“Emergers”: Breakouts From Jan 3-9

<p>Plenty of emerging young talent took the floor in the 2 games I saw in the opening week of January, these are all names you’ll be seeing and hearing more about.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1045093" first="Tomiwa" last="Adetosoye"], 6-3, Junior, CG, Chattahoochee</strong></em></span></p> <p>So athletically gifted, when the game catches up fully to the inherent gifts this will be a brutal package for opponents to deal with, still clearly developing he produces still and often does the impressive or even spectacular at both ends, can handle the ball and pass like a point, rebound like a 4, and dice his way to the basket, the development of a consistent long-range shooting weapon is next up, but a ton to like about what he has now and even more to like about where his game can go.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1049041" first="Gil" last="Matondo"], 6-4, Junior, SF/PF, Chattahoochee (pictured above) </strong></em></span></p> <p>Another in the same category as his Reach Higher Kings teammate Adetosoye, such athletic gifts make him a tough guard with jumping-jack leaping ability and great timing to go with it, the full game is in progress but has plenty of moments where you can see it all coming together, be it running the floor and finishing with authority, cleaning the boards for putbacks, or catching in tight and simply out-working the defense, with so much ability simmering beneath he like Adetosoye make for a super entertaining twosome to watch for Hooch moving forward. </p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="820274" first="Stephon" last="Castle"], 6-4, Sophomore, PG, Newton</strong></em></span></p> <p>Didn’t necessarily stuff the stat sheet in their tough road setback to Grayson but the skill-set and ability is evident, a big, physical PG already as just a soph, smooth mover with a tight handle, head always up scanning the floor, an instinctive passer with superior vision the kind that isn’t taught, can bull his way to the basket or hurt you from any perimeter spot, is the full package and an absolute riser who will be dotting D1 scouting reports in a big way starting this summer.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1059025" first="Jakai" last="Newton"], 6-3, Sophomore, SG, Newton</strong></em></span></p> <p>Another big, physical youngster with the body of a much older player, relies a little more on pure explosive athleticism to get his production but has plenty of basketball skill as well, a real skier who when he gets a head of steam toward the rim is a lot to deal with, has nice range but I see that getting even better in coming seasons, can play effectively either in the backcourt or slide down and play both forward spots and guard bigs as well, with fellow sophomore 6-4 [player_tooltip player_id="820270" first="Qua" last="Brown"] (equally dynamic, more of a true 3 or 4), gives the Rams a ton of athletic skill and versatility at both ends, both have so much upside, like Castle, they’ll be impossible to miss as their recruitment picks up.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>Moikaye Grant, 6-7, Junior, PF, Newton</strong></em></span></p> <p>Faced a seemingly unending slate of bigs at Grayson but acquitted himself well with a nice combination of good feet and hands and nice instincts with the ball, took to the glass against all that size and showed no back down, has some shooting touch pulled away from the basket and sets up as a fascinating rising big man prospect in the 2022 class.</p>