Updated 2018 Rankings: Biggest Stockrisers
Recently, we updated our 2018 rankings. As these seniors finish up for their final high school basketball season and gear up for the playoffs, college looms large around the corner. 2018 is a special class given the amount of talent at all levels – HM, MM, LM, D2 and small colleges all have plenty of options. Here are some players who’ve played consistently well all season and have risen in the rankings:
Khari Adams (Hazel Park)
Adams has enjoyed a great year filled with both individual and team success. Hazel Park started as one of the hottest teams, picking up impressive wins – including one over East English, where they contained Michigan signee Dave DeJulius, something that hardly any team could do in December/January. Despite being just 6’5″, Adams uses his athleticism and motor to rebound and play at the rim with true bigs. He’s been huge in the paint for one of the top teams in the state. He’s also showed the ability to make plays off the dribble from time to time, as well as hit jump shots.
Omari Duncan (Flint Carman-Ainsworth)
Duncan is enjoying a breakout year, in part due to big time performances on the big stage. At 6’4″, Duncan has the size to go with being an above-average athlete to be a solid D2 player. He excels at shooting and finishing at the rim, as well as playing defense. He’s a huge piece on a Carman-Ainsworth team that is considered by many to be a top-10 team in Class A, with the potential to make a deep run. Duncan is without a doubt their x-factor – typically, when he plays well, so does the whole team and vice versa when he struggles.
Payton Harley (Wyoming)
Harley has long been known as a top on-ball defender. However, over the course of the AAU season and through his senior campaign, he’s established his self as a legitimate scoring threat as well. He transferred from Godwin Heights – playing with Lamar Norman and Markeese Hastings surely took away from plenty of looks offensively he now has with Wyoming. Trending up, Harley is one of the top remaining unsigned seniors.
Charles Brown (Pershing)
Brown has been one of the more promising prospects to fly under the radar in this class. At 6’6″, he can do a bit of everything. He can shoot, runs the pick and roll well, can defend and can rebound. He moves well and is a solid athlete. Playing on a loaded Pershing team, Brown isn’t needed to be offensively aggressive every game – some games he’ll score 5 points, other games he’ll score 20. Regardless of how he much he scores, however, he still impacts the game given the number of things he can do on the court. Brown is Pershing’s x-factor – typically when he has a good game they win.