'29 Rankings Update: Skilled Bigs

New readers: Use code Proia30     We updated our 2029 rankings today, adding in over 40 new prospects from Maryland and Washington DC for a total of 145 in the rising sophomore class. This update is often tricky because of the variance in role and minutes for the freshman class across the region as developmental arcs/usage fluctuate frequently in a prospect's inaugural HS season. In this article, we'll break down some of the stock-rising guards that rose the most in this update after a productive few months of play in AAU/scholastic competition in front of college coaches. Let's dive in!    Previous Rank: 27   -Puffenbarger's slow but steady improvements on a night to night basis continue to stack up and form a very solid young center prospect. Puffenbarger is timing his box-outs and leaps to come up with tough rebounds in traffic and has perfected several step-through moves to maneuver his way to easy post baskets. The micro skills (not bringing the ball below his chest to cut down on turnovers, timing of the release to on-ball screens, timing of his seals/defensive shows) continue to show standard improvement with each viewing, which is irregular for a position group that usually experiences the bulk of their development late in their HS careers. Love the consistency of his load-up and follow-through on pick n pop baseline jumpers that routinely splash through nothing but net.     Previous Rank: 68   -Tema's motor is the singular trait that stands out on a nightly basis as a 2-way hustle wing that does a lot for his team throughout the course of the game. Tema sets great off-ball screens to free teammates up for jumpers, has become a much better finisher around the basket, is contesting shots without fouling, and comes up with huge rebounds in traffic to extend/close-out possessions for his team. The skill on baseline turn-around jumpers and mid-post faders shows the development to his jumper and ball skills as a whole over the course of his freshman season.     Previous Rank: 56   -Thabeet transferred to the Cadets this offseason and will star as a consistent contributor with their new regional varsity team. Thabeet sees the floor well as a passer from the low block or high post, serves as an instinctual rebounder, and continues to improve the timing of his dives to the rim for putback dunks or alley-oop lob finishes. Would not be surprised to see the ball skills continue to develop as the rising sophomore has a decent chance to reach 7' by the time he finishes up high school basketball.     Previous Rank: Unranked   -DeStefano debuts in our rankings after transferring from public school hoops into the Landon School to serve as an immediate impact player in the frontcourt. Love his feel for where the ball is coming off the rim to beat his matchup to spots for rebounds, the timing of his off-ball cuts to serve as a one-more playmaker from the high post or as a play-finisher on a back door cut, and usually in the right spot to contest shots around the basket. The form has looked great on made 3s, free throws, and midrange jumpers from the elbow or from the baseline. His blend of skill and intelligence in the frontcourt should make him a valuable piece of the rebuild at Landon.     Previous Rank: 31   -Although I would call him more of a wing than a forward prospect, Branch impressed our scouts this offseason with standout 2-way play for Team Thrill. Thrill has a way of squeezing every last ounce of potential out of their players at the defensive end of the floor and those instincts as an off-ball disruptor translated well back to MSJ for the scholastic live periods. Branch's ability to shoot the ball and do it with great positional size makes him a key component as a wing that can guard multiple positions for his team.

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