Early January Evaluations

<p>Scour the land.  These players are worth watching.</p> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <h2>FACS vs. Harding: January 2</h2> <p><strong>#1 [player_tooltip player_id="1021723" first="Kobe" last="Wilkes"]* (2022) - FACS<br /> #3 TJ Thomas* (2022) - FACS<br /> #4 Joshua Ward* (2021) - FACS<br /> #11 [player_tooltip player_id="1021722" first="Corey" last="Savage"]* (2022) - FACS<br /> #5 * (2022) - FACS<br /> <br /> </strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 2rem; text-decoration: underline;">Partial Squads with *Starters</span></span></p> <p>#0 Dustin Richmond Jr.* (2022) - Harding Academy<br /> #3 Jordan Jarrett* (2022) - Harding Academy<br /> #11 Monty Williams* (2022) - Harding Academy<br /> #15 Joshua Dabney (2022) - Harding Academy<br /> #20 Luke Campbell (2022) - Harding Academy<br /> #25 Jaxon Toney* (2022) - Harding Academy<br /> #35 Jamal Mitchell* - Harding Academy</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Jaxon Toney (2022) | Harding Academy</strong></p> <p>Jaxon is a terror in the open floor. He finishes above the rim with ease.  Toney’s weakness is maneuvering in tight spaces between guards.  His handle is ok, but not elite and it needs to improve significantly for him to be a undeniable college 2-guard.  At 6-foot-4, Toney is listed as a forward but obviously must exist as a college wing.  His bounce and high effort are strong attributes. Toney did hit multiple three-pointers in the loss to FACS.  He shoots them flat-footed with moderate success.</p> <p><strong>Jamal Mitchell (2022) | Harding Academy</strong></p> <p>Clearly a dual-sport athlete, Jamal Mitchell is yoked up.  Powerful.  Mitchell plays well with a lower-than-most-bigs center of gravity.  He shows off a decent shooting touch on the blocks but a frustratingly raw touch from the free throw line.  Key piece to his team’s interior defending.</p> <p><strong>Monty Williams (2022) | Harding Academy</strong></p> <p>Lithe and quick.  Monty is athletic enough to be a weapon, but he lacks the creativity to instigate and consistently put the defense in uncomfortable position.  Monty needs to really dig in regarding his basketball I.Q.  There is certainly a nice subset of skills and athleticism to suggest he can be dynamic at the varsity level and perhaps beyond.</p> <p><strong>TJ Thomas (2022) | FACS</strong></p> <p>Great length at the guard position.  TJ is slithery like a snake with the dribble.  He can be difficult to check as his movements are quick and fluid, syrupy in their drip</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1021722" first="Corey" last="Savage"] (2022) | FACS</strong></p> <p>Corey is a point guard, but he is a wonderful catch-and-shoot player too.  FACS has many wonderful guards and the ability of Savage to play off the ball so effectively makes them a challenging team.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Johnson County vs. Sullivan East: January 7</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>#34 [player_tooltip player_id="1116463" first="Dylan" last="Bartley"]*</strong> <strong>(Sullivan East)</strong> - Bartley earned his way to the free throw line plenty.  He was solidly-built and aggressive against a smaller frontline.</p> <p><strong>Logan Murray (Sullivan East) - </strong>Murray (2022) played at a faster speed than anyone else in the game.  Murray does not have the scoring touch or ability to finish that many Johnson County guards do and yet he made a big impact with his probing and problematic dribble.  Murray was sharp end-to-end.</p> <p><strong>Braden Standbridge (Sullivan East) - </strong>Guard Braden provided the visiting Patiors with quick hands and energy.  On one play, BS poked a post pass from and sprinted up ahead. His teammate found him over the top of the transitioning defense to help Sullivan East extend their lead in the second quarter.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div> <p><em><b>Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewForce8">@AndrewForce8</a>.</b></em></p> </div>