Axtel is another prospect who I have to see more of for me to be fully convinced but from what we saw from him at the Expo, I couldn’t imagine him not getting his feet wet on varsity this year. He was a top 3 player at the Freshman showcase as he had size, a face-up game where he was repeatedly getting downhill and attacked defenders at the rim and also had some athletic flushes as well. He scored in bunches, forced the double team and made the right play. Axtel  showed he could attack and finish over and over and battled on both ends and those things will be hard to keep off the floor. He’s a player who we would’ve put in the Top-10 had we done the rankings. He’s piqued my interest. 

Axtell had as strong an argument as anyone for the best player in the gym, and this was my first time seeing him play.  He was a monster during 3-on-3, where I truly don’t know if there was a player there that could stop him, and then backed it up once the showcase transitioned to 5-on-5. At 6’5 with strength and length, Axtell imposed his will inside, but what separated him was how many different ways he could score. He faced up, worked with his back to the basket, scored over his shoulder, and showed the ability to stretch things out with his jumper. There was real three-level potential on display. Most impressive, he didn’t force too much. He was unselfish and knew when to take over. Axtell consistently took what was available and finished at an extremely efficient rate, and is a player who I cannot wait to see how it looks against varsity competition. I want to see him continue to add to an already impressive game. Can’t wait to see him duplicate that performance.