NERR National Prep Showcase – Virginia Standouts

<p>This weekend I attended the Northeast Recruiting Report’s (NERR) National Prep Showcase at Albertus Magnus College in my own New Haven, Connecticut. While the games may have been muted in importance by the impending flock of Yale and Harvard alum attending The Game, the showcase brought together some of the nation’s best prep school talent. And as a fairly new New England scout, I couldn’t have been more excited to finally get to see some of the region’s best teams go at it.</p> <p>However, while the Northeast shined bright, I found a small cohort of Virginia hoopers who deserved all the recognition I could give them. I watched two Virginia teams (Massanutten Academy and Hargrave Military Academy) and was impressed by both teams’ depth and insane guard cores. Here are some of the individuals who caught my eye from Virginia:</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="769659" first="Leland" last="Walker"], Hargrave Military Academy, 6-1, 2022</strong></p> <p>With a lot of the prep schools I watched, there was a lot of focus on skillset and ability as opposed to heart or drive. And while I did appreciate this, I found myself missing the grime and hustle of southern basketball. That is, until I watched [player_tooltip player_id="769659" first="Leland" last="Walker"]. Walker played hard for the entire 40 minutes and fought through a lot of tough hits from a highly physical Woodstock Academy. I described him as a "chef" in my notes, because it always felt like he had an uncanny ability to find the right spice for a move and knew exactly how to confuse the person in front of him. He went head to head with Keenan Emmanuel (one of my other favorite players from the weekend) and really forced him to play hard defense. Walker’s scoring ability and intensity made him an instant favorite of mine on the weekend and puts him here on this list.</p> <p><strong>Madison Durr, Hargrave Military Academy, 6-5, 2022</strong></p> <p>This Atlanta-native also knew how to play to my appreciation of hard work and hustle on the floor. Durr is a tenacious and high energy wing who fueled his team on the defensive end. With his length and big hand, Durr was able to disrupt the Woodstock offense many times and often left his man scratching his head trying to figure out how to score on him. Down the stretch, Durr was a force on the defensive end that made play after play to force the ball into Hargrave’s hands. While his defense shined through, his offensive performance was solid as well. He is a consistently good free throw shooter and had a nice bag of tricks that led to mid-range jump scoring. Overall, I think Durr had a good weekend and should see some interest pouring in from the colleges in attendance. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="815583" first="Kanye" last="Clary"], Massanutten Military Academy, 5-10, 2022, Penn State commit</strong></p> <p>Clary was one of the most poised players on the docket for the whole tournament. Despite his small stature, Clary may be one of the most physically dominant specimens I have seen at the high school level. He’s as strong as they come and uses that to his advantage against larger defenders. It didn’t matter that he was the smallest guy on the floor, because Clary got buckets against everyone who guarded him. Even though the baby guard lacks a consistent perimeter shot, Clary had 26 points in the contest against Vermont Academy and put up another 18 when I watched him against Cushing Academy. He gets to his spots on the floor and cashes mid-range jumpers or finds a way to blow by you in the open floor. He’s got a high IQ and sets teammates up at a high-level, tallying 8 assists in the contest vs. Cushing. Clary is headed to Penn State next year and will provide a source of high-intellect basketball to the program. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1241885" first="Adrian" last="Myers"], Massanutten Military Academy, 6-7, 2022</strong></p> <p>Myers had a quieter weekend, but in both outings I was able to watch he really impressed me. Being a 6-7 wing is commonplace in the modern NCAA, but being a 6-7 wing with a jumper like Myers’ is not. He was able to catch fire in both games and punish teams from beyond the arc, a skill which is valuable at any level of the game. With his length and heads up offensive tendencies, Myers stood out from his fellow forwards with his sharpshooting. He could add value to a program that needs a perimeter threat that will perform night in and night out. </p>