Week 2 Scouting: 2022 Available Guards

It’s time for another scouting series of articles reflecting on the week that was and breaking down prospects of various classes who I caught in action. I’ll start with the 2022 guards. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/12/Vakaris-Grauslys.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1344741" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/12/Vakaris-Grauslys-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> Vakaris Grauslys | 6’1 | West Nottingham Recruitment: Unsigned. Courting interest from high academic D3’s. I have to start with Grauslys considering he has been the best find of mine so far in the young season. The way the 6-foot-1 controlled the game in West Nottingham’s 1-point win over John Carroll was nothing short of outstanding. He put on a shooting clinic as well, nailing seven triples on his way to a game-high 32 points. All of his three’s came in catch-and-shoot scenarios and while a couple of them were from simple kick-out passes, Grauslys canned multiple three’s coming off screens where he showcased sound footwork and got into his shot quickly. He can catch at his chest and immediately get into his jumper without swooping the ball down to his hips to gain momentum. He has a tight handle and succeeded against heavy ball pressure. Grauslys has good feel for the game and it showed in ball screen actions where he used any angle or mistake that his defender or the opposing big guarding the screener made. There were a few instances where he drove to the rim and finished with craft to avoid extended arms of opposing shot blockers. Most importantly, he played with energy, was a constant communicator and brought the leadership that any teams needs from their point guard. Grauslys has a 4.0 GPA and is in the running to be valedictorian this year. If I were an Ivy League or Patriot League program, I would take a long hard look at the Lithuanian native. [player_tooltip player_id="904680" first="TJ" last="Vaughn"] | 5’11 | John Carroll Recruitment: Unsigned. Mid-to-high D3. Vaughn had a tough task with Grauslys absolutely catching fire, though it wasn’t due to a lack of presence or effort on Vaughn’s end. The 5-foot-11 guard was super efficient scoring 14 points and knocking down 4-of-6 shots from deep. John Carroll has played a challenging schedule to start the season and they’re still trying to solidify each player’s role to gear up for when playoff times comes. If Vaughn can continue to be efficient from three, it’ll be a huge factor going forward. As a team John Carroll is very good at advancing the ball in transition, but Vaughn is especially good with locating shooters such as 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="837919" first="Tyson" last="Commander"] or streaking bigs like 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="1215151" first="Cesar" last="Tchilombo"] for quick scores. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/12/Tyson-Commander.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1340310" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/12/Tyson-Commander-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="837919" first="Tyson" last="Commander"] | 6’4 | John Carroll Recruitment: Unsigned. Mid-major D1. Commander continues to build on an impressive start to his senior season. West Nottingham’s defensive strategy was to take him away completely, and as we’ve seen this season, Commander is able to unlock an aggression and carry his team for spurts of games. He scored 17 points in the loss and attacked the rim with determination. The lefty showed quick burst on his rip throughs to blow by his defender who continuously pressed up to take away Commander’s shot. The one negative with this specific performance was Commander’s free-throw shooting, which is usually automatic so the fact that he struggled isn’t exactly concerning. These type of games happen. It’s still good to see he remained aggressive and didn’t settle for contested three’s or mid-rangers. [player_tooltip player_id="904663" first="Rob" last="Lawson"] | 5’11 | National Christian Recruitment: Unsigned. High D2-Low D1. Lawson really impressed me over the weekend at National Hoop Fest. The 5-foot-11 floor general is as tough as they come and has great instincts as a point guard. He shot it from three and in the paint, almost all of which came from ball screen scenarios. What caught my eye most is how effective Lawson is when he get his defender on his back (many use the phrase ’putting your defender in jail’) and keeping him there as he forces the defense to make a decision on rotations. He doesn’t force the issue, just keeps his cool and takes what the defense gave him. If no one stepped up, he’d take it to the rim. If the big sagged off, he’d hit a pull-up. If he came off more aggressively and a weakside defender rotated, Lawson quickly located the open teammate for a clean look. This game doesn’t have to be complicated and when I was watching Lawson it spoke to his IQ for how he dissected the defense. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/04/Kyle-Gaskins.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1168082" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/04/Kyle-Gaskins-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="777090" first="Kyle" last="Gaskins"] | 6’0 | Coolidge Recruitment: Unsigned. Mid-to-high D2. Gaskins was the lone bright spot in Coolidge’s loss to Rock Creek over the weekend. The 6-foot guard plays a lot of minutes off the ball due to his ability to score from all three levels. He scored 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting and when he wasn’t knocking down a three, he was getting to his spots from 15-to-17 feet and pulling up with confidence. He was also a tremendous presence on the glass with eight rebounds. Gaskins doesn’t let his size keep him from gaining inside position on players and making himself available for rebounds. Takao Carpenter | 6’3 | National Christian Recruitment: Unsigned. High D3-Mid D2. Carpenter didn’t have the best numbers efficiency wise on Sunday, but he still is one of the better shooters that you’ll find in the DMV. His better game came in the loss against Westtown where he logged 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting while hitting three triples. Carpenter has good size for his position. His off the dribble game is a still a work in progress, but he showed some comfort in a few spots after the defender closed out quickly. He’s clearly at his best when he’s off the ball and finding windows to spot-up and make himself available to penetrating guards looking for kick-out passes. He can fill it up in a hurry once one drops.