Off The Board: Next Stop For Class of 2026 Prospects

The goal for many young athletes is to work hard enough to earn an opportunity to play at the next level while potentially earning a scholarship. The cost of this goal is countless hours and days of sacrifices, hard work and performing when the pressure is the highest with crowds of people in a gym all watching you. Below are some of the players that have signed to move on to play college basketball on the next level, although there are many players in our state that are moving on to the D1 level, we want to take the time to focus in on particularly the players that are moving on to the D2, D3, NAIA and JUCO levels.    After an outstanding senior season that included 9DIME FL Finals MVP, Conference Player of the Year and All-State recognitions he made the decision to stay close to home, committing to Central Carolina Community College. He's a player that plays the game with a toughness and confidence that should allow him to make a very early impact on the next level as the Cougars will be looking to fill the void of the gradation of leading scorer from last season.     His senior season could be seen as what many would call a redemption season for him. After suffering an injury earlier on his high school career, the question was if he could return back to college prospect form and he was able to do so without a doubt. After an impactful senior season, he followed it with a big-time performance in the FAB40 East America Camp, taking home Camp MVP honors and picking up a good amount of college interest. There are certain players that truly love playing the game of basketball and he is one of those players, you never have to question his desire to compete which will help him as he moves on to join a Davidson County Community College recruiting class that is absolutely loaded.     After a commitment early on, he saw his recruitment reopen after some coaching movements and would eventually go on to sign with Forsyth Tech. One of the top prospects in the city of Fayetteville, he made outstanding strides over the last few years and still has nice upside. The ability to knock down shots from the perimeter as well as making plays above the rim on both sides of the ball were just some of the reasons why he was able to take home All-State honors this season.     The Wake Forest High School big man was a player that showed some flashes of how good he could be during the season and had a solid showing at the FAB40 East America Camp. He would go on to pick up several JUCO offers but eventually made the decision to attend Fayetteville Technical Community College. Over the next two years we fully expect him to make nice strides and turn himself into a legitimate four-year scholarship level player.     A high flying Forward that is still only scratching the surface of how good he can be, he is another player that will be taking the JUCO route to attempt to develop and boost his recruitment over the next year. Running the floor to make plays above the rim offensively and protecting the paint on defense are what you see from him consistently. The next step for him will be to develop his perimeter shooting and ballhandling which we have full confidence he can accomplish over the next year at Three Rivers College     The undersized Forward makes up for his lack of height with his strength when he battles with taller opponents inside the paint. Throughout his senior season he was very productive for the Lumberton HS squad, putting together double/double numbers on almost a nightly basis to earn All Conference and All State honors. Earlier this month he made the decision to take the JUCO route, committing to play at Louisburg College.     The Garner product has been a player that we have seen grow and develop over the years and he would cap it off with a solid season that included taking the eventual state champions to the wire. During the spring he made his commitment to attend Livingstone College in the CIAA and is a player we fully expect to have an outstanding college career. A high character young man on an off the court that can be dominant on both sides of the ball, there is plenty like about what he can potentially be on the next level.

The goal for many young athletes is to work hard enough to earn an opportunity to play at the next level while potentially earning a scholarship. The cost of this goal is countless hours and days of sacrifices, hard work and performing when the pressure is the highest with crowds of people in a gym all watching you. Below are some of the players that have signed to move on to play college basketball on the next level, although there are many players in our state that are moving on to the D1 level, we want to take the time to focus in on particularly the players that are moving on to the D2, D3, NAIA and JUCO levels.