BatL Shakopee: Best Inside Presences

The Prep Hoops Battle at the Lakes was this weekend and I was out at Shakopee covering games. These players are the players I saw do the best job of handling the dirty work inside. From blocking shots and grabbing rebounds to finishing around the basket, these guys showed they were the best when they were in the paint.

Andrew Nolde– 6’3″ Forward- MN Select 2025 Meitz

Andrew has impressive footwork for a young player. He did a good job of using his pump fake and his drop step to create space in the lane for him to finish. Once he gets to finish, he does a great job of going up strong through contact and showed that he can finish with either hand. Andrew’s other impressive skill is his knack for finding offensive rebounds. He seemed to always be in the right spot and then showed some explosiveness when going and grabbing the ball over other players. Andrew is also good in transition where he does a great job of sprinting to the front of the rim for easy scores. I’d like to see him develop a bit of an outside shot as that will create even more opportunities for him to use his fantastic shot fake to get to the basket.

Jason Eagle– 6’1″ Forward- Heat Gurley 2025

Jason is a player that has a knack for finishing around the basket and drawing fouls. My favorite thing about his game is how he never stops attacking. He is relentless in ripping through and driving downhill to get to the paint. Once he gets inside, he seeks out the contact from opposing players and looks to finish through it. In the two games that I watched Heat Gurley play, he had multiple and-one plays. When he got fouled, Jason showed great poise at the line and knocked down the large majority of his free throws. Jason is a forward for his team, but he is more than willing to take the ball up the floor and attack. What’s next for Jason is to get more comfortable on the perimeter as that will add some diversity to his skill set going forward.

CJ Wright– 6’1″- Pride Roc 2025

CJ is a player that is constantly flying around. What was so impressive about him was how he used his athleticism to go up and snatch rebounds out of the air. He does a great job of positioning himself for rebounds and then explodes up above other players. He also displayed a great second jump whenever he got an offensive rebound, which allowed him to get plenty of putbacks. His understanding of how to use the basket is advanced for his age as he did a good job of using the rim to protect the ball from opposing defenders. For CJ, the next step is to develop a willingness to kick the ball out. He found himself surrounded inside in the paint a few times and tried to force a shot when he had open teammates.

Monti Taylor– 6’4″- D1 Wisconsin 2025

What catches your eye initially with Monti is his frame. He’s 6’4″ and has a strong upper body that makes him very difficult to move off his position once he gets to it. He uses his frame very well when he’s setting screens and crashing the boards. I enjoyed how nice of footwork he displayed when he caught it on the block. He did a good job of using a mix of spinbacks, step-throughs, and drop steps in his attack. Monti’s biggest key in his development moving forward is to improve his touch. He does a good job of putting himself in positions to score, but I want to see him finish off more of those opportunities. If he can develop that touch, he already has the frame to be a dominant player on the inside moving forward.

Mikai Taylor– 6’1″ forward- MN Heat Richardson 2025

What I really liked about Mikai was how he was able to score over either shoulder in the post. He had good touch going back to his right with a jump hook and could go left and knock down a short fadeaway. He played with a bit more finesse than some of the other bigs that I saw and he used his quick feet to his advantage in the posts. He even showed off some nice touch when he caught the ball at the elbow and faced up. As refined as Mikai on the offensive end, I would like to see him be a bit more active defensively. If he can learn how to use his quickness to his advantage in defending other forwards, I think he could be a successful player in high school.