Millwood Team Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On October 1st, basketball practices opened up all across the state of Oklahoma. We're getting closer and closer to scrimmages starting and games tipping off in November and early December. Over the next several weeks, we'll be taking an in-depth look at the upcoming season with plenty of team previews, players to watch features, scrimmage breakdowns and much more! Keep it locked into Prep Hoops Oklahoma as we'll have new preview content dropping on the site every single day!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this preview, we take a look at the defending Class 3A state champion Millwood Falcons.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2021-2022 RESULTS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Millwood Falcons would capture the Class 3A state championship, winning their 16th state championship in school history, tying Booker T Washington for the most in state history. The Falcons finished the season incredibly strong and they carried the momentum into the playoffs and they would knock off Community Christian in the state championship game with a buzzer beater in the corner. Millwood began the season with a 6-4 record before January. Things would turn around as the calendar flipped to 2022 as the Falcons would go 16-2 the rest of the way. Millwood ran a platoon system where they felt like they had two "starting lineups" and they continued that throughout the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prior to the season, one of the marquee prospects that emerged for Millwood was freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1391439' first='Jaden' last='Nickens']. Before the season even began, Nickens had earned offers from D1 programs like Auburn and Oklahoma State. And the Falcons would believe in that platoon system, Nickens bought in and would be a spark off the bench for the Falcons, leading that second unit that would come into games. Ever since rankings began for the 2025 class, Nickens has been in the number one spot so to have the number one player in his class coming off the bench, you had to have buy in. Not to mention that Nickens had to be considered the best "sixth man" in the state last season. Nickens had a great state tournament and was a big part of the Falcons winning gold ball number 16. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2022-2023 OUTLOOK</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Like several other defending state champions, Millwood will go into this season with a massive target on their backs and they are the favorites in Class 3A this winter. But similar to last season, don't be surprised if the Falcons have another slow start to this year. As of right now, a lot of the top players for the Falcons are also standouts on the football field. But unlike last season, the Falcons plan on sticking around for a while in the Class 2A playoffs, they're currently ranked in the top five of Class 2A and are closer and closer to locking up a district championship. So we might not see some of Millwood's best players on the basketball floor until December. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And Millwood is going to test themselves once again in the first two months of the season. They'll be participating in some of the tougher scrimmages in November, seeing top individual and team talent along the way. They'll also have a few tough early match-ups in December against teams like Crossings Christian, Douglass and Oklahoma Christian School. In January, the Falcons will once again participate in tournaments in Anadarko and Moore. The schedule is once again a tough one but when the calendar flips to 2023, the Falcons expect to be back to full strength and ready for another run at the gold ball. Other teams like Purcell, Silo and Westville will have something to say about it, but the Falcons are the favorites once again this winter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>PLAYERS TO WATCH</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_6359e5a649721","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1640908"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"The first of two 2025 prospects that had breakout seasons as freshmen. While our next player to watch might be more known as a prospect, this prospect will be remembered in Millwood basketball history for a long time. [player_tooltip player_id='1640908' first='Chance' last='Davis'], better known around school as u0022Bubbau0022, would hit that game-winning shot just before time expired to give the Falcons that state championship. Davis showed no fear in the catch and shoot and buried the game-winner. The expectations for Davis are going up as he heads into his sophomore season. And not just because he hit one shot back in March, Davis is looking to have a new role with the team this winter. The coaches at Millwood expect Davis to be one of the leaders of this year's team. And while some of their best players are still on the football field, Davis is in the gym, trying to set the tone for this year's team as they attempt to repeat as state champs.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"edit"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_6359e5b949722","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1391439"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"We already wrote quite a bit about Millwood standout [player_tooltip player_id='1391439' first='Jaden' last='Nickens'] with the breakout season he had as a freshman. He accepted his role with the Falcons last year and finished the year strong with a great performance in the state tournament and he was outstanding in the state championship game. Nickens is an outstanding basketball prospect and has basically held on to the number one spot in the Oklahoma rankings since they began. But Nickens is also starting to have a bright future on the gridiron as a football prospect. So it will be interesting to see how Nickens balances the two sports over the next two and a half years. We've been told by multiple coaches at Millwood that Nickens is determined to not only be the top basketball prospect in the state, he's determined to be in the number one spot for both sports. This day and age, that's pretty rare but Nickens appears to be on that path right now.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"edit"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_6359e5cc49723","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["967381"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"We mentioned how the Falcons are going to have to wait for their football players to join the basketball team whenever the football season comes to a close. One of the top two-sport stars in the state when it comes to the 2023 class is Millwood's [player_tooltip player_id='967381' first='Rickey' last='Hunt']. He's been a standout on the basketball floor since early on in his prep career and the same can be said about the football field. Hunt is the vocal leader of this team and was a walking double-double last season. He's a big physical guard that can score from various spots on the floor but also pound the paint and grab rebounds. You can tell that Hunt is a football player on the basketball floor because he has no problem with lowering the shoulder to get separation. It appears that Hunt is about to announce his college commitment early on in November. While his future might be on the football field, Hunt has still been a fun basketball prospect to watch.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"edit"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>MORE NAMES TO KNOW</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Carlos Strong - 2023 Forward<br>Robert Wilson - 2024 Forward<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1372025' first='William' last='Mays'] - 2023 Guard<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1482831' first='Xon' last='Williams'] - 2024 Guard</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->