Off-The-Radar Forwards: Class of 2023

Alex Fydryszewski

April 25, 2022 @ 03:42 PM

With much attention paid to the power players, we also do our homework to find the players at smaller schools who should be receiving interest from colleges and bring that to the surface. Today, we feature several post players who had big junior years at smaller schools or in more rural areas that should be catching the eye of college coaches for their potential to contribute at the next level. JaJuan Nelson| 6’7” | F | String Theory String Theory may be a bit of an unknown to the casual HS Hoops fan, but they have a talented big man in Nelson on the roster right now. He’s very athletic—A jump out the gym kid who attacks the basket with force and can redirect shots in the paint. He averaged 13 and 10 as a junior. Under the radar player that colleges in the area should check up on. [player_tooltip player_id="1185931" first="Brody" last="Burleigh"]| 6’5” | F | North Penn Mansfield Another off the radar program, but Burleigh is a big framed post man who cleans up the glass and finishes well around the rim. It’s clear that he’s still growing into his body and as he does, he’ll get stronger and tougher to defend. He posted a number of double-doubles as a junior and received several player of the week and post-season honors. He’ll be a four year varsity player and a three year key contributor. He’s tucked away in the Northern Tier but D3s should take the trip to evaluate him. Elijah Hamilton| 6’4” | F | Octorara HS Hamilton had a big junior year, going for nearly 20PPG. He doesn’t force it and plays within himself. Tough rebounder who uses that skill to get himself second chance buckets. Went over 20 on numerous occasions and had an eye-popping 31&22 in a win over Lancaster Catholic. The regional D2 and D3 schools should be keeping an active eye on him in the coming year. [player_tooltip player_id="1185981" first="Evan" last="Dumaine"]| 6’3” | F |Mount Calvary Christian Big bodied forward who has range beyond the three point arc. He can bang in the post and use good footwork to win positional battles but also has a quick release on his shot—especially when he’s out on the wing in transition. Playing small school basketball in a more rural area, the key stat line that should have D3 coaches interested is his 16&5 against Pottsville Nativity.