Underclassmen Evaluations at DII State Tournament

3/5/26: Opening the second quarter Loni through a 28' arching lob to David Taft David Taft 6'6" | C M.B.A. | 2026 State TN and the beautifully executed designed play commenced with a thundering jam. Pughsley and Montgomery Bell Academy sured practiced it before, but Coach Kevin Anglin could have asked for a better pass and catch. In the first eight minutes Pughsley was unsteady. In the game's first 13 minutes the M.B.A. team committed an outrageous 10 turnovers! Pughsley was not directly responsible for those, but postseason success requires

3/5/26: Sophomore Logan Williams Logan Williams 6'7" | C John Paul II | 2028 State TN checked in with 2:03 to play in the first half. Burly, potentially hulking center. All of 6-foot-7. He will play a lot more next season as this tremendous senior class of JP2 exits, possibly with a State Championship.

3/6/26: Surprising lateral mobility. Tremendous leaper He will work on D. Very confident. At times cocky, perhaps justifiably. Duke scored four points in the State Semifinal win over St. George's. St. George's really challenged the ball from 40' and in, predominately running a 1-2-2 3/4-court press and then hammering the ball-handler at 20' and even swiping down on passes around the perimeter. Forget about driving on them without a special move. Duke was able to get to the basket a couple of times, but needed something extra to finish and he was unable to put it through more than those two times. Helped with one block and one assist too. The game was ugly and low-scoring. TJ was helpful in the win, but not yet dominating. In a year he will be good enough to score 12ish points and take even more command in such a situation. He and Mikey Hollaway are a fun pairing to watch for the next two seasons. Duke will play college basketball. Level still unclear.

3/6/26: Gritty. Gutsy. Hunts the foul. Unafraid of contact. Fearless against bigs. He blitzes into the paint and throws his body into hulking bigs with no real hope of making a layup only to draw the foul. It works quite a bit at the high school level (DII-A). Runs plays perfectly. Hits the occasional 3-pointer. Needs to work on block-to-block drop pass when a helper comes. He can be a problematic penetrator, even more than he already is.

3/6/26: Not an elite shooter, but close. When his shot selection improves Crump will be a 25 ppg scorer in high school. He already has the floater from 8' in his bag. The lefty is legit. You will see him on a college roster in two years. Crump torched PCA for 19 points on 18 in the State Semifinal loss. He made five of 12 three-pointers but needs to get to 45-50% from 3-point land in high school and can. Projects as an all-purpose college guard though he lacks ideal size for a college combo. Crump played spirited and solid on-ball defense against a team of trees. Yes, they had a pair of sophomore guards (Hollaway/Duke), but he prevented them from easy layups. Nice player. Promising future.