Landon’s Week 7 Player Evaluations: Guards

<p>This week was full of great games that had lots of great players in them. I saw some exciting prospects and look forward to giving you my evaluations each and every Sunday throughout the season. It is time to recap this week and look at what our exciting prospects did. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Hamilton Heights @ Lebanon - 1/5/2021</strong></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="783145" first="Gus" last="Etchison"] (Hamilton Heights) (2021) - 6’0" PG: </strong>Etchison is a Western Michigan commit, and in my first time watching him, he showed me that he has all of the potential in the world at the Division 1 level. With the ball, he is one of the quickest players that I have seen, and even when it seems like he is out of control, he can stop on a dime and make a play. He always has his eyes up to look for the open lane or an open teammate, and his crossover dribble can put any defender off balance. Gus has all of the confidence in the world with his shooting, and despite shots not falling for him in this one, he was able to get to the rim to continue to get his. He is a great player, and he should be a key piece to the Broncos’ success in the coming years.</p> <p><strong>Noah Linville (Hamilton Heights) (2021) - 5’10" PG: </strong>Linville wasn’t a star on the offensive end of the floor, but he did have a couple of nice moves driving to the right. He also showed that he can knock down the outside shot. However, his biggest impact on the game was on the defensive end of the floor. Noah’s man defense kept the Lebanon ball-handlers uneasy throughout the entire game. He came up with multiple deflections and wasn’t afraid to put his body on the line diving for loose balls. He also put his body on the line to take a charge. Noah isn’t the flashiest of players, but he does the things that help his team win. He could definitely help out a Division 3 school that is looking for someone with tons of heart and hustle in his game.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Fishers @ Indianapolis Pike - 1/8/2021</strong></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="870272" first="Bryce" last="Williams"] (Fishers) (2022) - 6’0" PG: </strong>Williams is a smaller guard who had a very quiet game early on, but once he got to the free-throw line and saw the ball go through the hoop late in the third quarter, he was able to make a couple plays late to get Fishers back into this ball game. He showed that he can get to the rim and also knock down shots from the outside. I would like to see him be much more aggressive throughout the entirety of the game like he was in the final quarter. Williams has tons of potential, and he should earn a lot of attention from NAIA programs in the coming years.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1049176" first="Devon" last="Woods"] (Pike) (2023) - 5’7" PG: </strong>Woods is a very small, young point guard who uses his quickness to beat his opponents. He gets to the rim and can finish inside. He can also knock down shots from the deep. He ended this game with 7 points, but he played very well, getting the ball into the hands of the playmakers. Woods should continue to grow, both physically and with his confidence, so I think he has a lot of potential going forward.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Westfield @ Carmel - 1/9/2021</strong></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="870222" first="Braden" last="Smith"] (Westfield) (2022) - 5’10" PG: </strong>Smith didn’t have anywhere near his best game in this one, but he is still an outstanding player. He is very smooth with the basketball and has great ball-handling ability. He sees the court well and is always looking for the open man. He struggled shooting from the outside, but he is shooting 44% on the year. The size and length of the Carmel team caused him quite a bit of trouble, but he is still a great player who had an off game. Smith currently holds 5 low major offers, and I would expect him to receive quite a few more in the coming year.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="870245" first="Cameron" last="Haffner"] (Westfield) (2022) - 6’2" SG: </strong>Haffner is a player with tons of talent that has been pretty overlooked due to the success of [player_tooltip player_id="870222" first="Braden" last="Smith"]. Haffner can score the ball from all over the court. He has very good body control inside around the rim, and he can finish through contact. He is a great shooter off the dribble as he went 2-3 from deep in this one. Haffner was really the only player that could get anything going in this one as he finished with 12 points for the Rocks. Cam holds offers from Indiana Tech and Huntington, and I would expect him to receive more NAIA and possible low Division 1 interest.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="963940" first="Connor" last="Gioia"] (Carmel) (2021) - 5’9" PG: </strong>Gioia was one of the more underrated players in this game that played possibly the biggest role in Carmel’s victory. His man defense on [player_tooltip player_id="870222" first="Braden" last="Smith"] was off the charts. He seemed to make Smith uncomfortable for most of the game, and he also made an impact on the offensive end. He totaled 8 points while showing off a nice three-point shot, a good floater inside, and shiftiness in the lane. He is a solid pass-first point guard, but he can score when he needs to. Gioia has the potential to be a very good point guard at the Division 3 level, and he is flying very under the radar at this point in time.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="769662" first="Peter" last="Suder"] (Carmel) (2022) - 6’3" SG: </strong>Suder was in foul trouble for most of this game, but he found some space to work in the second half to show off his skills. He has good size for a shooting guard and has good touch around the rim. He likes to push the ball up the floor and is always looking for the open man. He didn’t show much shooting jumpers, but he does have the ability to knock down those shots. Suder has four Division 1 offers, and I fully expect that number to double or more in the coming year.</p>