Louisiana Top 250 Expo: Top Upperclassmen Bigs

Chance Lemaire

August 19, 2019 @ 10:31 PM

Jordan Johnson 6’7 Madison Prep 2020 Johnson was as impressive of a big as there was at camp, and probably produced the most highlights of anyone all day. He is really athletic, and runs the floor like a deer, allowing him to simply outwork his defender down the court, and getting some big time dunks in transition. I was impressed with his ability to find the open space when guards are driving, allowing him to get open layups or get in position for offensive rebounds. He also showed an ability to defend smaller guards on the perimeter, which will be a big asset for him at the college level.   Rollin Belton 6’8 Ruston 2021 Last year at camp was the first time that I was able to get a good look at camp, and I was really impressed with what I saw, and this camp was much of the same. Belton is a big man that can move really well, and has a soft touch both around the rim and on his jumper. He doesn’t quite have range out to the 3 point line yet, but with his consistent ability to knock down jumpers from 15 feet, I’ll be surprised if he isn’t a good shooter from deep by the time he graduated high school. He also had maybe the biggest highlight of the camp with a big time alley-oop finish in the last game of the day.   Nikembe Johnson 6’5 North Central 2020 Johnson is a bit of a tweener, not necessarily being a big, but not necessarily being a wing either. No matter what position you put him at, though, he is going to be a force on both sides of the ball. If a smaller defender was on him, he was just bullying his way to the rim and there was little the defense could do. If he was guarded by a bigger defender, he used his speed to dribble by them, and there was little the defense could do. On the defensive side, not many are willing to take charges at an individual camp, but he was, which says a lot about how he approaches the game. Hunter Strickland 6’8 Weston 2020 Stickland might be listed at 6’8, but it looked like he was a good couple inches taller than anyone else at camp, so he might be up to 6’9 now. (I know if I were his coach I’d be listing him at 6’9.) As a result, he was really able to shine on the defensive end, and affected nearly every shot around the rim, even if he wasn’t able to get his hand on it and block it. He also moves a lot better than you would expect from a guy his size.   Taylor Blanchard 6’5 Central Catholic 2020 Blanchard is similar to Nikembe Johnson in that he is a bit of a tweener, not quite a big, but not quite a wing, However, where Johnson is able to overwhelm his opponents, Blanchard simply out worked them and outsmarted them. He has a really good shot and handles for his size, and even when he missed, he did a really good job of following his shot and was able to get a couple offensive rebounds a game from that. He was also a crafty finisher around the rim, which allowed him to make up for his lack of elite athleticism when attacking the basket.