Week 2 Scouting: Available 2022 Wings/Bigs

Colby Giacubeno December 10, 2021 @ 06:00 PM

Week two has come and gone and I continue to shed light on some prospects who caught my eye throughout my travels. I broke down the guards and now it’s time to move to the available wings/bigs who remain available within the 2022 class. [player_tooltip player_id="1110545" first="Cortez" last="Johnson"] | 6’7 | St. Frances Recruitment: Low-to-mid D1. Johnson had his performance that put his name on the map over the weekend in St. Frances’ last second win over DeMatha. The 6-foot-7 forward scored 16 points and corralled a ridiculous 20 rebounds in the effort. His versatility on both ends were on display. Johnson was simply dominant in the outing where he was dunking around the rim, controlling the glass and even hit a couple of shots from three which caught the eyes on the coaches in attendance. Morgan State has been heavily pursuing Johnson, but UNC-Greensboro and Siena officially offered following the game. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/12/Johnson-Cortez.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1342668 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/12/Johnson-Cortez-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="1215151" first="Cesar" last="Tchilombo"] | 6’8 | John Carroll Recruitment: Low-to-mid D1. Tchilombo went up against a highly-coveted prospect in the 2024 class in Yves Messi who is being recruited by blue-blood programs. Tchilombo didn’t let that impact how he approaches the game as he violently ripped rebounds down with regularity and when in battles with anyone from West Nottingham for those rebounds, Tchilombo won. He also connected on a three from the top of the key (which has quietly become one of my favorite things to watch this year). Tchilombo holds offers from Howard, Mount St. Mary’s, USC-Upstate, Longwood and Siena. In my opinion, that range is accurate. [player_tooltip player_id="1198795" first="CJ" last="Scott"] | 6’5 | Archbishop Spalding Recruitment: Low D1. Spalding ran into an absolute buzzsaw in Paul IV on Sunday and lost 74-58. Scott was efficient in the effort though, scoring 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. The majority of his buckets came around the rim on drives or out in transition where his size and versatility come into play. With Scott, it’s never been a question of his skillset or his make-up that is in question. It’s the consistent production and effort level throughout the course of a 32-minute game. This season, he’s definitely made huge strides in those regards and it’s showing in his numbers. NJIT is the latest school to offer Scott. [player_tooltip player_id="1110551" first="Aidan" last="Mess"] | 6’7 | Mount St. Joseph Recruitment: Low D1. Mess is one of the players in the area that I’ll watch anytime based off how hard he plays. I caught Mount St. Joe against Calvert Hall where they won big and despite Mess playing with a hurt ankle, he managed to log a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Mess is very patient with the ball on the block and his back to the basket. He’d take one or two dribbles to establish leverage and get a feel for what his defender was trying to force him to do. On multiple occasions, he’d take a big step towards the middle before rising up for an over the shoulder hook that he hit every time. If getting your hand on the ball following a shot counted as a stat, I’m convinced Mess would average 25+ boards. He hits the glass relentlessly on both ends. Navy is Mess’ lone offer. Patriot League programs in need of a steady big should be all over him.