Geico Nationals: Sunrise Christian vs Prolific Prep (Pt. 2)

Joel Francisco

April 6, 2022 @ 07:23 PM

Geico Nationals: Sunrise Christian vs Prolific Prep (Pt. 2) FORT MEYERS, FL—It’s hard to believe but Geico Nationals is in its thirteenth year of existence and its been quite a ride with a staggering amount of players that have ended up in the NBA, including Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Jaylen Brown to name a few. This year is no different as there are a plethora of highly-talented ballers in Jordan Walsh, Chris Livingston, Dariq Whitehead, Keyonte George, and Gatorade National POY [player_tooltip player_id="787613" first="Gradey" last="Dick"]. Locked up [player_tooltip player_id="787613" first="Gradey" last="Dick"] (Sunrise Christian Academy) 2022, G, 6-foot-7, 185 pounds Joel’s Take: First and foremost, the Kansas signee is one of the Top 10 prospects in the country and will make an immediate impact at the next level, and possibly beyond as well. He is a highly skilled guard who has a feathery stroke from beyond the stripe. However, although he had some glimpses of his terrific all-around game, for the most part, [player_tooltip player_id="1270483" first="Tre" last="White"] (Prolific Prep) did an outstanding job making life difficult for Dick. White battled threw screens and essentially used his strength and moxie to face-guard Dick throughout and didn’t give him any breathing room. The Best is yet to come [player_tooltip player_id="787626" first="Mark" last="Mitchell"] (Sunrise Christian Academy) 2022, F, 6-foot-9, 225 pounds Joel’s Take: Mitchell is one of the best prospects in the country as he possesses all the physical traits scouts balook for in a wing-type prospect. He has long arms, good shoulder width, and bouncy nature to play multiple positions. He is quite potent with the ball in his hands as a playmaker. He can finish with either hand and through contact. In addition, he utilizes the triple threat game to get by his defender and has a quick 1st step. Once his jump shot becomes more consistent, his future beyond college looks promising. “Not in my house” [player_tooltip player_id="1254022" first="Mor" last="Seck"] (Prolific Prep) 2022, C, 7-foot, 225 pounds Joel’s Take: One of the better rim protectors in the 1st Round at Geico belonged to Seck. The long-armed 7-footer disrupted shots at the rim, blocked a few shots, and even contributed at the offensive end. His offense is still in its rudimentary stages, but he runs well in transition and he can hammer the offensive glass for put-backs. Standout Performance [player_tooltip player_id="766841" first="Jordan" last="Pope"] (Prolific Prep) 2023, PG, 6-foot, 165 pounds Joel’s Take: Pope put on a shooting exhibition in the 2nd half in Proific Preps impressive upset of No. 1 seed Sunrise Christian. He won’t “wow” you with exceptional quickness, but he gets where he needs to go with the dribble, can create space with the dribble, and changes speeds well. However, in this game, his jump shot was flowing. He ended up 5-for-10 from the 3-point stripe and his shot mechanics were tight. In addition, he converted a nice runner and showed off a nice crossover pull-up.