St Thomas More School vs. South Kent School Standouts

St Thomas More faced South Kent on Sunday, February 23rd in a battle of big-time Connecticut prep schools. South Kent kept it close for about 20 minutes before a second-half barrage from St Thomas More put it out of reach. STM ended up winning 93-79.   Below are my standouts.    Jemison is an extremely high-level prospect. The 6-foot-8 wing can shoot the ball incredibly well from deep, both off the dribble and in standstill situations. But he can also take players off the bounce and showcases solid athleticism at the rim. He's VERY smooth when running the floor in transition and uses his long arms and size to finish over bigs. His body type and the way he moves reminds me a lot of Cam Reddish, so the sky's the limit for Jemison. He'll be at Alabama next year and will turn heads with his combination of size and shooting ability.     My goodness, I absolutely love Sakihama's game. He's a full court hound defensively, constantly poking at the ball and sliding his feet to beat the offensive player to the spot. Offensively, he's lightning quick with the rock in his hands and is one of the best passers I've seen in the region. He loves to go to the look-away pass which almost always throws the defense off and gives the shooter or dunker-spot hanger an extra second to make a decision. He's the exact type of guy you want to play with as a big man because he can make all the passes you would need him to make in the pick and roll and half court. He should be a low D1 guy in my opinion, despite his size.     Benjamin is a very large individual with a ridiculous skill set. He's 6-foot-7 and is built like a defensive end, but he handles the ball and runs the floor like a 6-foot guard -- It's really special to watch. He bodies absolutely everybody in the paint and has some solid footwork and craft with multiple guard-like finishing moves. He can even step out and make some threes when he's open. In the open floor, he has great handles and made a couple insane behind-the-back moves throughout Sunday's game that players his size simply shouldn't be able to make. Definite D1 guy.     Dawkins is one of the highest ceiling players in the New England region. The sophomore is 6-foot-7 and has a beautiful-looking stroke. Those two things would be enough to make him a big-time prospect, but he also has really solid athleticism and moves quite fluidly for his size. It'll be fascinating to see how Dawkins progresses both physically and skill-wise in the next couple years, but barring injury or unforeseen circumstances, he should be a scholarship level player for sure.     Brazil is a scoring guard with great athleticism and not many offensive weaknesses. He can shoot it from three with good range, he can elevate over the defense and pull up in the mid-range, and he can get to the rim and finish with both hands. He can certainly get a little bit out of control at times, but when South Kent needed someone to get a paint touch and drive to the hoop, it was often him. Brazil's size has likely limited his recruitment, but he will definitely play college basketball somewhere.     I love Chiacchia's game so much. He won't wow you with vertical athleticism, but he's very strong and has wonderful footwork in the paint. Any post move you're thinking of, he has it in his bag. And despite the fact that he's undersized for the big-man position, his density and strength make him very difficult to handle in the paint. He isn't getting D1 offers, likely because he looks like the type of guy that would excel in a YMCA league, but once coaches watch him for awhile they'll start to understand how fundamentally sound and effective he is. Just give him a chance.

St Thomas More faced South Kent on Sunday, February 23rd in a battle of big-time Connecticut prep schools. South Kent kept it close for about 20 minutes before a second-half barrage from St Thomas More put it out of reach. STM ended up winning 93-79.