Takeaways from NAIA season opener
To open up my scouting of the 2022-23 regular season, I decided to attend the season opener of two Ohio based NAIA programs. Shawnee State, the 2021 NAIA national champions hosted Rio Grande to tip off the college basketball season…
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Continue ReadingTo open up my scouting of the 2022-23 regular season, I decided to attend the season opener of two Ohio based NAIA programs. Shawnee State, the 2021 NAIA national champions hosted Rio Grande to tip off the college basketball season in Ohio. It’s important when scouting players from high school to the college level to be aware of the level of play in different levels of college basketball. After attending a Division III game between top 25 programs in Mount Union and Marietta last year, I’m planning on going to a Division II, JUCO and already went to a NAIA game this season. In this article I’m going to break down some takeaways I had from the game.
Shot allocation is diverse
In this game only two players attempted more than 11 field goal attempts, while eight players attempted between 8-11 field goal attempts. That showed me that a variety of players are expected to score the ball but there isn’t one dynamic scorer who plays with the ball in his hands often. Figure out ways to impact the game without scoring and if scoring is your game, know how to do it without the ball in your hands.
Smaller guards can thrive
Shawnee State starts three guards all listed between 6’0 and 6’2. This probably wouldn’t work at the Division I level due to the lack of size, but at the NAIA level it gave Shawnee State three guards who could all attack off the bounce and switch defensively from one another. All three guards were either Sophomores or Juniors and each have made strides in the weight room since enrolling at Shawnee State. The guard’s ability to switch onto a forward and not get bullied was crucial for Shawnee to play a high-pressure defense.
Experience wins and freshmen usually wait their turn
Shawnee State did not play a single freshman in this game. Despite having six freshmen on the roster, none saw the floor in the season opening game. Rio Grande was a bit different, they started a freshman and had two others come off the bench and play heavy minutes. Trey Robertson and Trent Hundley were two of the highest rated Ohio prospects in the 2022 class that committed to an NAIA program, both unsurprisingly got minutes early and scored 11 and 8 points respectively. Kaden Warner, a former Ohio prospect who moved to West Virginia also got the start at point guard as a freshman for Rio Grande. These prospects were great additions to the Rio Grande program and appear to be building blocks for the future, but most of the other freshman saw little to no playing time on either team, understand that you will likely have to wait your turn. For Rio Grande, they only have one senior on the roster, and he played just 12 minutes, this is a younger team that will hope to turn a corner as the season progresses. Shawnee State also only has one senior, but with a heavy majority of their contributors being Sophomore and Junior returners to the program, they have the continuity to start the season strong.
JUCO bigs prevelant
Shawnee State has used the JUCO route to find three bigs on their roster and the most dominating interior presence was 6’8 C Latavious Mitchell. Mitchell ended the game with a 17 point – 10 rebound double-double and was very physically imposing on both ends in the paint. JUCO is a great option for players in a variety of situations and seeing these players move on to four-year programs and contributing is showing the value of JUCO basketball.