Under the Radar 2024 Wings and Bigs

Colby Giacubeno

July 31, 2023 @ 12:59 PM

As we enter the last month of summer, it's always fun to take an early look at the high school season and base some findings from AAU to formulate opinions on which players remain under college coach's radars. For this article, it'll be centered around the MD/DC wings and bigs in the 2024 class that fit such a bill.   [player_tooltip player_id='1598815' first='Riley' last='Costello'] | St. Mary's Annapolis   Costello is one of the many bigs on this St. Mary's Annapolis team, but he'll be one of the senior leaders that head coach Trey Quinn leads on to produce in the painted area. The 6-foot-8 forward showed proof throughout June at DMV Live that he can finish with efficiency, soft touch and in multiple ways on his touches inside. He runs the floor hard, helps hold down the glass and uses his length around the rim to alter shots.   [player_tooltip player_id='1759606' first='Steve' last='Ndingue'] | Winston Churchill   Ndingue was another Churchill prospect who caught my attention late in the 2022-23 high school season and it was in large part due to the motor that he brings. He runs the floor extremely hard and despite standing 6-foot-4 while playing the four or five, Ndingue brings tremendous strength and physicality to make up for it. His game is very much at its best around the rim where he displayed great hands and has the athleticism to punish the rim with space. It'll be interesting to see how his game has progressed this fall.   Kahuranakai Treacher | St. Alban's   A name that has been picking up steam since July is Treacher, a 6-foot-8 native of New Zealand brings a unique blend of size and athleticism as a combo forward. His perimeter game is still under construction at this point, but he showed plenty of ability in the mid-range or around the rim for [program_tooltip program_id='2077004' first='Team' last='Takeover'] National 17U this summer. He'll be the staple for St. Alban's this season.   [player_tooltip player_id='1114028' first='Jayden' last='Brown'] | St. Andrew's   Brown is an intriguing prospect due to his size and skill at 6-foot-6. He has plus length to be a legitimate defender at multiple positions, can knock down shots with space and has shown good vision and underrated feel as a playmaker off the live dribble. The consistency and aggression of how Brown can put his numbers up will be what I watch for closely this season as he plays a key role on a very good St. Andrew's roster.   [player_tooltip player_id='1411084' first='Jake' last='Tringone'] | Sandy Spring Friends   Tringone may have had the most productive spring/summer of any prospect that not many folks are talking about. The improvement that I've seen over the calendar year in Tringone's game has been drastic and he proved that with his play for Global Squad on the UAA Circuit and in his opportunities with Sandy Spring at DMV Live. First and foremost, Tringone brings great effort at both ends. He isn't a player who looks to take possessions off. This means he's always in the mix for rebounds even when they're out of his area. He makes quick outlet passes to streaking guards, puts his head down and sprints the floor to make himself available in transition. He knocks down shots off the catch and can act as a pick-and-pop threat. Tringone can attack in straight-line drives where he gets to the paint and can finish with either hand. If there was one future bet that I could log this season, it'd be that Tringone averages a double-double.

As we enter the last month of summer, it's always fun to take an early look at the high school season and base some findings from AAU to formulate opinions on which players remain under college coach's radars. For this article, it'll be centered around the MD/DC wings and bigs in the 2024 class that fit such a bill.