The 6-foot-9 Puffenbarger immediately draws attention with his size, but also moves well and shows good hands and touch in the low post. 

Puffenbarger is already the unquestioned interior presence on a guard-driven Boys’ Latin squad, and serves as a nice scoring option in the paint. He also showed improving range on his jumper, stretching the floor and allowing the Laker guards more room to attack. He serves as a strong screen setter and uses his size well on the offensive glass.

Defensively, he’s a strong post defender, and will only get better as he improves his lateral quickness. With his impressive size, soft touch, and expanding offensive game, Puffenbarger boasts a high ceiling and stands out as a vital foundational piece for the Lakers and coach Dominic Milburn.

-Puffenbarger’s incremental improvements continue to catch the eye of our scouts as a consistent low post threat that is maximizing his touches on the block by getting into his move much more smoothly and quickly to score before the defense can get a good contest. Puffenbarger is doing a much better job of keeping the ball high to cut down on turnovers in the paint, is shooting a better percentage from the charity stripe, and spaces the floor well all the way out to the 3 point line as a pick n pop threat that should be a force in the MIAA for the next few seasons. In an area that doesn’t often have a ton of high-level size, he has a chance to really make a name for himself and usher in a new era of success at BL.

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.

-Puffenberger is still shaking off the rust after returning from an injury that ended the season a bit early, but you can’t teach his size. He times his dives to the rim from the weak side well to snag offensive rebounds, is a versatile offensive threat as a roll or pop target in ball screens, and has a good motor on the glass. He’s mostly right-hand dominant when shooting in traffic around the rim but has shown steady progress with his post footwork around the rim to create high-efficiency finishing angles. Once he works himself back into game shape he should be a dynamic weapon for a 15u Thrill team that relies on his size.

Puffenbarger is going to take patience considering the sheer size that he brings as a freshman. He’s approaching 6-foot-8 with good length, soft touch around the rim, and the makeup to develop into a true rim presence at either end. As he continues to adjust to his body, become a more fluid athlete, and improve his quickness, Puffenbarger will have a great chance of being one of the better true bigs with size in this class.

Puffenbarger is a space eating forward who makes his mark on the interior. He is improving on the offensive end and can score the basketball in different ways. He found ways to alter shots and has great timing going up to contest shots. Puffenbarger is just starting to scratch the surface and should be on of the most regarded prospects in the Baltimore and DMV area in his class. Looking forward to watching his development over the coming months.