Five Impact Freshmen

<p>There’s few things I enjoy more about scouting than being able to identify the future stars of the sport early on in their careers. So, I figured I would begin writing again after a long hiatus on some of the promising young players in Nebraska that I’ve watched this year. There were almost a dozen freshmen who did something significant enough to catch my eye and make it in my notes, but the following five players stood above the rest:</p> <h5><strong>Amir Martin </strong>Omaha Burke - 6’2" CG</h5> <p>The Bulldogs are one of the younger teams in the Metro with only two seniors on the roster, so there hasn’t been much success in terms of wins throughout the season. In the two Burke games I have watched this year, Martin is the one my eyes kept finding. He is certainly not a complete player at this point, but it’s clear that he has the most skill, feel, and potential of anyone on the roster. His handle allows him to get him to his spots, and he can shoot both off the catch and the dribble. He doesn’t have much interest at all in playing defense right now, and he forces some opportunities in the lane which leads to turnovers, but the skill is evident and certainly someone to watch over his career.</p> <h5><strong>D’marius Shumaker </strong>Lincoln Southeast - 5’9" PG</h5> <p>I finally caught Lincoln Southeast on the last regular season weekend of the year, and I was impressed with how composed the young Knights were against a veteran Elkhorn South team. I normally don’t make evaluations until I see several games from a player, but I felt confident enough in what I saw to write about the two young guards from Southeast. D’marius started the game, and immediately made an impact. In the first few minutes, he had a great defensive dig on a driver which resulted in a steal, and he finished over the much bigger, and much more experienced [player_tooltip player_id="1235586" first="Henry" last="Burt"] after taking it the whole way himself. I don’t think he is very confident in his shot right now, because he passed up a few open catch and shoot opportunities in favor of contested layups and floaters at the rim, but overall I was impressed with the young guard.</p> <h5><strong>BJ Bradford </strong>Lincoln Southeast - 5’9" PG</h5> <p>Bradford runs point when Shumaker is subbed out, and there is no drop off at all in terms of athleticism or poise. They both had similar games against Elkhorn South: athletic finishing, no fear when attacking shot blockers, and strength through contact when putting pressure on the rim. Bradford, like Shumaker, had some turnovers you’d expect from a freshman, but they are both great athletes with feel who will benefit greatly from having so much responsibility early in their careers. Despite having only one senior on the roster, Lincoln Southeast finished one game under .500 and competed all throughout the season. Keep an eye on the Knights in the coming years.</p> <h5><strong>A’mare Bynum </strong>Omaha Bryan - 6’4" SF</h5> <p>I don’t envision Bynum ever being the best athlete on the floor, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how polished his offensive game is at this point. In a game against Omaha Central I watched early in the year, Bynum scored 13 points on 5/7 from the field. He knocked down a face up jumper off a reverse pivot, knocked down a spot up three, backpedaled into a corner three off movement, and side stepped into a three after calmly pump faking his defender into the air with the clock running down. He made all of those actions look easy, which they certainly are not.</p> <h5><strong>Chuck Love</strong> Lincoln Southwest - 6’5" SF</h5> <p>No freshman got as much attention and hype leading up to the season as the Lincoln Southwest wing, and for good reason. The length and versatility he provides is a rare and valuable combination. He has nice wiggle when handling the ball and will be able to get past most defenders he will face throughout his career. He proved to be a very nice catch and shoot option with the defense in rotation. As is the case with most young players at every level, he is a negative on the defensive end right now. He has a tendency to fall asleep and allow open cuts to the basket, and he can get blown by at the point of attack due to poor footwork. But all you really need to know about the talent of the young wing is that he closes games for a Top-10 team in the state as a true freshman. Not bad.</p>