers at this stage of the season.</p> <p>Ewin is among the state’s top 2022 prospects as a true big man, but what was on display at Buford Arena was an even more impressive ability at 6-10 to drive it from the wings or finish running the floor as a rim runner, his movement slicing through defenses is a mad bundle to deal with, not ram-rodded into the block just because of excellent size, he’s got terrifically soft hands and a touch to go with it, and his defense at the rim and rebounding slots him in the elite category on their own, the Pats are an immensely gifted bunch all-around who’ve played as tough a slate as anyone to this point and when you add in stalwart PG [player_tooltip player_id="598778" first="Jameel" last="Rideout"] and smooth wings Destin Logan and [player_tooltip player_id="1050046" first="Ahmed" last="Soumahoro"] you’ve got a package with deep postseason aspirations.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="598748" first="Caleb" last="Blackwell"] and Jaylen Taylor, both juniors, Buford</strong></em></span></p> <p>The host Wolves had their hands full with an incredibly game Lithonia bunch in the day’s finale emerging victorious by just 1, the backcourt of Blackwell and Taylor has emerged to me as one of the most well-rounded in the ATL-Metro, Blackwell the consummate floor general with plenty of scoring skills in his pocket and the 6-7 Taylor the high-flying wing finisher with deep launch capabilities as well, when Taylor joined the exciting group from the 17U ATL T-Wolves this summer you got a look at some of his skills when on the go with all those athletes, he’s gotten stronger from last year and as a primary option for Buford he has taken on that role enthusiastically and added versatility to his scoring game, will sky-rocket up our rankings.</p> <p>Blackwell is another in the mold of strongly-built PG’s barely teasing that 6-0 range we see around town, but a lack of height doesn’t impair his willingness to drive and score at a high-level, he rebounds from the guard spot as well as anyone I’ve seen so far, and will absolutely defend in your face like the old Nolan Richardson Arkansas teams of old, looking forward to seeing how this deep Wolves bunch makes its move as the postseason approaches.</p>