Pick-and-Roll Specialists in VA (Part 3)

Jack Herron

September 1, 2021 @ 12:57 PM

While we’ve been updating our rankings and breaking down content on those, we decided to take a look at some of the best specialists in different areas of the state. Today, we take a look at part 3 of some of the best ball screen guards in the state. Cam Cole | 6’0” PG | Highland School ’23 Cole has a chance to be a breakout player for Highland School this year as they lost both of their point guards to D1 schools from last year and Cole is the one up next. He’s slippery and shifty making him tough to guard in space, he can score it from deep when defenders go under and he’s able to carve up the lane and make plays for himself and others. [player_tooltip player_id="1241929" first="Jackson" last="Crawford"] | 5’10” PG | Lord Botetourt ’23 Crawford is one of the more underrated players in the Roanoke area, as he isn’t the biggest or most athletic but he’s highly skilled in scoring the ball off the bounce. He shoots it at a high clip from deep off the bounce, he has a great middle game with floaters and pull-ups and he’s a capable and willing playmaker as well. Aiden Filliapano | 6’3” CG | Catholic ‘23 Filiapano is a pass-first guard with good size and it allows him to make plays for others in the pick-and-roll as good as anyone on this list. He plays with good pace and changes speeds well off the bounce, he’s very crafty with the ball in his hands, he makes excellent reads as the defense rotates and he can make shots when he’s left open. [player_tooltip player_id="1259541" first="Tyler" last="Bailey"] | 6’3” PG | Oak Hill Academy ’24 <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/08/Bailey-Tyler-1024x768-1.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1269952" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/08/Bailey-Tyler-1024x768-1-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> Bailey is a scoring guard that will be on national radars very soon as he’s playing with one of the top point guards in the 2023 class in [player_tooltip player_id="1115502" first="Caleb" last="Foster"], but expect Bailey to show his ability to run the show and score it well off the bounce, particularly out of ball screens. He has good burst and can turn the corner and use his strength to finish through contact, he’s a good shooter off the bounce and he has good vision and playmaking ability too. [player_tooltip player_id="1259542" first="Ben" last="Hammond"] | 5’8” PG | Paul VI ’24 <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/04/Ben-Hammond.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1172182" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/04/Ben-Hammond-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> Hammond is in the perfect place to learn as he’s playing with one of the top pick-and-roll guards on the east coast in Dug McDaniel, and Hammond has many of the same qualities with his ability to turn the corner and put pressure on the defense. He has great burst and is shifty allowing him to split on hard hedges, bigs will have no chance corralling him on switches and he’s great in drive-and-kicks as the defense collapses. [player_tooltip player_id="1259623" first="Del" last="Jones"] | 6’3” CG | Bishop O’Connell ’24 Jones is a very intriguing prospect who is already getting some division one interest and looks to have the size and overall skillset to be one of the top ball screen guards in the DMV. He has a tight handle and the size to see over the defense, he’s excellent in the midrange when bigs drop in coverage and he can put pressure on the defense and use his size and athleticism to score at the rim in traffic.