Recruiting Report: Jailen Billings (2017)
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A lot has happened in Jailen Billings’ basketball life since we spoke with him last winter. Two NAIA schools have offered the 5-foot-10 guard, and he’s made the switch from Sioux City North — where he averaged 19.9 points…
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Continue ReadingA lot has happened in Jailen Billings’ basketball life since we spoke with him last winter.
Two NAIA schools have offered the 5-foot-10 guard, and he’s made the switch from Sioux City North — where he averaged 19.9 points per game last season — to Sioux City East.
Morningside and Graceland are the existing offers for Billings. And he says some JuCos have been starting to talk to him also.
“I have interest from Kirkwood and Southwestern Community College, and I think I’m going to hold out for the season to see what else I can get,” said Billings.
“I just think it’s really going to help now that I’m at (Sioux City) East. I can play my game the way it’s supposed to be played. So that’s why I’m probably going to wait until the end of the season to decide,” said Billings, who mentioned he isn’t too concerned with the level, but more so just finding “the right fit.”
After helping Sioux City North to a state tournament appearance two seasons ago, and leading the team in scoring last season, Billings decided to become a Black Raider for his final high school season.
“The main reason I switched was the basketball culture. They (Sioux City East) really love basketball here and they take it very seriously,” said Billings. “And so I thought that would be the best opportunity for me to grow as a player and improve my game – so that’s mainly why I made the switch.”
Already one of the state’s best scorers, Billings said this summer with All Iowa Attack he primarily worked on tightening his handle, and becoming more of a true point guard.
“There’s two main things I’ve been working on, and those are finishing at the basket and ball-handling. And then I’ve really been hitting the weight room, I’ve added about 15 pounds since the summer, so things are going pretty well,” said Billings, who was playing point guard with Attack 17U during the spring and summer.
“Playing with them helped me develop into more of a true point guard, and I think it really helped me with my decision making ability. It was really helpful to learn the game from a point guard perspective, and having Lefty (Moore) help me and everything was great.”
Though the Black Raiders already have two elite scoring threats in place with Aidan Vanderloo and Van Rees, Billings says his role will again be a scoring role. And according to him, it will be nice to have to help with the scoring load.
“I don’t think my role will be too much different than it was at North,” said Billings. “But the best thing about it is now I don’t have to be relied on so much to score. I can be more of a facilitator and a true leader on the court.”