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  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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  3.  <title>Ridiculous Upside -  All Posts</title>
  4.  <subtitle>Where Potential Is Way Cooler Than Reality</subtitle>
  5.  <icon>https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/4212/upside-fave.gif</icon>
  6.  <updated>2022-02-03T17:27:35-05:00</updated>
  7.  <id>http://www.ridiculousupside.com/rss/current/</id>
  8.  <link type="text/html" href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/" rel="alternate"/>
  9.  <entry>
  10.    <published>2022-02-03T17:27:35-05:00</published>
  11.    <updated>2022-02-03T17:27:35-05:00</updated>
  12.    <title>Ridiculous Upside comes to a close</title>
  13.    <content type="html">  
  14.  
  15.    &lt;figure&gt;
  16.      &lt;img alt="Horse riding in sunset" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fNTWWFfd6yInuROkGFlN9elsGJo=/264x0:5982x3812/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70468678/1238139076.0.jpg" /&gt;
  17.        &lt;figcaption&gt;A man on a horse rides off into the sunset | Photo by Sameh Rahmi/NurPhoto via Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  18.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  19.  
  20.  &lt;p id="ma4eN4"&gt;In May 2008 and little known basketball blogger named &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/HPbasketball"&gt;Matt Moore&lt;/a&gt; signed on to this site with the &lt;a href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2008/5/14/508696/welcome-to-the-future-welc"&gt;promise&lt;/a&gt; of covering “&lt;em&gt;the NBA Draft, the D-League, the CBA, the PBL ( I know, I know, what the holy crapola is the PBL. No, it’s not bowling. We’ll get to it. Hang in there.), European competition, and some of the processes about personnel decisions.&lt;/em&gt;” &lt;/p&gt;
  21. &lt;p id="DRkcPj"&gt;As you can see by that mission statement, a lot has changed in the ensuing years of developmental basketball, but one thing this site certainly accomplished was being the launch pad for several careers in the industry. &lt;/p&gt;
  22. &lt;p id="WuT9dn"&gt;The aforementioned Matt Moore has gone on to become a prominent voice in the NBA media world. Scott Schroeder, who was a vital part of this site until 2013, went on to be a video coordinator, coach and eventually a front office executive in the league he covered so diligently. Scott is now the Director of Basketball Operations with the Grand Rapid Gold. He’ll always be the guy controlling the music at Vegas Summer League to me though. Good on you, Scott! Next came Keith Schlosser who brought his own brand of passion to the RU pages. After his time here, Keith took a job with the NBA and then with an agency representing players. I consider him one of my true friends in this business. &lt;/p&gt;
  23. &lt;p id="aY86b9"&gt;There’s been many others who have contributed their talents over the years. Too many to name but you can scroll through the archives &lt;a href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/archives/2022/1"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. I even had a byline or two back in my early days in this game when I covered all-star events in Phoenix in 2009. I interviewed the two D-league ASG coaches that year who went on to pretty good careers themselves, Quin Synder and Nick Nurse, and I blogged about a legit free throw line dunk by a guy named James “Flight” White. The &lt;a href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2009/2/15/760150/james-flight-white-free-th"&gt;proof is in the pictures.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  24. &lt;p id="yGBsAT"&gt;So yeah, this site holds a special place in my heart for all the players covered (check out this &lt;a href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2012/3/29/2909190/p-j-tucker-in-his-own-words-ive-grown-up-so-much-as-a-pro"&gt;interview&lt;/a&gt; with PJ Tucker while he was playing in Germany in 2012!) to all the ballers who aspired to play this game professionally but never quite achieved the ultimate dream. But mostly it’s all the great writers who have passed through these digital halls who love the game and the people who play it.&lt;/p&gt;
  25. &lt;p id="9rFlnL"&gt;As the world of developmental basketball has changed over the years we’ve decided it’s time to let RU ride off into the sunset. SB Nation team sites will still cover their related G-league teams and we’ll cover prospects and the draft and all things upside in other places. Don’t worry though, Ridiculous Upside will remain online as a tribute to those with big hoop dreams.&lt;/p&gt;
  26. &lt;p id="TPN8pq"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  27.  
  28. </content>
  29.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2022/2/3/22916692/ridiculous-upside-comes-to-a-close"/>
  30.    <id>https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2022/2/3/22916692/ridiculous-upside-comes-to-a-close</id>
  31.    <author>
  32.      <name>Seth Pollack</name>
  33.    </author>
  34.  </entry>
  35.  <entry>
  36.    <published>2022-01-05T11:00:00-05:00</published>
  37.    <updated>2022-01-05T11:00:00-05:00</updated>
  38.    <title>Assessing The Top 2022 Senior High Schoolers’ December Decisions</title>
  39.    <content type="html">  
  40.  
  41.    &lt;figure&gt;
  42.      &lt;img alt="Syndication: Arizona Republic" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fZXjMTPQhhzB4P0LDjqEMK0wIVM=/0x0:3931x2621/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70350404/usa_today_15408915.0.jpg" /&gt;
  43.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Patrick Breen/The Republic via Imagn Content Services, LLC&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  44.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  45.  
  46.  &lt;p&gt;It’s slim picks when it comes to still-recruitable members of the 2022 HS class of Seniors as we flip the last 2021 calendar page to the first of 2022. With just seven top-100 prospects still uncommitted, this is going to be the second-to-last column on the 2022 crop of talent, so let’s get it popping before we move on to the last installment of the class and the 2023 DJ Wagner-led group of hoopers!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="blLNdc"&gt;The NCAA keeps going. The 2021-22 season started a few weeks ago and most colleges have already played at least 10 games through the start of the 2022 calendar year—probably every team by the time you read this. When it comes to recruiting players, though, things have slowed down a bit of late as 1) there aren’t many players ranked nationally (in other words, D-I talents) available and/or 2) most colleges have already built their classes and don’t need any more additions to them.&lt;/p&gt;
  47. &lt;p id="dRLjvi"&gt;This month saw a thin &lt;em&gt;three-man &lt;/em&gt;group of top-100 kids pick places while having an average rank-position of around 50 on the 247Sports Composite board. That said, the individual ranks range from that of a top-15 player to a lowest of a top-85 prospect. With just seven more players sitting in the top-100 without having named where they’ll play next, the 2022 HS class of Seniors is surely running out of available players and that means we’re getting closer to fully turning our focus into the 2023 crop—yes, the one including Bronny James and DJ Wagner, just to name a couple of top-tier/most-known prospects. But they’ll still have to wait a bit for that to happen.&lt;/p&gt;
  48. &lt;h2 id="ezAXrV"&gt;Who Are The Players And Where Do They Come From?&lt;/h2&gt;
  49. &lt;p id="LIDSei"&gt;While two top-10 players committed in November, the best we could do through December was to get a top-15 prospect picking his next destination—Duke of all places, of course... The three kids come from different states, rank as top-5 prospects in them at the very least, and are four- (two of them) or five-star (one) players among his fellow 2022 seniors.&lt;/p&gt;
  50. &lt;p id="I2Hq0u"&gt;The players themselves are listed next, including their national ranking, position, current high school, bio, and star/ovr rating per 247Sports:&lt;/p&gt;
  51. &lt;div id="x2z8aE"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="table:10960559"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  52. &lt;p id="M93LLT"&gt;The kids picking places in December aren’t really anything out of this world when it comes to their player profiles. We have a couple of very physically-similar wings in Mitchell and Lands, while we also have a point in Brumbaugh moving from his native Massachusets to Texas to play for the Longhorns.&lt;/p&gt;
  53. &lt;p id="Zq25HN"&gt;Duke, already boasting the no. 1 class in the nation by the start of December, was still able to land another top-15 player to a loaded class of talents that now features four five-star players to go with one more player assigned a four-star rating. Jesus. Louisville landed its first four-star player, the same Texas (though the Longhorns already had two five-star kids in their 2022 recruiting class).&lt;/p&gt;
  54. &lt;h2 id="FOwhWU"&gt;Have Those High Schools Any Track Record Of Top-Player Production?&lt;/h2&gt;
  55. &lt;p id="bFoCfx"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sunrise Christian (KS) &lt;/strong&gt;has produced &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; of ranked prospects over the years spanning all the way back to 2010 when they put their first product on the 247Sports Composite board. Things have turned for the better in terms of prospect ranks, but maybe not in actual production—a certain Buddy Hield was just 2012 no. 156 player and look at where he’s at these days. Mark Mitchell is the seventh top-100 Sunrise prospect since 2019 and one of three such players part of the 2022 class to come out of the Kansas high school.&lt;/p&gt;
  56. &lt;p id="tE0ggN"&gt;Although &lt;strong&gt;Hillcrest Prep (AZ)&lt;/strong&gt; as is has only produced 13 players since 2019, the truth is that six of those (including 2022 prospect Kamari Land) have been part of the top-100 groups of players from their respective HS classes. The likes of Makur Maker, Dalen Terry, and Michael Foster were all top-50 prospects and Lands is joining them while coming out of Hillcrest. He’s also breaking the two-year-running trend of top-tier Hillcrest players going Pro early after Maxwell Lewis (2020) ad Michael Foster (2021) did so in the last two years.&lt;/p&gt;
  57. &lt;p id="WQAkHh"&gt;There have been nationally-ranked hoopers coming out of &lt;strong&gt;Northfield Mount Hermon (MA)&lt;/strong&gt; since at least 2003 (the earliest year I have data from 247Sports Composite ranks), though it took them 10 years to land one of their kids inside the top-100 when Zena Edosomwan did so in 2013 committing to Harvard. In fact, NMH only has four top-100 prospects since they started pumping talent into the system, with Rowan Brumbaugh being the latest one in that group and the first one joining it since no. 65 Nate Laszewski did it back in 2018.&lt;/p&gt;
  58. &lt;h2 id="9SmhdC"&gt;And The Most Important Thing... Where Are They Going To Play College Ball?&lt;/h2&gt;
  59. &lt;p id="pUxhmX"&gt;Here is the recruiting leaderboard from the past five years—which includes the senior HS classes from 2018 to 2022 and only accounts for top-50 players in their respective years, updated to include this month’s decisions:&lt;/p&gt;
  60. &lt;ul&gt;
  61. &lt;li id="onHw5a"&gt;21 Commits -&lt;strong&gt; Duke&lt;/strong&gt;
  62. &lt;/li&gt;
  63. &lt;li id="yDTfaQ"&gt;20 - &lt;strong&gt;Kentucky&lt;/strong&gt;
  64. &lt;/li&gt;
  65. &lt;li id="DO36fd"&gt;
  66. &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prep-to-Pros -&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; 10 players&lt;/em&gt;
  67. &lt;/li&gt;
  68. &lt;li id="db6eRg"&gt;10 - &lt;strong&gt;North Carolina&lt;/strong&gt;
  69. &lt;/li&gt;
  70. &lt;li id="q49a6L"&gt;9 - &lt;strong&gt;Oregon, Kansas&lt;/strong&gt;
  71. &lt;/li&gt;
  72. &lt;li id="602Irt"&gt;8 - &lt;strong&gt;Michigan&lt;/strong&gt;
  73. &lt;/li&gt;
  74. &lt;li id="Ydnqdu"&gt;7 -&lt;strong&gt; Florida, USC, Memphis, Texas, USC, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.andthevalleyshook.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;LSU&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  75. &lt;/li&gt;
  76. &lt;li id="8lcgAL"&gt;6 -&lt;strong&gt; UCLA, Gonzaga, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.vuhoops.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Villanova&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, Tennessee&lt;/strong&gt;
  77. &lt;/li&gt;
  78. &lt;li id="3RcZp9"&gt;5-to-1 - &lt;strong&gt;48 Other Colleges&lt;/strong&gt;
  79. &lt;/li&gt;
  80. &lt;/ul&gt;
  81. &lt;p id="CaXu3X"&gt;Kentucky and Duke are clearly the top two universities at getting (top) talent. On average, they have gotten four top-50 players &lt;em&gt;per class&lt;/em&gt; in each of the past five years and are leading the way, as they have done for most of the last couple of decades. Duke, though, was good to edge Kentucky over the last five-year period coming to an end on Dec. 31 as they landed yet another top-100 prospect during the winter month that saw us wave goodbye to 2021.&lt;/p&gt;
  82. &lt;p id="oQB6Gb"&gt;So, have things been different during the past few weeks when it comes to college commitments? Here is how the last month ended looking like:&lt;/p&gt;
  83. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li id="n4Baau"&gt;1 Prospect Added — &lt;strong&gt;Duke, Louisville, Texas&lt;/strong&gt;
  84. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
  85. &lt;p id="MZmPIZ"&gt;Not the busiest of months on the recruiting/committing trail, was it? Duke kept on adding more über-talented kids to the fold by landing a top-15 and five-star player in SF Mark Mitchell—the &lt;em&gt;fourth&lt;/em&gt; top-15 kid expected to play for the Blue Devils. No wonder &lt;strong&gt;Duke &lt;/strong&gt;retained the no. 1 class in the nation...&lt;/p&gt;
  86. &lt;p id="snDxul"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Texas&lt;/strong&gt;, in adding another four-star prospect, is now sitting at a very solid no. 13 spot in the ranks of 2022 team classes—the Longhorns have one four-star kid and two five-star prospects on top of that. &lt;strong&gt;Louisville &lt;/strong&gt;finally got to steal a four-star player from the 2022 crop of seniors and is now ranked no. 41 for next season (their best pre-December prospect was labeled as “only” a three-star player).&lt;/p&gt;
  87. &lt;p id="5tx17k"&gt; Nothing else changed, with &lt;strong&gt;Arkansas &lt;/strong&gt;and &lt;strong&gt;Alabama&lt;/strong&gt; closing the top-3 teams, and &lt;strong&gt;Kansas&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;USC&lt;/strong&gt; rounding the top-5 in that order.&lt;/p&gt;
  88. &lt;p id="ueLjWm"&gt;No top-100 hooper (nor anyone else part of the 247Sports Composite ranks for that matter) joined a Pro league during the four weeks of December.&lt;/p&gt;
  89.  
  90. </content>
  91.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2022/1/5/22866447/assessing-the-top-2022-senior-high-schoolers-december-decisions-mitchell-lands-brumbaugh"/>
  92.    <id>https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2022/1/5/22866447/assessing-the-top-2022-senior-high-schoolers-december-decisions-mitchell-lands-brumbaugh</id>
  93.    <author>
  94.      <name>chapulana</name>
  95.    </author>
  96.  </entry>
  97.  <entry>
  98.    <published>2021-12-09T15:45:00-05:00</published>
  99.    <updated>2021-12-09T15:45:00-05:00</updated>
  100.    <title>Assessing The Top 2022 Senior High Schoolers’ November Decisions</title>
  101.    <content type="html">  
  102.  
  103.    &lt;figure&gt;
  104.      &lt;img alt="Jr. NBA World Championships Tournament - South Boys v West Boys" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lptip5ZVa_ziRNNqNSgP4jwcw5o=/0x1130:3280x3317/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70251572/1014750294.0.jpg" /&gt;
  105.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  106.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  107.  
  108.  &lt;p&gt;The NCAA season is already going down, and the 2022 HS class of Seniors is pretty much over when it comes to kids picking the places they’ll bring their game to next. So here we are here once more to cover everything related to those decisions in the fourth monthly installment related to the 2022 HS class and one of the very last given the status of the class.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="blLNdc"&gt;The 2021-22 season is finally rolling, folks. It was a hard and long hot summer, but college hoops have arrived once for all and with them a good bunch of freshmen doing it on the court for the first time ever. It feels like the decisions were made ages ago, but the likes of Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero, Shaedon Sharpe, and über-hyped Emoni Bates are already playing basketball around NCAA institutions... while no. 4 prospect of the class Jaden Hardy has already debuted as a Pro for the G League Ignite. But that’s past-tense stuff and we have to keep moving ahead when it comes to HS Seniors.&lt;/p&gt;
  109. &lt;p id="dRLjvi"&gt;This month saw 12 top-100 kids pick places while having an average rank-position of around 41 on the 247Sports Composite board. It’s a rather high mark, and the group includes three top-12 prospects to go with three more inside the top-35 and none outside the top-75 talents to graduate as part of the 2022 class. With one more month of decisions in the books, it’s now truly down to just a handful of players without a college of choice—only one top-10 player, one top-15, and one top-25 have yet to name their next squads, and all-top-100 players considered the count doesn’t grow that much sitting at nine names.&lt;/p&gt;
  110. &lt;h2 id="ezAXrV"&gt;Who Are The Players And Where Do They Come From?&lt;/h2&gt;
  111. &lt;p id="LIDSei"&gt;Two top-10 players committed this past month compared to none back in October, so that’s already an improvement. The month of November was a little bit top-heavy with three top-12 players and then six outside of the top-50 group, but overall it was a packed-full-of-talent four weeks of decisions in which Alabama came out the clear winner landing three top-62 players while Kentucky (surprise...) landed the best prospect of those committing in the 11th month of the year.&lt;/p&gt;
  112. &lt;p id="I2Hq0u"&gt;The players themselves are listed next, including their national ranking, position, current high school, bio, and star/ovr rating per 247Sports:&lt;/p&gt;
  113. &lt;div id="oGccoA"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="table:10868263"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  114. &lt;p id="x2z8aE"&gt;The kids picking places in November make for a nicely varied group of players containing all sorts of playing profiles. There is a true PG, a couple of combo guards, one GS, as many as seven wings, and a true big man—though PF-by-label Noah Clowney measures at the same 6-foot-9 of center and upcoming &lt;a href="https://www.bruinsnation.com"&gt;UCLA&lt;/a&gt; Bruin Adem Bona.&lt;/p&gt;
  115. &lt;p id="Zq25HN"&gt;Speaking of colleges, Alabama was able to make a late statement landing three players on the month of November including the best prospects to come out of South Carolina and Tennessee and the sixth-best out of Texas. Kentucky got itself the no. 6 players of the class, and the two other five-star prospects remaining on this month’s list of commits will be playing for Houston and UCLA.&lt;/p&gt;
  116. &lt;h2 id="FOwhWU"&gt;Have Those High Schools Any Track Record Of Top-Player Production?&lt;/h2&gt;
  117. &lt;p id="bFoCfx"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Richardson (TX)&lt;/strong&gt; has a couple of kids making the cut, and they’re no slouch: no. 6 and no. 62 of the 2022 class, not bad. Prior to that, though, there is not a long track record for the school as they’ve only three more prospects in the 247Sports database and only one of them barely made the top-150... all the way back in 2003.&lt;/p&gt;
  118. &lt;p id="tE0ggN"&gt;Can’t get much higher than &lt;strong&gt;IMG Academy (FL)&lt;/strong&gt; levels of amateur-talent pumping. The Florida prep is a powerhouse when it comes to building young hoops careers, and their 86 kids in the ranks more than prove it. There are 12 players coming out of IMG &lt;em&gt;in the 2022 class of Seniors alone&lt;/em&gt;, and as many as nine of them are ranked inside the top-90 as I’m writing this. That’s absolutely crazy, though the pipeline might get cut next year as just three of their players are currently ranked in the 2023 HS class.&lt;/p&gt;
  119. &lt;p id="WQAkHh"&gt;The young collective from &lt;strong&gt;Prolific Prep (CA)&lt;/strong&gt; dropped a kid in the ranks for the first time as late as 2016 and he wasn’t anything otherworldly (no. 203 overall). That said, they followed that up with two top-60 prospects in 2017 (including MCDAAG participant and NBA star Gary Trent Jr.) and can claim Jalen Green (the last draft’s no. 2 pick) as one of their own. They’re sending two guys to opposite places this month: no. 18 Adem Bona to UCLA and no. 65 Tre White to USC, both remaining in Cali for their first (and probably lone) college basketball season.&lt;/p&gt;
  120. &lt;p id="iMGlQl"&gt;I guess if I’m calling Prolific Prep a young thing... &lt;strong&gt;Hillcrest Prep (AZ)&lt;/strong&gt; is just a newborn? The Zona prep put his first kid in the Composite ranks just two years ago as part of the 2019 class of HS seniors, just imagine! But they have already pumped seven top-100 players into the system while becoming an important institution at producing prep-to-pros players: three of their kids made the jump to the pros between those part of the 2020 and 2021 classes, and three more are still to name their next destinations as part of this and next year’s classes—including top-48 prospect Kamari Lands.&lt;/p&gt;
  121. &lt;p id="f4m32M"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thornton Township (IL)&lt;/strong&gt; hasn’t been around these places for a good bunch of years, as the last kid that made the cut as a nationally (highly) ranked prospect was part of the 2010 crop of HS Seniors. Reggie Smith was the man, the 130th-best player in his class, but he never truly got his talents to the level that rank projected and he played for three colleges after enrolling and spending one year in Marquette, ultimately never reaching the Association. Ty Rodgers is by far the best prospect to come out of the Harvey school, and he’ll stay in Illinois playing for the in-state Fighting Illini next season.&lt;/p&gt;
  122. &lt;p id="Z9nQ0c"&gt;If you know, you know, and if &lt;strong&gt;Dorman (SC)&lt;/strong&gt; rings a bell in the NFL part of your brain, then that’d make all of the sense. That’s because the first player to make it to the 247Sports Composite board was a certain JJ Arcega-Whiteside back in 2015. Yes, that’s Arcega-Whiteside the current &lt;a href="https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/"&gt;Philadelphia Eagles&lt;/a&gt; wide receiver. He ended not committing to any college with a basketball scholarship favoring American football, but it’s quite an interesting bit of information to drop here. No players prior to JJ nor after him were able to break into the list until 2020, when a couple of below-160 players did so. Noah Clowney, this year’s no. 61 player, is clearly the best kid to come out of Dorman High and he’ll ball for Alabama next year.&lt;/p&gt;
  123. &lt;p id="SqP31f"&gt;There is something interesting about &lt;strong&gt;Coronado (NV)&lt;/strong&gt; when it comes to two of his top-ranked players ever—that is, last year and this one. Both Jaden Hardy (last year’s no. 3 player) and Richard Isaacs (no. 68 in this year’s class) left Coronado in 2019 to come back later after spending time at other preps to graduate in their hometown of Henderson, NV. Jaden Hardy went straight to the pros and is playing for the G League Ignite these days while Isaacs has committed to play for &lt;a href="https://www.vivathematadors.com"&gt;Texas Tech&lt;/a&gt;. The last time a ranked prospect from Coronado went to TT was back in 2017... and the man was no less than current NBA player and former 6th-overall pick Jarrett Culver.&lt;/p&gt;
  124. &lt;p id="K2wVG8"&gt;There is clearly a name on top of all recruits to come out of &lt;strong&gt;Orlando Christian Prep (FL)&lt;/strong&gt;, and that’s the one of Nassir Little. He was the no. 3 prospect of the 2018 class of Seniors, went to play a year in North Carolina, got drafted by Portland with a late-first-round pick in 2019, and he’s playing more than ever before this season for the Blazers still at age-21 (18 games, 22 MPG). The best talent playing at OCP this season isn’t as highly ranked (no. 74) but he has already committed to &lt;a href="https://www.onefootdown.com"&gt;Notre Dame&lt;/a&gt; and also plays the PF/wing position and role.&lt;/p&gt;
  125. &lt;p id="VKnrbo"&gt;No prospect had come out of &lt;strong&gt;Cane Ridge (TN)&lt;/strong&gt; nor&lt;strong&gt; Farmington (UT)&lt;/strong&gt; prior to those part of the 2022 class of HS Seniors.&lt;/p&gt;
  126. &lt;h2 id="9SmhdC"&gt;And The Most Important Thing... Where Are They Going To Play College Ball?&lt;/h2&gt;
  127. &lt;p id="pUxhmX"&gt;Here is the recruiting leaderboard from the past five years—which includes the senior HS classes from 2018 to 2022 and only accounts for top-50 players in their respective years, updated to include this month’s decisions:&lt;/p&gt;
  128. &lt;ul&gt;
  129. &lt;li id="onHw5a"&gt;20 Commits -&lt;strong&gt; Duke, Kentucky&lt;/strong&gt;
  130. &lt;/li&gt;
  131. &lt;li id="DO36fd"&gt;
  132. &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prep-to-Pros -&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; 10 players&lt;/em&gt;
  133. &lt;/li&gt;
  134. &lt;li id="db6eRg"&gt;10 - &lt;strong&gt;North Carolina&lt;/strong&gt;
  135. &lt;/li&gt;
  136. &lt;li id="q49a6L"&gt;9 - &lt;strong&gt;Oregon, Kansas&lt;/strong&gt;
  137. &lt;/li&gt;
  138. &lt;li id="602Irt"&gt;8 - &lt;strong&gt;Michigan&lt;/strong&gt;
  139. &lt;/li&gt;
  140. &lt;li id="Ydnqdu"&gt;7 -&lt;strong&gt; Florida, USC, Memphis, Texas, USC, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.andthevalleyshook.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;LSU&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  141. &lt;/li&gt;
  142. &lt;li id="8lcgAL"&gt;6 -&lt;strong&gt; UCL, Gonzaga, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.vuhoops.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Villanova&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, Tennessee&lt;/strong&gt;
  143. &lt;/li&gt;
  144. &lt;li id="3RcZp9"&gt;5-to-1 - &lt;strong&gt;48 Other Colleges&lt;/strong&gt;
  145. &lt;/li&gt;
  146. &lt;/ul&gt;
  147. &lt;p id="CaXu3X"&gt;Kentucky and Duke are clearly the top two universities at getting (top) talent. On average, they have gotten four top-50 players &lt;em&gt;per class&lt;/em&gt; in each of the past five years and are leading the way, as they have done for most of the last couple of decades. Not even Coach K’s departure seems to be affecting that, not at least for now. We’ll keep an eye on how this thing progresses, though.&lt;/p&gt;
  148. &lt;p id="oQB6Gb"&gt;So, have things been different during the past few weeks when it comes to college commitments? Here is how the last month ended looking like:&lt;/p&gt;
  149. &lt;ul&gt;
  150. &lt;li id="n4Baau"&gt;3 Prospects added — &lt;strong&gt;Alabama&lt;/strong&gt;
  151. &lt;/li&gt;
  152. &lt;li id="CasKyN"&gt;1 — &lt;strong&gt;Auburn, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.vanquishthefoe.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BYU&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, Houston, Illinois, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, UCLA, USC&lt;/strong&gt;
  153. &lt;/li&gt;
  154. &lt;/ul&gt;
  155. &lt;p id="MZmPIZ"&gt;Staggering month for the Crimson Tide after landing two four-star prospects and a five-start kid to put the cherry on top of everything. The aftermath? &lt;strong&gt;Alabama &lt;/strong&gt;rocketed past a bunch of teams and is now sitting at the third spot on the 2022 Team leaderboard, only behind &lt;strong&gt;Arkansas &lt;/strong&gt;(no. 2) and &lt;strong&gt;Duke&lt;/strong&gt; (no. 1). The Blue Devils saw &lt;strong&gt;Kentucky &lt;/strong&gt;stay strong with their five-star addition from November, now ranking eighth in the 2022 team ranks.&lt;/p&gt;
  156. &lt;p id="7RUfb3"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;USC&lt;/strong&gt; is clearly edging &lt;strong&gt;UCLA&lt;/strong&gt; in the Cali War, with the Trojans ranking no. 5 to the Bruins’ no. 10 current place even though the latter are the ones with two five-star prospects committed to playing ball for them.&lt;/p&gt;
  157. &lt;p id="5skDrK"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Houston&lt;/strong&gt;, which comes off landing a top-12 player this past month, is now clocking in 12th boasting a one-five-star, two-four-star class with some players still out there having not picked places yet. &lt;strong&gt;Notre Dame &lt;/strong&gt;(16th), &lt;strong&gt;Illinois&lt;/strong&gt; (18th), &lt;strong&gt;Auburn&lt;/strong&gt; (36th), &lt;strong&gt;Texas Tech&lt;/strong&gt; (47th), and &lt;strong&gt;BYU&lt;/strong&gt; (64th) all remain outside of the top-15 teams in terms of their 2022 classes of recruits with all of them missing on landing any five-star prospect for next season.&lt;/p&gt;
  158.  
  159. </content>
  160.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2021/12/9/22785006/assessing-the-top-2022-senior-high-schoolers-november-decisions-wallace-miller-walker"/>
  161.    <id>https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2021/12/9/22785006/assessing-the-top-2022-senior-high-schoolers-november-decisions-wallace-miller-walker</id>
  162.    <author>
  163.      <name>chapulana</name>
  164.    </author>
  165.  </entry>
  166.  <entry>
  167.    <published>2021-11-09T10:15:00-05:00</published>
  168.    <updated>2021-11-09T10:15:00-05:00</updated>
  169.    <title>Assessing The Top 2022 Senior High Schoolers’ October Decisions</title>
  170.    <content type="html">  
  171.  
  172.    &lt;figure&gt;
  173.      &lt;img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LQTN7p-mj5hcvawybhZ0F3zTnbs=/187x0:1267x720/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70116436/cropped_GettyImages_1233453808.0.jpg" /&gt;
  174.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Jordan Walsh (Icon Sportswire/Getty)&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  175.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  176.  
  177.  &lt;p&gt;The NCAA season is inching closer than ever with just days to tipoff as another crop of 10+ players chose their next stops with hopes of eventually making it to the L during the month of October. We’re here once more to cover everything related to those decisions in the third monthly installment related to the 2022 HS class.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="blLNdc"&gt;While last month saw 17 players pick places, this month we’re down to 16—not that concerning...—and 14 of those 16 kids are top-75 prospects compared to just 11 who made their decisions through September. All of it per 247Sports Composite Ranks. The average rank of those 16 players comes out at a fantastic 44.&lt;/p&gt;
  178. &lt;p id="27vWXj"&gt;It will be slim picks from this point on. Every top-6 player already knows where he’ll be balling once graduated, and only five more top-25 players (two in the top-10) remain uncommitted.&lt;/p&gt;
  179. &lt;p id="F3mIou"&gt;We’re clearly past the peak of the recruiting season, upcoming classes are more than outlined, and it’s just a matter of ironing out some details now. So much so, that without even noticing the 2021-22 NCAA Men’s Basketball season will be tipping off in a matter of days with the first game involving a top-25 school taking place Nov. 9 while pitting &lt;a href="https://www.vuhoops.com"&gt;Villanova&lt;/a&gt; (4th in the pools) against Mount St. Mary. Honestly, can’t wait.&lt;/p&gt;
  180. &lt;h2 id="ezAXrV"&gt;Who Are The Players And Where Do They Come From?&lt;/h2&gt;
  181. &lt;p id="LIDSei"&gt;While no top-10 player committed during the month of October, as many as four top-25 prospects and a total of seven top-30 kids called places through the past four weeks. Don’t get that wrong, though. The talent among the kids naming their next-step locations is far from bad even though there are no 1-to-10 players in the group. Just a quick look at the schools landing them tells you all you need to know about how high the stakes are and how tough the battles to snatch those top-tier prospects have been of late with six players graded as 5-star prospects.&lt;/p&gt;
  182. &lt;p id="I2Hq0u"&gt;The players themselves are listed next, including their national ranking, position, current high school, bio, and star/ovr rating per 247Sports:&lt;/p&gt;
  183. &lt;div id="oGccoA"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="table:10841182"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  184. &lt;p id="x2z8aE"&gt;This was a month for wings and big men, as 13 of the 16 players shown in the list above are labeled as either SF, PF, or C while measuring at least 6-foot-6 or over. Only one shooting guard and two combo-guards broke that tendency while landing in VTech, Kansas, and Florida, but none of them ranked above the no. 29 spot in the 2022 class of Seniors.&lt;/p&gt;
  185. &lt;p id="kk264q"&gt;Five no. 1 players of their respective states made the list, but not a single no. 1 player at his respective position was part of it—no. 2 PF Julian Phillips, from Link Academy and future &lt;a href="https://www.andthevalleyshook.com"&gt;LSU&lt;/a&gt; Tiger is the best prospect (from the positional perspective) to choose a school in October. Also, and although it might feel a little impossible, only one prep (Link Academy) got two top-100 kids committing this past month while &lt;em&gt;not a single college&lt;/em&gt; landed two of the 16 players involved in this month’s decisions. Talk about equity.&lt;/p&gt;
  186. &lt;h2 id="FOwhWU"&gt;Have Those High Schools Any Track Record Of Top-Player Production?&lt;/h2&gt;
  187. &lt;p id="bFoCfx"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Link Academy (MO) &lt;/strong&gt;is a new high school to go along with the established Link Year Prep. The basketball squad just got put together this year, but it’s already pumping talented folks out as the two top-27 kids—both five-star recruits—they will be sending to LSU and Arkansas prove. They also have two more kids ranked inside the top-50 of this class going to Michigan and &lt;a href="https://www.landgrantholyland.com"&gt;Ohio State&lt;/a&gt;, and three more top-75 prospects in the 2023 class of HS Seniors including no. 7 Omaha Biliew.&lt;/p&gt;
  188. &lt;p id="wlBR4J"&gt;As ridiculous as it sounds, it took &lt;strong&gt;Archbishop Spalding (MD) &lt;/strong&gt;as many as 14 (!) years to put one of their players in the 247 composite board and have him ranked inside the top-400 players of the nation. If you want the latest Arch-rooted player inside the top-100, though, you need to go all the way back to 2004 (18 years) to find a certain no. 5 by the name of Rudy Gay.&lt;/p&gt;
  189. &lt;p id="xXJcOB"&gt;After a nonsensical run of talent production in the 2017-to-2019 span, &lt;strong&gt;La Lumiere School (NY)&lt;/strong&gt; is back at pumping top-50 talents once more. The likes of Jaren Jackson Jr., Brian Bowen, Isaiah Stewart, and Keion Brooks paved the way back then, and it’s now down to JJ Starling to keep things up for La Lu after a two-year period in the past two seasons in which the best they could do was nurturing 2020 no. 81 player Jaden Ivey—eventually a Purdue Boilermaker, &lt;/p&gt;
  190. &lt;p id="pSLKPQ"&gt;I have written so much about &lt;strong&gt;IMG Academy (FL)&lt;/strong&gt; here, that instead of looking at the track record of the prep I think I’ll be looking to what is coming soon instead. IMG have an impossible &lt;em&gt;nine top-100 players&lt;/em&gt; in the 2022 class of Seniors, which is unheard of, but things don’t look so good for the 2023 crop. Only three players from the prep are currently appearing on 247Sports Composite ranks and none of them is a top-100 talent (no. 111 Gus Yalden is the best in the class coming out of IMG).&lt;/p&gt;
  191. &lt;p id="4Bm6r4"&gt;It is probably not the case, but it’s incredible to see how&lt;strong&gt; DeMatha Catholic (MD) &lt;/strong&gt;seemingly doesn’t know how to produce players outside of the top-100 of late. Since 2016, eight players from the school have ranked inside the top-57 nationally ranked prospects, while only three have been outside of it. The track record was good historically, but definitely not to such an extent.&lt;/p&gt;
  192. &lt;p id="F3xdvq"&gt;Good to have &lt;strong&gt;Whitney Young (IL)&lt;/strong&gt; making the list after a one-year hiatus in 2021 in which they didn’t have a single senior ranked. Certainly, 2022 no. 68 AJ Casey is far from no. 1 Jahlil Okafor’s level at his age, but he’s just the second top-70 player (along with 2020 DJ Steward) to come of the Chicago prep since Jahlil and Paul White did so all the way back in 2014.&lt;/p&gt;
  193. &lt;p id="BjV8s7"&gt;If a name fits a school, that must be &lt;strong&gt;Prolific Prep (CA)&lt;/strong&gt;. Jokes aside, the Cali-based prep has put out top-tier prospects for five years running, but truly starting with no. 17 of the 2017 class Gary Trent Jr., then no. 19 of 2018 Jordan Brown, no. 49 in 2019 Zach Harvey, no. 2 in 2020 Jalen Green, no. 27 in 2021 Nathan Bittle, and now nos. 14/19/22 Dior Johnson, Adem Bona, and MJ Rice. Talk about a fabulous track record.&lt;/p&gt;
  194. &lt;p id="JzAMrk"&gt;Long gone are the days of having two top-10 prospects coming out of &lt;strong&gt;Blair Academy (NJ)&lt;/strong&gt; as they did in 2003 with no. 2 Luol Deng and no. 7 Charlie Villanueva. Not a single player from the school has broken into the top-35 prospects since that year with Jabri Abdur-Rahim (yes, the son of former NBA player and current G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim) the highest-ranked kid as 2020’s no. 37 talent.&lt;/p&gt;
  195. &lt;p id="ZapskH"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dr. Phillips (FL)&lt;/strong&gt; is not the most productive of preps, but it has put out 10 players in the ranks spanning from 2004 to this year’s class of seniors. Back in 2004, the no. 32 prospect (Jason Rich) of the nation came out of the Orlando school, and no one since then has ranked higher from this place other than 2022 no. 29 Ernest Udeh Jr. (RaSahwn Powell is the other top-100 player to come out of Dr. Phillips, almost 10 years ago in 2013).&lt;/p&gt;
  196. &lt;p id="SrkuGK"&gt;The very fresh &lt;strong&gt;Wasatch Academy (UT)&lt;/strong&gt; is kind of a newcomer to this whole top-tier recruiting thing. The prep from Mount Pleasant didn’t have any player ranked in 247Sports Composite boards prior to 2016 when Koby McEwen first made it as the top-175 kid in the nation. It’s been better after that, though, with four top-100 prospects honing their talents in Wasatch. That group will include two more names as soon as next year, as both Roddy Gayle Jr. (no. 64) and Chris Bunch (no. 72) are part of the 2022 class of seniors and have both picked universities already.&lt;/p&gt;
  197. &lt;p id="URZLWK"&gt;Only four players appear on &lt;strong&gt;ThunderRidge (CO)&lt;/strong&gt; logs, but they span from 2006 to this year’s class of Seniors, with entries in those two years on top of a couple from 2012 and 2018—one each. Matt Bouldin went on to play college ball in Gonzaga back in the late aughts as the no. 53 player in the nation, still the best prospect ever produced by ThunderRidge to this day.&lt;/p&gt;
  198. &lt;p id="VKnrbo"&gt;No prospect had come out of &lt;strong&gt;Cane Ridge (TN)&lt;/strong&gt; nor&lt;strong&gt; Souther California Academy (CA)&lt;/strong&gt; prior to those part of the 2022 class of HS Seniors.&lt;/p&gt;
  199. &lt;h2 id="9SmhdC"&gt;And The Most Important Thing... Where Are They Going To Play College Ball?&lt;/h2&gt;
  200. &lt;p id="pUxhmX"&gt;Here is the recruiting leaderboard from the past five years—which includes the senior HS classes from 2018 to 2022 and only accounts for top-50 players in their respective years, updated to include this month’s decisions:&lt;/p&gt;
  201. &lt;ul&gt;
  202. &lt;li id="onHw5a"&gt;20 Commits -&lt;strong&gt; Duke, Kentucky&lt;/strong&gt;
  203. &lt;/li&gt;
  204. &lt;li id="DO36fd"&gt;
  205. &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prep-to-Pros -&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; 10 players&lt;/em&gt;
  206. &lt;/li&gt;
  207. &lt;li id="db6eRg"&gt;10 - &lt;strong&gt;North Carolina&lt;/strong&gt;
  208. &lt;/li&gt;
  209. &lt;li id="q49a6L"&gt;9 - &lt;strong&gt;Oregon, Kansas&lt;/strong&gt;
  210. &lt;/li&gt;
  211. &lt;li id="602Irt"&gt;8 - &lt;strong&gt;Michigan&lt;/strong&gt;
  212. &lt;/li&gt;
  213. &lt;li id="Ydnqdu"&gt;7 -&lt;strong&gt; Florida, USC, Memphis, Texas, USC, LSU&lt;/strong&gt;
  214. &lt;/li&gt;
  215. &lt;li id="8lcgAL"&gt;6 -&lt;strong&gt; UCL, Gonzaga, Villanova, Tennessee&lt;/strong&gt;
  216. &lt;/li&gt;
  217. &lt;li id="3RcZp9"&gt;5-to-1 - &lt;strong&gt;48 Other Colleges&lt;/strong&gt;
  218. &lt;/li&gt;
  219. &lt;/ul&gt;
  220. &lt;p id="CaXu3X"&gt;Kentucky and Duke are clearly the top two universities at getting (top) talent. On average, they have gotten four top-50 players &lt;em&gt;per class&lt;/em&gt; in each of the past five years and are leading the way, as they have done for most of the last couple of decades. Not even Coach K’s departure seems to be affecting that, not at least for now. We’ll keep an eye on how this thing progresses, though.&lt;/p&gt;
  221. &lt;p id="oQB6Gb"&gt;So, have things been different during the past few weeks when it comes to college commitments? Here is how the last month ended looking like:&lt;/p&gt;
  222. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li id="n4Baau"&gt;1 Prospect added — &lt;strong&gt;Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kansas, LSU, Miami, Michigan, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.onefootdown.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Notre Dame&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, Oklahoma, Syracuse, Texas, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.bruinsnation.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UCLA&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, Villanova, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.gobblercountry.com/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Virginia Tech&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.bloggersodear.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wake Forest&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  223. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
  224. &lt;p id="MZmPIZ"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Duke &lt;/strong&gt;was able to stay on top of the team rankings for another month and will probably stay there for good. &lt;strong&gt;Ohio State&lt;/strong&gt;, on the other hand, dropped to no. 2 last month and is now even further down the list at no. 4. &lt;strong&gt;Arkansas&lt;/strong&gt; (no. 2) and &lt;strong&gt;Kansas &lt;/strong&gt;(no. 3) round up the top-3 entering November with the NCAA almost back and rolling.&lt;/p&gt;
  225. &lt;p id="rXAZt7"&gt;Fierce OSU rivals &lt;strong&gt;Michigan &lt;/strong&gt;sits just below the Buckeyes at no. 5, none of the two schools with a single 5-star caliber player in their 2022 recruiting classes. The same is going on for &lt;strong&gt;North Carolina&lt;/strong&gt; (no. 7) and &lt;strong&gt;Virginia&lt;/strong&gt; (no.8). &lt;strong&gt;Syracuse&lt;/strong&gt; (no. 12) is the only other top-16 school without a 5-star player among their recruits.&lt;/p&gt;
  226. &lt;p id="nIORoA"&gt;LSU (no. 29) is the lowest-ranked university with a 5-star kid in its class, while &lt;strong&gt;Oregon &lt;/strong&gt;(no. 21) and &lt;strong&gt;Texas&lt;/strong&gt; (no. 23) are the lowest-ranked ones with at least two such players.&lt;/p&gt;
  227. &lt;p id="vMO7R0"&gt;Shouts out to &lt;strong&gt;Penn State&lt;/strong&gt; (no. 19) and Nebraska (no.35) for making it to the top-35 with only one 4-star player at most (Penn State; &lt;strong&gt;Nebraska &lt;/strong&gt;did it by the way of recruiting four 3-star kids).&lt;/p&gt;
  228.  
  229. </content>
  230.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2021/11/9/22729572/assessing-the-top-2022-senior-high-schoolers-october-decisions-miller-phillips-bona-whitmore"/>
  231.    <id>https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2021/11/9/22729572/assessing-the-top-2022-senior-high-schoolers-october-decisions-miller-phillips-bona-whitmore</id>
  232.    <author>
  233.      <name>chapulana</name>
  234.    </author>
  235.  </entry>
  236.  <entry>
  237.    <published>2021-11-03T16:01:32-04:00</published>
  238.    <updated>2021-11-03T16:01:32-04:00</updated>
  239.    <title>Eleven Players To Keep An Eye On In The Central Region Of The 2021-22 G League Showcase Cup: Part Two</title>
  240.    <content type="html">  
  241.  
  242.    &lt;figure&gt;
  243.      &lt;img alt="2021-22 Denver Nuggets Media Day" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/I9wTzFJv7Uf71tGh6NgdXd_71OM=/0x0:7945x5297/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70087898/1235586048.0.jpg" /&gt;
  244.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  245.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  246.  
  247.  &lt;p&gt;In a new piece, Dakota Schmidt breaks down the likes of Petr Cornelie, McKinnley Wright, Matt Lewis, DeJon Jarreau, Jamorko Pickett, and Dru Smith&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h4 id="oqL5sC"&gt;
  248. &lt;em&gt;Note: this is the second part in an ongoing series breaking down the interesting players to keep an eye on for the upcoming 2021-22 G League season. Go &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2021/10/24/22741896/eleven-players-to-keep-an-eye-on-in-the-central-region-2021-22-g-league-showcase-cup-part-one"&gt;&lt;em&gt;here &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;to read part one, which examined some prospects from the Central Hub, &lt;/em&gt;
  249. &lt;/h4&gt;
  250. &lt;h3 id="MC5R4R"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Petr Cornelie, Grand Rapids Gold&lt;/strong&gt;
  251. &lt;/h3&gt;
  252. &lt;p id="hTbL82"&gt; A half-decade after the Nuggets selected him with the 53rd pick in the 2016 &lt;a href="https://www.sbnation.com/nba-draft"&gt;NBA Draft&lt;/a&gt;, the French big has finally made his way state-side to join Denver as a two-way prospect. Despite the limitations of how long two-way prospects can be up in the NBA evaporating during the 2020-21 season, this should be different from the norm. That’s largely due to the combination of Denver’s established depth in the front-court and how their status as a contender within the Western Conference hinders the opportunity of a player that doesn’t have the NBA experience of his counterparts on the roster. &lt;/p&gt;
  253. &lt;p id="9uChTg"&gt;For the Grand Rapids Gold, the new G League affiliates of the &lt;a href="https://www.denverstiffs.com"&gt;Denver Nuggets&lt;/a&gt;, that predicament is going to end up being beneficial for them. Because for a new team that will be coached by first-time head coach Jason Terry, I don’t think they could’ve found a better big to fit their young team around. The reason behind that rests with how the 6’11 Frenchman has the tools to be that early offense hub that you can rely upon to both score on his own and be able to find open teammates. &lt;/p&gt;
  254. &lt;p id="L0ddAq"&gt;But Dakota, will the Gold feature guards that either led the nation in scoring while in college (Markus Howard) or started almost 200 games in the NBA (Lance Stephenson)? Absolutely. However, the abilities of that duo and the rest of the Gold could be harnessed to an even greater effect due to the presence of the 6’11 big. All of this theorizing is due to Petr’s knack and genuine comfort level when he has the ball on the perimeter. &lt;/p&gt;
  255. &lt;p id="tQCXfd"&gt;For one, he has developed into a very solid weapon from deep, as he shot a career-high 44% from beyond the arc on 2.8 attempts during his 2020-21 campaign with Pau-Orthez. While that level of efficiency was the peak so far for his career, the big has shot 38% or better in four seasons, which combined with him being a solid free throw shooter make you really believe that jumper is for real. &lt;/p&gt;
  256. &lt;p id="S2Qtsc"&gt;While the numbers point you to Cornelie being a very reliable catch-and-shoot threat, looking at his base statistics don’t tell you the full story when it comes to other areas on the offensive end. For example, the 6’11 big only averaged 1.5 assists per game with a .74 assist to turnover ratio, during his run with Pau-Orthez. Just looking at those numbers alone could lead you to believe that he wouldn’t show much in terms of creating for others. &lt;/p&gt;
  257. &lt;p id="G1xTxp"&gt;However those statistics don’t tell you the full story as the actual film shows our subject doing a great job of being able to use his height while above the break to be able to both find cutters or shooters stationed out to the rim and being able to put the ball in the best position for them to be able to score. &lt;/p&gt;
  258. &lt;p id="iwefPM"&gt;That second part is apparent when you watch his passes as he delivers the ball to his teammates, whether it’s on bounce passes or entry feeds, with excellent touch that goes to their correct hand. However, his reliance on throwing passes to cutters or feeds to inside teammates didn’t always end in assists for him as the defenses were forced to foul the recipients to avoid them scoring an easy two points. &lt;/p&gt;
  259. &lt;p id="ARaIOa"&gt;His unique knack as a perimeter shooter, facilitator, and simply someone that’s more than willing to set high ball screens will create plenty of spacing and opportunity for the other four men on the court to get to their spot on the court. That freedom that a player, especially a big that is also capable of posting up and fighting for offensive boards, can bring to a team is going to be an incredible gift. &lt;/p&gt;
  260. &lt;h3 id="mqqeY2"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;DeJon Jarreau, Fort Wayne Mad Ants&lt;/strong&gt;
  261. &lt;/h3&gt;
  262. &lt;p id="ipyqte"&gt; Fresh off a three-year run with the University of Houston, DeJon Jarreau is just mere days away from making his G League debut as a member of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Compared to the talented players that will surround him on the roster, he’ll have a raised profile due to his status as a two-way prospect with the &lt;a href="https://www.indycornrows.com"&gt;Pacers&lt;/a&gt;. The increased investment from Indiana has a lot to do with what he can add to the team in the future as a 6’5 guard that can stand out as a capable playmaker and also defend multiple positions at a high level. &lt;/p&gt;
  263. &lt;p id="O1DlOl"&gt;He showed both of those traits as a senior for a phenomenal University of Houston team, as he averaged 10.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.3 steals on 43% from the field and 34% from beyond the arc. Despite him barely getting into the double-digits in scoring, his defense and ability to pair those assist numbers with a 1.80 assist to turnover ratio were the keys behind him receiving accolades as he left the university. For his senior year, he was named to the All-American Athletic Conference Second Team and as their Defensive Player of the Year. &lt;/p&gt;
  264. &lt;p id="O8w5Oy"&gt;Jarreau being named as the conference’s best defender came despite the fact that he didn’t finish in the top 10 in the AAC in either steals or blocks per game. While that may surprise most on first glance, him being named as an elite defender should immediately start making sense when you watch him actually work. When it comes to the rookie guards or wings entering the G League as two way or exhibit 10 players, Jarreau might stand at the top of the mountain when it comes to the task of making things a living hell for  any player they happen to be matched up against. &lt;/p&gt;
  265. &lt;p id="ra40VE"&gt;As an on-ball defender, Jarreau honestly has all of the traits that you look for. While the 185-pound guard isn’t the strongest there, he makes up for it with incredible footwork, balance and knowing where to put his body to prevent his man from getting any type of open look or lane to drive towards the paint. One example of that is seen in the clip below where he’s asked to defend stud Wichita State guard Tyson Etienne. While Etienne stood as one of the premier scorers in college basketball, he proved to be no match for the 6’5 guard through his ability to slide his feet, keep his hands up, and use his body in a way to prevent the Shocker from getting an advantage as a driver.  &lt;/p&gt;
  266. &lt;div id="V4cO1m"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/1pck2f" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  267. &lt;p id="ao5UpW"&gt;Even when he’s asked to work off-ball or in pick-and-rolls, our subject both has the balance and quick reflexes to be able to move over and under a screen in a blink of an eye, which allows him to continue being in the face of the ball-handler. &lt;/p&gt;
  268. &lt;p id="MSwkw6"&gt;Jarreau’s tremendous ability as a tenacious on-ball defender that can use his longer frame and tremendous footwork allowed him to be a feared competitor at the college level and heightens his intrigue as a pro prospect. Another trait that fits both of those bills would be his knack as a distributor. Compared to defense where he can be a big bundle of tenacity, our subject is more subdued when he’s working within his role as the team’s main facilitator&lt;/p&gt;
  269. &lt;p id="AP4zLe"&gt;That relaxed nature was beneficial in Jarreau’s case as it allowed him to be patient with waiting for his man, whether it’s a shooter or big stationed in the paint, to get open before delivering a pass. One area where that composed nature pays the most dividends is through pick-and-roll as the Houston alum does a phenomenal job of waiting for the big to switch onto him before attacking off the dribble. As he was quick enough to motor past most AAC bigs, that composure allowed him to get an advantage needed to get an open look needed to dish the ball off to the rolling big. &lt;/p&gt;
  270. &lt;div id="trQ3pw"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/048xgi" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  271. &lt;p id="ZoeRLd"&gt;Although he showed himself more than capable of creating for others while on the move, he struggled with the task of being able to finish in the paint by himself. As a senior, he only hit 53% on his shots from within the restricted area, according to Synergy Sports. A lot of those struggles can be pointed to the lack of lift that he gets on the leaps on his layups as plays like this makes it clear that he struggles to really be able to put the ball in a good angle to have it go in. &lt;/p&gt;
  272. &lt;p id="LDbtdL"&gt;Coinciding with his struggles as an on-ball threat, Jarreau had his struggles with efficiency as a shooter during his college career, as he shot only 29% from beyond the arc on 253 total three-point attempts. Despite that tremendous inefficiency, there are some signs of hope when it comes to his future as a long-range threat. For one, he shot better than 70% from the free throw line during his college career, which was headlined by him shooting 80% from the charity stripe as a junior. &lt;/p&gt;
  273. &lt;p id="FwNkC0"&gt;Along with that, he’s been efficient as a catch-and-shoot threat, as he shot 40% from beyond the arc on a total of 72 total attempts, according to Synergy. That points to his lack of efficiency being through struggles as an off-the-dribble threat. If you take a pessimistic view point, you can say that his struggles with being able to create his own shot hinders his upside as a main offensive focal point. However, his efficiency off the catch and real skill as a facilitator that can dish it off both as a primary and secondary threat shows that he does have real upside as an off-ball threat. &lt;/p&gt;
  274. &lt;div id="D5OYqg"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/st1mnj" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  275. &lt;h3 id="3QKxXl"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Matt Lewis, Iowa Wolves&lt;/strong&gt;
  276. &lt;/h3&gt;
  277. &lt;p id="VJJfxT"&gt; In the world of mid-major conferences, the Colonial Athletic Association has stood the hotbed for developing talent that eventually find themselves in the G League. Just over the last half-decade, you’ve seen the likes of Nate Darling, Joe Chealey, Justin Wright-Foreman, Devontae Cacok, Grant Riller, Nathan Knight, and Jarrell Brantley go from their particular teams within the conference to having success at the G League level. For a lot of those guys, that success has led to pit stops in the NBA as prospects on two-way deals. &lt;/p&gt;
  278. &lt;p id="lBhIQJ"&gt;One player that will look to join that group of CAA greats is the James Madison standout. In his final year with that school, the 6’5 guard was a step above the rest through averaging 19.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.4 steals on 47% from the field and 38% from deep on 6.2 attempts per game. That tremendous efficiency from both the field and three allowed him to maintain a career-best 61% true shooting percentage and 56% effective field goal percentage. &lt;/p&gt;
  279. &lt;p id="pJouZU"&gt;Along with that, his knack as a secondary facilitator within the team’s offense showed through a 2.03 assist to turnover ratio, which placed him second in the conference behind former William and Mary standout Luke Loewe. That mix of volume and efficiency were the keys behind him being the obvious choice as the CAA Player of the Year for the 2020-21 campaign.&lt;/p&gt;
  280. &lt;p id="WYvWvQ"&gt;Although those numbers and the accolades that came with them are definitely impressive, you can’t fully be able to appreciate his game without seeing him actually work on the court. When your eyes catch a glimpse, it won’t take long until you see a player that is confident with the responsibilities that come from being a team’s lead guard. &lt;/p&gt;
  281. &lt;p id="4i0T3U"&gt;That self-assured nature is most evident with his knack as a facilitator as it’s clear that he both knows where his other four teammates are at all times and can quickly recognize the best way to deliver the pass to his man. From throwing out skip passes to corner shooters, heaving bullets to cutters, or utilizing pass manipulation to capture the defense’s attention before kicking it out, his knack as a facilitator is evident in more ways than just his solid passing numbers. &lt;/p&gt;
  282. &lt;div id="QxuFPj"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/codzhs" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  283. &lt;p id="CMeHi1"&gt;Looking away from his ability as a passer, the 6’5 guard’s on-ball traits carries over to him being more than capable of being a dependable downhill driving threat. As a senior, he made significant strides when it comes to both getting to and scoring around the rim at an efficient clip, as his shooting percentage from around the rim improved from 46% in the 2019-20 campaign to 60% during his run as a senior. While most of that comes through him pushing the pace in transition, Lewis showed upside as a half-court creator. Most of this came through his ability to utilize screens to either create an opportunity to drive on a big or get his defender out of position before just bursting his way towards the paint. &lt;/p&gt;
  284. &lt;div id="VUvaPu"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/77ecd0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  285. &lt;p id="sLasOa"&gt;While we’ve proven that Lewis is obviously more than a capable ball-handler through his work as a downhill driver and facilitator, his status as a reliable long-range threat comes when a teammate is in possession of the rock. As a senior, he shot 40% on 70 total catch-and-shoot attempts, according to Synergy Sports. That efficiency is impressive when you see how he’s able to use his 1-2 step approach to get to his spot no matter if he’s maneuvering around screens, transition, flaring out, or standing still in his spot and waiting for a feed. &lt;/p&gt;
  286. &lt;p id="7arb7V"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  287. &lt;h3 id="jvZQkt"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;McKinley Wright IV, Iowa Wolves&lt;/strong&gt;
  288. &lt;/h3&gt;
  289. &lt;p id="q556Pn"&gt;For the third straight year, the &lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com"&gt;Minnesota Timberwolves&lt;/a&gt; entered the NBA regular season using one of their two-way spots on a point guard. In the previous two years, that spot was assigned to former USC standout Jordan McLaughlin, While he hasn’t reached the heights as fellow former two-ways like Luguentz Dort, Alex Caruso, or Duncan Robinson, it would be fair to call him a two-way success story due to having a guaranteed deal and being an established member of the team’s rotation. &lt;/p&gt;
  290. &lt;p id="tu7B4X"&gt;Now just mere days away from the start of the G League season, the former Colorado guard will look to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps and stake his claim in professional basketball. His transition follows a stellar career at the University of Colorado, wherein he stood as one of the premier guards in his conference, as he was named to the All-Pac 12 1st team for three consecutive seasons. &lt;/p&gt;
  291. &lt;p id="TDb30U"&gt;While his senior year was the norm in terms of productivity, it would be fair to say that he ended on a high note. In 32 games, he averaged 15.2 points, 5.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.1 steals on 48% from the field and 30% from beyond the arc on 2.9 attempts per game. That productivity was heightened by him maintaining a very respectable 56% True Shooting Percentage and 2.7 assist to turnover ratio. That level of efficiency as both a scorer and distributor is impressive when you note that his usage percentage, which estimates the percentage of team players that’s centered around that player while he’s on the floor, was at a career-high. &lt;/p&gt;
  292. &lt;p id="F5vuXQ"&gt;His elite status in college and a lot of his potential as a pro rests on his knack as a facilitator. Despite being an undersized six foot guard, Wright has stood as a great distributor no matter if he’s standing stationary on the perimeter or dishing while on the move. Despite his smaller stature, the guard has great court awareness, which allows him to make quick decisions. Along with that, the combination of him utilizing jump passes and having great touch on his feeds, which allows the ball to find his target in a good position more times than not, allows him to be a solid perimeter passer despite his size. &lt;/p&gt;
  293. &lt;div id="WJng6r"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/kry1nv" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  294. &lt;p id="jYMDI7"&gt;On the move, that court vision and spatial awareness that was just brought up is really able to persist. Hand-in-hand with those two traits is his ability to navigate and utilize screens as a ball-handler to create spaces to drive and move away from the three-point line. That’s apparent in the clip below as the Colorado alum is slithery in the way that he gets low and navigates the screen, while stepping within the restricted area. Enough to capture the attention of two &lt;a href="https://www.houseofsparky.com"&gt;Arizona State&lt;/a&gt; defenders, he leaps between them and delivers a slick jump pass to the roll man, who finishes at the rim with an easy two-handed flush. Just this simple 15 seconds of basketball shows that Wright is able to navigate screens at a high rate, knows how to utilize speed and threat of a drive to draw in a defense, and then deliver a precise feed out to his teammates. &lt;/p&gt;
  295. &lt;div id="OtjvkD"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/8e103k" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  296. &lt;p id="YiTSPM"&gt;While on the topic of what he’s capable of doing with the ball in his hands, it’s no surprise that the 6-foot guard does most of his damage in that area when it comes to the perspective of scoring. As his height restricts his potential as a downhill scorer, especially when there’s any type of traffic around the rim, Wright or any other guard at his height needs to either possess tremendous strength to finish through traffic,ball skills or creativity with creating any type of open look closer to the rim. &lt;/p&gt;
  297. &lt;p id="p3ZGqo"&gt;Luckily, our subject has two of the three traits as he’s more than capable of utilizing crossovers  and a great burst to break down his opponent and push his way from perimeter to the basket with the right hand if there’s an open lane to attack. Along with straight line drives, that burst also helps him with attacking through dribble hand-offs or bursting towards the paint when gets a big or forward switched on to him. &lt;/p&gt;
  298. &lt;p id="8SuXXK"&gt;If the paint is a little more crowded or he has to deal with a drop defender coming up, the Colorado alum’s aforementioned slithery nature sees its return. In a more crowded field, his craftiness truly comes out as he does a great job of using head fakes and stop and start moves to create the space he needs to be comfortable launching up a floater. While those types of shots aren’t looked at as the most efficient, our subject might be the exception to the rule, as he shot 58% on 78 total runners, according to Synergy Sports. That’s just a single percentage point worse than the 59% from around the rim. &lt;/p&gt;
  299. &lt;div id="tkMTFK"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/xrbx7b" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  300. &lt;p id="zqNq3W"&gt;Wright’s success as an on-ball driver, when it comes to both attacking the rim and hitting runners, along with his tremendous facilitating counteract the clear struggles that he has had as a perimeter shooter. On 405 total three-point attempts during his college career,  he only landed on 33% of those. That efficiency was actually hurt from his performance against a senior, where he shot 30%, the worst percentage in his college career. &lt;/p&gt;
  301. &lt;p id="guTbD0"&gt;His struggles in that area has a lot to do with his inability to shoot off the catch, as he only shot 26% on 39 total perimeter attempts. Those struggles may be due to a lack of reps in this area as it doesn’t seem like the 6-footer is comfortable in his approach due to being prone to taking a dribble, having to settle his feet, or bringing the ball low to power his shot before putting it up. All of those slow down his approach which gives defenders time to close out on him, which makes what could’ve been an open shot into a contested one. &lt;/p&gt;
  302. &lt;h3 id="qHL3P6"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Dru Smith, Sioux Falls Skyforce&lt;/strong&gt;
  303. &lt;/h3&gt;
  304. &lt;p id="pDUJ3S"&gt; On a Sioux Falls Skyforce squad where Marcus Garrett and Caleb Martin will be starting the year as Miami’s duo of two-way players, a former Missouri wing is the one player that I’ll be having my eye on more than his new teammates. That intrigue comes after watching multiple games from his senior season where it didn’t take long to notice that the 23-year-old had developed himself into being a real talent that can make an impact in numerous ways on both ends of the floor. &lt;/p&gt;
  305. &lt;p id="Wn93gP"&gt;One way that versatility was evident was by how he averaged 14.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.1 steals on 44% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc on 4.5 attempts per game as a senior. Those averages, along with him maintaining a very solid 57% True Shooting Percentage put him in elite company within the Southeastern Conference. Finishing in the top-5 in free throw percentage, steals and assists per game, the conference named him to the All-1st and All-Defensive teams as he was on his way out of college basketball&lt;/p&gt;
  306. &lt;p id="vSJY5A"&gt;Starting out with his play on defense, Smith was an absolute blast to watch as the mix of energy, awareness, ability to quickly react to screens,  and the ways he can utilize his strong 200-pound frame allowed him to be a feared defender on a night-by-night basis. If you follow my personal account, you’ve seen an example of this as I did a voiceover video for a play where he was able to effectively defend current NBA players Yves Pons and Keon Johnson on the perimeter while defeating the former in a battle for a rebound. As I stated, that clip showed the intensity, confidence in movement, and balance that he shows when it comes to moving from ball-handler to ball-handler. &lt;/p&gt;
  307. &lt;div id="xBaHK2"&gt;
  308. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  309. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;I don't do this often but I decided to grab the mic and break down a clip. This time, that player is former Missouri guard Dru Smith, who will be spending his rookie year with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; on &lt;a href="https://t.co/UArjAMxy8W"&gt;pic.twitter.com/UArjAMxy8W&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Dakota Schmidt (@Dakota_Schmidt) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Dakota_Schmidt/status/1455566378488958990?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;November 2, 2021&lt;/a&gt;
  310. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  311. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  312. &lt;/div&gt;
  313. &lt;p id="kipnxL"&gt;When he’s put to the task of defending just a singular player for a possession, our subject is able to shine. Despite being a little smaller from a vertical perspective, he makes up for it by being able to utilize his feet and strong frame  to keep ball-handlers ahead of him. Those two traits are seen in the clip below where two Alabama guards, including lottery pick Moses Moody  are just simply not able to get anything going due to Smith’s ability to move his feet both vertically and horizontally while also using his frame as a wall to aspiring on-ball drivers. &lt;/p&gt;
  314. &lt;p id="4HDOT1"&gt;Transitioning over to the offensive end, he did great work as a secondary option with the team’s option, as he finished with the third highest usage percentage, behind both Xavier Pinson and Jeremiah Tillmon. Within a role as a secondary option within the team’s offense, our subject was still able to shine through being a threat whether he’s working on or off-ball. &lt;/p&gt;
  315. &lt;p id="9ncha8"&gt;As an off-ball threat, he’s mostly shined as a catch-and-shoot threat, as his ability to quickly load up his base as he receives the pass and shoot it was impressive to watch. While a lot of his work was just as a standstill threat waiting to receive a feed, he does show a good ability to use movement to create open looks for himself. Those abilities led to success as he shot 41% on a total of 82 catch-and-shoot attempts, good enough to place him in the 83rd percentile, according to Synergy Sports. &lt;/p&gt;
  316. &lt;p id="r8MGfa"&gt;Speaking of his ability to get shots off in the mid to late shot clock situations, our subject showed himself to be able to hit off the dribble shots at a high level, as he shot 42% on a total of 36 perimeter attempts. That efficiency comes through his ability to really create space through step-backs or utilizing off-ball screens. When he’s utilizing screens, he’s able to quickly maneuver around his man, use a hop step to get to his spot, and launch up the shot. &lt;/p&gt;
  317. &lt;div id="p2LnKH"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/05douw" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  318. &lt;p id="lium0C"&gt;Another area where he’s able to really impress in mid to late shot clock situations is as a facilitator. Sharing the distributing load with Xavier Pinson, the Missouri alum does a great job with making quick decisions once he has the ball. For example, he’s more than willing to direct a big over to him to set a screen, and then being able to quickly utilize them to create scoring opportunities for either the roller or the teammate stationed out at the perimeter. &lt;/p&gt;
  319. &lt;h3 id="Zj7ZuQ"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Jamorko Pickett, Motor City Cruise&lt;/strong&gt;
  320. &lt;/h3&gt;
  321. &lt;p id="xxyr1e"&gt;Sticking with the ongoing trend of strong defenders that are mere days away from making their debuts in the G League, the former forward will cruise to the Motor City as a two-way prospect for the &lt;a href="https://www.detroitbadboys.com"&gt;Detroit Pistons&lt;/a&gt;. His impending run at the pro level followed a development arc with Georgetown where he slowly grew up with a team that was growing and learning under first-time head coach Patrick Ewing. While never the vocal point within an offense, as he never finished higher than 4th on the team in usage percentage, the forward still had success through his role as this swiss army knife that can help a squad out in numerous ways over the course of a game. &lt;/p&gt;
  322. &lt;p id="Te343H"&gt;Now, you may be questioning that statement if you just take a quick peek through his numbers. As a senior, he had his best season from both a per game and efficiency standpoint. Averaging 12.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1 steal on 39% from the field and 37% from beyond the arc on 4.2 attempts per game, percentages that led to him maintaining a 51% True Shooting Percentage. While those numbers represent him ending his college career at its peak, they aren’t great when you compare him to counterparts within the &lt;a href="https://www.bigeastcoastbias.com"&gt;Big East&lt;/a&gt; or in the broad scope of wings within college basketball. &lt;/p&gt;
  323. &lt;p id="aRFj9q"&gt;While those base statistics do a little to show his struggles, they actually hide the upside that he has as a bigger wing that he can potentially have as a role player at the NBA level. The first step in understanding that thought comes when you watch him work on the defensive end. While he didn’t have immense block or steal numbers, he’s like the previously covered DeJon Jarreau in that he was an effective defender, both when guarding their man on-ball and defending in space. &lt;/p&gt;
  324. &lt;p id="4yJvKf"&gt;For the 6’8 forward, his work as a defender against dribble penetration simply comes through him being fundamentally sound as he keeps his hands up, stays on their hips as they work on drives, and sticking his body in front when they decide to square up for a shot or layup. &lt;/p&gt;
  325. &lt;div id="tCBit8"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/ylgti1" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  326. &lt;p id="M4TNxD"&gt;Along with doing a great job of being a hassle to opposing ball-handlers, he also does a great job of occasionally switching roles from being the cornerback to a free safety. Rather than going out and blocking shots around the rim like other folks at his height that do work on help side defense, plays like this proves that he’s more than capable of just being a 198-pound security guard that prevents opponents from entering “Club Paint”. &lt;/p&gt;
  327. &lt;div id="4nx8iW"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/8o7n9e" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  328. &lt;p id="ia97yp"&gt;Looking away from his great work on the defensive end, the young forward has upside, even when you look at an area of the court where he struggled during his college career. Those stumbles came close to the basket, as he shot 39% on 54 total restricted area attempts which placed him in the 11th percentile, according to Synergy Sports. One of the reasons behind his struggles dealt with him not having the acceleration needed to vroom his way past his defender and a clearer driving lane towards the rim. Having a clear paint was also another issue for the 6’9 forward as Georgetown didn’t exactly emphasize spacing, which ultimately led to him trying to use his skinnier frame to try to finish through contact. &lt;/p&gt;
  329. &lt;p id="twXCCc"&gt;While his struggles as an on-ball driver are concerning, Pickett has shown himself to be more than capable of being relied upon in a secondary role while on the perimeter. One of those ways is as a facilitator as the former Hoya showed a lot of glimpses with being able to manipulate the defense through his movements and then deliver the ball out to the roller. While a lot of those passes came within the motion offense that Ewing liked to run, his ability to see over the court and make quick and precise passes should be a transferable skill at the G League or NBA level. &lt;/p&gt;
  330. &lt;div id="b7ijw1"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/r51nmx" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  331. &lt;p id="Y26YXj"&gt;Speaking of skills that should be transferable to the next level, the 6’9 forward proved himself to be a capable shooter. The first glimpse of that is seen with how he shot 83% on 228 total free throw attempts during his &lt;a href="https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Jahvon-Blair/Summary/71572"&gt;career &lt;/a&gt;at Georgetown. Moving out towards the perimeter, he’s shown himself to be a solid weapon, no matter if he’s working off the catch or dribble. &lt;/p&gt;
  332. &lt;p id="jyfWBt"&gt;As a catch-and-shoot threat, he’s dependable as long as there isn’t a hand in his face, as he shot 39% on 46 unguarded threes. That level of efficiency is despite the fact that he wasn’t consistent with how he gets to his spot, as he utilizes both a 1-2 step and hop. Along with that, he seemed to be on the slow side with loading up his shot, which ultimately led to his attempts falling short. &lt;/p&gt;
  333. &lt;div id="drAO55"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/mzc6vg" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  334. &lt;p id="XLrHPy"&gt;Based on limited summer league film, it seems like that shot is going in the right direction as he’s more fluid with the process of catch and release, which leads his attempts going up before the defense is able to close out. As he makes the transition to the G League as a two-way player for the Motor City Cruise, his approach and efficiency as a shooter is going to be a big thing to keep an eye on. &lt;/p&gt;
  335. &lt;div id="birP3r"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/p4u2xh" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  336.  
  337. </content>
  338.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2021/11/3/22760879/eleven-players-central-region-of-the-2021-22-g-league-showcase-cup-part-two-cornelie-wright-lewis"/>
  339.    <id>https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2021/11/3/22760879/eleven-players-central-region-of-the-2021-22-g-league-showcase-cup-part-two-cornelie-wright-lewis</id>
  340.    <author>
  341.      <name>Dakota Schmidt</name>
  342.    </author>
  343.  </entry>
  344.  <entry>
  345.    <published>2021-10-24T08:30:00-04:00</published>
  346.    <updated>2021-10-24T08:30:00-04:00</updated>
  347.    <title>Eleven Players To Keep An Eye On In The Central Region Of The 2021-22 G League Showcase Cup: Part One</title>
  348.    <content type="html">  
  349.  
  350.    &lt;figure&gt;
  351.      &lt;img alt="Milwaukee Bucks v Brooklyn Nets" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QGBZmhlZ-KKLwDRCZkzRYyczSXc=/0x0:2758x1839/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70037979/1235781559.0.jpg" /&gt;
  352.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  353.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  354.  
  355.  &lt;p&gt;Dakota Schmidt breaks down some players for fans to keep an eye on within the central region of the 2021-22 G League Showcase Cup. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="txYR9I"&gt;On November 5th, the 2021-22 G League season will tip off with an exciting nine-game slate, which will feature the league debuts of Mexico City Capitanes and Birmingham Squadron. Along with that night reintroducing the league to fans that haven’t seen any action since March11th, it will also bring the brand new G League Showcase Cup format. The Showcase Cup is going to be a 14-game tournament that will start on the 5th and conclude with the G League Winter Showcase, that will take place from December 19th through the 22nd. &lt;/p&gt;
  356. &lt;p id="SBtZ45"&gt;For the showcase to take place, the league’s 29 teams along with the Ignite will be separated into four regional pods, where they’ll play 12 games against each other within the league’s markets. Teams with the best winning percentage in each pod, along with the next four best teams across the league will advance to the Showcase Cut to participate in a single-elimination tournament during the Winter Showcase. &lt;/p&gt;
  357. &lt;p id="r7FDkr"&gt;To help celebrate the start of the season and this new format, I’m going to center eleven players in each of the four regional pods that fans should keep an eye on when the action begins on the 5th. To begin, we’re going start with the teams that will be participating in the central region&lt;/p&gt;
  358. &lt;p id="rylX8g"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  359. &lt;h2 id="PbEuY3"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Jemerrio Jones - Wisconsin Herd&lt;/strong&gt;
  360. &lt;/h2&gt;
  361. &lt;p id="nD01Wy"&gt; If I were to ask me which G Leaguer that I continue to be frustrated with about their lack of inclusion within the NBA, 9-times-out-of-10 the name that I would give to you would be Jemerrio Jones. Coming onto the scene as a pro in the 2018-19 campaign, he showed out as a rookie through being a step beyond the competition from having an endless motor that allows him to compete at a maximum level on both ends whenever he’s on the floor. &lt;/p&gt;
  362. &lt;p id="G9xKG3"&gt;The biggest area where his endless drive is evident is seen through how he was an elite rebounder, not just for his position as a 6’5 wing, but just in general. During his last run with the Herd during the 2019-20 campaign, the New Mexico State alum maintained a 19.1 total rebounding percentage (TRB%), which placed him 20th in the entire G League.  &lt;/p&gt;
  363. &lt;p id="siFb0S"&gt;While that may not seem significant, it is when you consider that he finished above actual bigs like Ray Spalding, Alize Johnson, Simi Shittu, and Deyonta Davis. That domination on the glass is largely due to his mix of energy and his ability to use his eyes to track where to get in position for a rebound while the ball is still in the air and then pounce. &lt;/p&gt;
  364. &lt;p id="GkjMdV"&gt;Outside of being an outstanding rebounder, Jones showed himself as being a very capable facilitator that you can rely on to push the ball down the floor in transition and make the right play, whether it’s to create his own shot around the rim or push it to an open teammate. Also, his competence in the half-court shouldn’t be forgotten as he can throw pocket passes to cutters or find bigs positioned in the paint. &lt;/p&gt;
  365. &lt;p id="C5E02u"&gt;While on the topic of roll men, Jones actually showed himself to be capable within that role despite being 6’5.  That was due to how his positioning was solid, has soft hands, and was patient with waiting for his defender to go up for a block before taking advantage and scoring an easy bucket around the rim. Outside of scoring, his potential within that particular duty can be raised if there are shooters stationed on the corners as he should be more than capable of pushing it out to his teammates. &lt;/p&gt;
  366. &lt;div id="0HjALY"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/meotny" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  367. &lt;p id="ko3UYw"&gt;All of those abilities that Jones can offer an offense, along with his sheer tenacity on the defensive end, still allows him to be an NBA prospect in my eyes despite his struggles as a shooter. While I might be alone with that view, his incredible ability as a rebounder, ability as a passer in both the half-court and transition, and secret upside as a roll man counteract the fact that he should not be asked to shoot, as focusing on that only takes away from the strong parts of his game that both have and should continue to have a positive impact on a team’s offense. &lt;/p&gt;
  368. &lt;h2 id="ySbSKb"&gt;&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  369. &lt;h2 id="HwUBbR"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Sandro Mamukelashvili - Wisconsin Herd&lt;/strong&gt;
  370. &lt;/h2&gt;
  371. &lt;p id="3WNhyz"&gt;On a team filled with veterans that have already impressed at the G League level, one of the Herd’s feature players will be a big that is itching to make his mark in professional basketball. As a two-way player for the Bucks, the Seton Hall alum is going to have expectations to be placed on his broad shoulders. While that’s usually an unfair predicament to place on an inexperienced player, this could be different as Sandro’s game and the G League is a better fit for each other than cheese curds and the bellies of Oshkosh residents. &lt;/p&gt;
  372. &lt;p id="NttbpG"&gt;In a league that’s centered on faster paced where free flowing offenses are encouraged, Sandro could stand as that perfect vessel for the Herd with the traits that he’s capable of showing off whenever he steps onto a court. At Seton Hall, he was able to become part of the All-&lt;a href="https://www.bigeastcoastbias.com"&gt;Big East&lt;/a&gt; First Team through being a 6’11, 240 pound unicorn that can both get to the rim through the force of his own on-ball skills or rolls, popping out to the perimeter, posting up, or using his force to snag rebounds. &lt;/p&gt;
  373. &lt;p id="QrBN4j"&gt;While the arsenal of tools that he can utilize is definitely major, the biggest key is whether or not that he has the processing capability of being able to quickly read his surroundings and know which trait to utilize in that given situation. At least at the college level, that skill was seen as he was a quick decision maker at the perimeter, which allowed him to take advantage of his matchups as he was quicker than a lot of the other Big East bigs that he was matched up against. &lt;/p&gt;
  374. &lt;div id="uxhvey"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 55%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/1kofay" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  375. &lt;p id="OUrnJr"&gt;Although the level of athleticism will improve as he gets accustomed to the  NBA/ G League, his ability to be decisive with the ball in his hands should allow him to make a smoother transition. Although the level of talent is going to increase, he should have more open opportunities as a shooter or lanes to roll or drive in due to the defenses having to focus on the other strong weapons that are going to surround the Seton Hall alum. &lt;/p&gt;
  376. &lt;p id="Pmp5xa"&gt;As mentioned earlier in this piece, Milwaukee has a lack of front-court depth with both Semi Ojeleye and Bobby Portis currently out with their own individual injuries. That predicament has made it so that Sando is currently part of the team’s rotation, as he played seven minutes in the team’s season opener against the &lt;a href="https://www.netsdaily.com"&gt;Brooklyn Nets&lt;/a&gt;. However, both of their injuries aren’t major so the odds of them returning between now and the Herd’s season debut on November 8th, it should be likely that Sandro will be in Oshkosh in their matchup against Cleveland. &lt;/p&gt;
  377. &lt;h2 id="LuGPYq"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Ethan Thompson - Windy City Bulls&lt;/strong&gt;
  378. &lt;/h2&gt;
  379. &lt;p id="LfFqz3"&gt;Fresh off a strong end to his college career with &lt;a href="https://www.buildingthedam.com"&gt;Oregon State&lt;/a&gt;, where he was part of the All-Pac 12 1st team and guiding them to their first Elite Eight appearance since 1982, Thompson will look to begin his professional career in the G League with Windy City. Speaking of transitioning, the 6’5 wing will look to carry over his status as a great downhill driving threat that can use good footwork and body control to guide him from perimeter to the pain before using his size around the rim. &lt;/p&gt;
  380. &lt;p id="oNaUJd"&gt;Those ingredients mixed together create a meal of efficiency around the rim, as he shot 54% around the rim on a total of 68 total attempts during the 2020-21 season, according to Synergy Sports. Along with the threat of him actually scoring around the rim, the Torrance, California native had a tremendous ability to draw fouls, as he had 6.5 free throw attempts per 40 minutes, which placed him 6th in the Pac 12.&lt;/p&gt;
  381. &lt;div id="cwLlHI"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/ax44n0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  382. &lt;p id="IGGd6b"&gt;The threat that Thompson brings as a downhill driving threat is a major key behind him shining as a great secondary facilitator within a team’s offense. When working on the strong side of the court, the wing showed an ability to drive into the paint enough to capture the defense’s attention before using his height to be able to both find and deliver the ball to the wide open perimeter shooter. His knack of drawing the defense’s attention and delivering passes while on the move and doing pass manipulation with screeners while on the paint, the Oregon State alum has potential to be an ideal secondary facilitator that creates plays and advantages for his teammates in the middle of the shot clock. &lt;/p&gt;
  383. &lt;div id="RiEXcW"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/d8rv12" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  384. &lt;p id="MJCuPg"&gt;As is the case for most players in the G League, Thompson has one significant area of his game that he’ll need to grow at to be able to make that next level. For the incoming Bull, shooting as a whole was a struggle for the player, whether we’re talking perimeter or mid-range. Using Synergy Sports’ shooting percentages, Thompson shot 30% on a total of 70 catch-and-shoot attempts. That low percentage is troubling when you consider those opportunities mostly come when a player is wide open. &lt;/p&gt;
  385. &lt;p id="aIezGP"&gt;Obviously, this is a trait that he’ll need to work on at the G League level as becoming a more refined shooter will keep defenders more honest, which can also really exemplify the clear strengths that he has as a downhill player that can use the simple threat of a drive to get his teammates involved.&lt;/p&gt;
  386. &lt;p id="Eh1Eu6"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  387. &lt;h2 id="BTvjZg"&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Troy Baxter - Windy City Bulls&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  388. &lt;p id="KnnPQv"&gt;So far, most of the prospects that we’ve looked at have either established themselves as top-flight players in either the G League or high-major college basketball. However, the incoming Windy City forward stands as a player that would be unknown unless you were focusing on the world of HBCU basketball. In terms of this particular prospect, that would be a shame as the 6’9 forward made steady progressions over the course of his college career, which led to him having a fantastic 2020-21 season with Morgan State. &lt;/p&gt;
  389. &lt;p id="UIITuu"&gt;As a senior, he averaged 15.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1.6 blocks on 43% from the field and 35% from beyond the arc on 5.5 attempts in 27 minutes per game.  Those numbers were the keys behind him being named to the All-MEAC First Team and MEAC All-Defensive Team. The most notable part of those averages would be his efficiency as a shooter. Dating back to his freshman year with UNLV, where he shot 54% from the free throw line, Baxter has made gains when it comes to developing his shooting stroke. &lt;/p&gt;
  390. &lt;p id="8so8EJ"&gt;His progression on that is seen from his film as the Morgan State alum is very comfortable with creating his shot off the dribble. Over the course of his senior year, he utilized his fair share of step-backs, which combined with his 7’2 wingspan makes for a tough shot for any defender to try to stop when he’s on. The same can be said about his work off the catch, as he shot 34% on 78 perimeter attempts, according to Synergy Sports.  While that average isn’t too impressive, it’s a good sign of his continued progression in that end. The shooting stroke itself looks smooth besides how he loads up his shot by bringing the ball low while bending his knee rather than starting the process before he receives the pass. &lt;/p&gt;
  391. &lt;p id="W2rBlV"&gt;While Baxter’s continued progression as a shooter has been an important trend to follow throughout his career, the 6’9 forward has been able to stake his claim within the basketball world through how he utilizes his athleticism and long wingspan. On the defensive end, he stood as a premier help defender that is able to quickly recognize on-ball drivers and utilize his quick feet to pounce on the offensive player and be able to block their attempts within the restricted area. &lt;/p&gt;
  392. &lt;div id="Ly6HoW"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/siokqj" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  393. &lt;p id="XWpVj0"&gt;The Morgan State alum’s mix of great rim protection, development as a shooter, and just sheer athleticism and lanky frame makes a player that I wouldn’t be surprised if they broke out if given the opportunity during the 2021-22 G League season. &lt;/p&gt;
  394. &lt;h2 id="OfCo7A"&gt;
  395. &lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;RJ Nembhard - Cleveland Charge&lt;/strong&gt;
  396. &lt;/h2&gt;
  397. &lt;p id="JOzmne"&gt;In a matter of days, the &lt;a href="https://www.frogsowar.com"&gt;TCU&lt;/a&gt; alum will be one of the dozens of incoming rookies that will look to utilize the G League to stake their claim in the professional basketball world. Unlike the majority of his counterparts, he does have some measure of comfort through being a two-way player for the &lt;a href="https://www.fearthesword.com"&gt;Cleveland Cavaliers&lt;/a&gt;. While that will allow him to be under the wing of an NBA organization, tales of years gone by show that the threat of other hungry players throughout the league show that you still need to produce on a consistent level to avoid the risk of being waived by its NBA affiliate. &lt;/p&gt;
  398. &lt;p id="6nAQ04"&gt;Although the question about whether RJ will be one of those unfortunate stories won’t be answered until the season begins, watching his film makes me believe that he’ll be able to surpass those hardships. Watching Nembhard apply his craft as a member of TCU, it didn’t take long to understand the comfort that Nembhard had within his role as a athletic wing that also happened to share facilitating duties with 6’2 freshman Mike Miles. &lt;/p&gt;
  399. &lt;p id="AE9lD7"&gt;Within that role as a secondary facilitator, he was fantastic with how he’s able to utilize his 6’5 frame to look over the court and find his man, whether they’re a cutter, big hanging in the paint, or shooter stationed out on the perimeter. Coinciding with his vision, Nembhard has great touch on his passes as they’re both able to his man at the right time and goes into their correct hand. Both of those qualities makes everything a whole lot easier for the recipient when it comes their role as a finisher. &lt;/p&gt;
  400. &lt;div id="30Pbow"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/xemf6n" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  401. &lt;p id="HTnGwb"&gt;Outside of his role as a facilitator, RJ is still a work in progress. Despite his status as the lead scorer for TCU, as he averaged a career-high 15.7 points on 40% from the field and 34% from beyond the arc, the wing has more work ahead of him to become a more reliable scoring threat. The biggest area of growth comes from his work as a shooter, which has actually been an area that he’s been working on. From both beyond the arc and at the free-throw line, he’s shown growth from shooting 30% from beyond the arc and 62% from the charity stripe as a sophomore to that above three-point percentage and hitting 78% on his free-throw line. &lt;/p&gt;
  402. &lt;p id="vPrCSI"&gt;That progression has a lot to do with him becoming more comfortable as a catch-and-shoot threat, as his process is fluid from his hop step, getting his hips in a good place, and being there to load up his shot from the time he receives the pass. His practiced movements and method has paid off as he shot 42% on a total 74 catch-and-shoot attempts during his senior year, according to Synergy Sports. &lt;/p&gt;
  403. &lt;p id="zrg9fn"&gt;The main reason behind his pedestrian three-point percentage is his immense struggles with creating his own shot off the dribble. As a senior, he shot just 14% on a total of 36 off-the-dribble attempts. After watching his misses, it’s tough to really point out a a clear weakness in his shooting stroke but it was apparent that there was no method of where the ball was going to go as it can go short, long, or to the right of the rim, despite him shooting a lot of his shots above the break. &lt;/p&gt;
  404. &lt;div id="PhAByA"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/9szlar" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  405. &lt;p id="2IGr1e"&gt;While talking about areas of growth for Nembhard to focus on at the next level, on-ball driving is a mixed bag for the wing. When it comes to his strengths, he does a great job of using screens to trap his defender, and thus creating an open lane for him to drive from the perimeter to the rim. That trapping microskill is integral for the Horned Frog alum as he doesn’t necessarily have the burst to get past his defender on his own, after they recover from moving past the screen. That really hurts him as that lack of burst allows the defender to stay on his hip and effect his drive and attempt from at the rim. &lt;/p&gt;
  406. &lt;div id="hI0Rsm"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/1bdb9m" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  407. &lt;p id="Wdbumf"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  408.  
  409. </content>
  410.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2021/10/24/22741896/eleven-players-to-keep-an-eye-on-in-the-central-region-2021-22-g-league-showcase-cup-part-one"/>
  411.    <id>https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2021/10/24/22741896/eleven-players-to-keep-an-eye-on-in-the-central-region-2021-22-g-league-showcase-cup-part-one</id>
  412.    <author>
  413.      <name>Dakota Schmidt</name>
  414.    </author>
  415.  </entry>
  416.  <entry>
  417.    <published>2021-10-07T17:45:00-04:00</published>
  418.    <updated>2021-10-07T17:45:00-04:00</updated>
  419.    <title>Assessing The Top 2022 Senior High Schoolers’ September Decisions</title>
  420.    <content type="html">  
  421.  
  422.    &lt;figure&gt;
  423.      &lt;img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/F7Snvf2ZKRo35m4irtNhka97ZXI=/0x0:1080x720/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69966423/Shaedon_Sharpe.0.png" /&gt;
  424.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Shaedon Sharpe/Canada Basketball | Canada Basketball&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  425.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  426.  
  427.  &lt;p&gt;Forget everything we’ve discussed up to this past month because the recruiting train got off the rails. As many as 17 (!) top-100 players picked places, the top-2 players in the class did so among those in that group, four top-10 prospects overall choose their next destination... and we’re here to cover everything related to those decisions in the second monthly installment related to the 2022 HS class.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="blLNdc"&gt;If you’re one with bad memory, fear nothing. You can pretty much start from zero with this month's crop of prospects. Not only did as many as 17 kids pick places during the past 30 days, but most of them (11 of the 17) are also ranked inside the top-75 best players to come out of the 2022 class at this point in 247Sports Composite Ranking.&lt;/p&gt;
  428. &lt;p id="eH1jvQ"&gt;The average rank of those 17 players comes out at a sky-high 47. Yes, that’s lower from August’s mark of 38, but it is also true that back then only 11 players made it to the column. In other words, all 11 &lt;em&gt;top-100&lt;/em&gt; players to commit in August were as many as those ranked in the&lt;em&gt; top-75&lt;/em&gt; to appear in this month’s column, with six more to spare between the 76th and the 100th top spots. Not bad for a 30-day span if you ask me.&lt;/p&gt;
  429. &lt;p id="27vWXj"&gt;And it is not that we will get many more months like September going forward. The top-2 players in the class already committed during the past four weeks, joining six other top-10 prospects and leaving two other such players still uncommitted. There are 32 players still available in the top-100 of the 2022 class, but only nine of those are currently top-25 prospects. We’re past the peak of the recruiting season, upcoming classes are more than outlined, and it’s just a matter of ironing out some details now. Get ready, because this last month truly came as packed as ever.&lt;/p&gt;
  430. &lt;h2 id="ezAXrV"&gt;Who Are The Players And Where Do They Come From?&lt;/h2&gt;
  431. &lt;p id="LIDSei"&gt;The five top-25 players to commit in August, which seemed like an absolutely unreachable mark going forward, were fewer than the &lt;em&gt;six&lt;/em&gt; to pick places in September (and that doesn’t include no. 26 Malik Reneau). Quite the curveball, but nothing we hate around these places.&lt;/p&gt;
  432. &lt;p id="I2Hq0u"&gt;The players themselves are listed next, including their national ranking, position, current high school, bio, and star/ovr rating per 247Sports:&lt;/p&gt;
  433. &lt;div id="oGccoA"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="table:10785652"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  434. &lt;p id="x2z8aE"&gt;With such a large crop of talents, it makes sense to find a little bit of everything among those in this group. There are three centers, three power forwards, three lead guards, a combo guard, a couple of shooting guards, and five small forwards on top of everything. All things considered, six of the 17 kids are labeled as five-star prospects while the other 11 are four-start talents.&lt;/p&gt;
  435. &lt;p id="VP059t"&gt;Perhaps most impressively, only Montverde Acadamy put more than one player in a college this past month, with 16 different preps making the cut. Sadly for the blue-blood haters, Duke and Kentucky led the pack with one and two commits respectively... only all of them ranked between the no. 1 and no. 6 spots of the 2022 class and were the top-3 players to choose their next step this past September.&lt;/p&gt;
  436. &lt;h2 id="FOwhWU"&gt;Have Those High Schools Any Track Record Of Top-Player Production?&lt;/h2&gt;
  437. &lt;p id="bFoCfx"&gt;The folks from &lt;strong&gt;Dream City Christian (AZ) &lt;/strong&gt;don’t know how not to produce high-level talent. Yes, it’s been only three years at it, but in the span covering the 2020-to-2022 senior classes, they have put five players inside the top-60 of 247Sports Composite ranks. Doubling on that, this year’s class features the freshest Wildcat and no. 1 prospect in the nation Shaedon Sharpe, and the no. 10 nationally-ranked kid (still uncommitted) Yohan Traore.&lt;/p&gt;
  438. &lt;p id="m6HjUw"&gt;It’s been 10 years since we got to meet Daniel Ochefu—the first player to make the ranks from &lt;strong&gt;Westtown School (PA)&lt;/strong&gt;—and the prep has been able to steadily maintain their production up till this day. Two top-3 prospects adorn now Westtown’s resume with no. 2 of this year’s class—Dereck Lively II—joining 2017 no. 3 Mo Bamba and 2018 no. 2 Cam Reddish in school’s lore.&lt;/p&gt;
  439. &lt;p id="4GWR0g"&gt;If &lt;strong&gt;Buchtel (OH)&lt;/strong&gt; rings a bell, that’s most probably because you’re too deep into LeBron James’ high school days. LBJ, back in the early aughts and playing at St. Vincent-St. Mary had to face Buchtel often in an Akron inner-city rivalry. Nobody made it out of Buchtel on their way to a prospect ranking, but it’s now Chris Livingston’s time to shine as the kid is no less than the no. 6 talent in the country and headed to Kentucky as the second-best SF of the class.&lt;/p&gt;
  440. &lt;p id="fU8rG7"&gt;Rough stretch that of &lt;strong&gt;North Little Rock (AR)&lt;/strong&gt; in the past seven years, as the school has not put any single player in the Composite ranks. That has most definitely changed this year, as two players of the 2022 class of seniors made it to the top-25 with no. 9 Nick Smith and no. 21 Kel’el Ware raising the NLR pipeline banner for the first time since KeVaughn Allen ranked no. 6 in 2015.&lt;/p&gt;
  441. &lt;p id="ixTyJi"&gt;I’m running out of words to write about &lt;strong&gt;Montverde Academy (FL)&lt;/strong&gt;, so here are some more silly numbers about the prep. It has pumped three no. 1 players (Ben Simmons, RJ Barrett, and Cade Cunningham), one no. 2 is coming in 2023, two kids ranked no. 5 (Jalen Duren and Dariq Whitehead), and four more top-10 prospects between 2013 and 2021. Of the 85 players to come out of Montverde that are in my database, their average rank sits at 172 although almost half of them (40 of the 85) ranked inside the top-100 prospects of their respective classes.&lt;/p&gt;
  442. &lt;p id="7xDDWz"&gt;Pretty much the same goes on down at &lt;strong&gt;IMG Academy (FL)&lt;/strong&gt; on a yearly basis. The prep has been pumping talents out forever, starting with Renaldo Balkman in 2003 and already having two top-60 players in the fold and ready to graduate as part of the 2023 class. The best player to ever ball at IMG? That’d be this year’s graduate Keyonte George (no. 4) followed by three more top-10 players back in their days: Trevon Duval, Jonathan Isaac, and Anfernee Simons.&lt;/p&gt;
  443. &lt;p id="DFU4e2"&gt;Not quite a large track record that of &lt;strong&gt;Coronado (NV)&lt;/strong&gt;, but definitely one packed with flashy names. Jarrett Culver went completely under the radar back in 2017 ranking a ridiculous 312th in his class, yet eventually making it to the L after playing college ball in &lt;a href="https://www.vivathematadors.com"&gt;Texas Tech&lt;/a&gt;. Last year both Jaden Hardy and Frankie Collins entered the top-50—and Hardy became part of this upcoming season’s G League squad—and they have now another top-70 talent ranked in Richard Isaacs, who will also play for Texas Tech.&lt;/p&gt;
  444. &lt;p id="5LTExy"&gt;Although the best player story to come out of &lt;strong&gt;Virginia Episcopal School (VA)&lt;/strong&gt; was that of no. 23 Sacha Killeya-Jones, the truth is that ultimately he never reached the NBA after his stint in Kentucky yet he went on to play overseas and he’s still doing it—now in Israel. This year’s no. 82 Justyn Fernandez is the best (in terms of his rank) player to ever play at VES so far outside of Sacha in 2016.&lt;/p&gt;
  445. &lt;p id="NjYEmT"&gt;As many as 60 prospects appear on my DB when filtering by &lt;strong&gt;Sunrise Christian (KS)&lt;/strong&gt; in the HS field. Not bad, for sure, and even better considering the school has been adept at pumping out talents inside the top-100 of their classes since around 2019. Back then, three kids made it to the top-100 led by no. 14 N’Faly Dante, and although 2020 didn’t yield any gem, Sunrise was back at it last year with the highlights of no. 8 Kennedy Chandler paving the way for two other top-50 teammates. Now, speaking of the 2022 class of seniors, Sunrise has put three more kids inside the top-85 and has the no. 122 player on the outside looking in.&lt;/p&gt;
  446. &lt;p id="CbUlbW"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Northfield Mount Hermon (MA)&lt;/strong&gt; has at least one ranked player in 15 of the past 20 HS classes of seniors. No joke, that feat. While the school has never nurtured a top-50 prospect, it has pumped out four top-100 players already with no. 65 of 2018 Nate Laszewski leading the pack.  &lt;/p&gt;
  447. &lt;p id="IBww8d"&gt;There is no arguing in the fact that &lt;strong&gt;Guyer (TX)&lt;/strong&gt; is far from a powerhouse when it comes to hoops prospects. But man, when they go at it, they know their business. Guyer has just five players ranked in the history of 247Sports Composite ranks starting as late as in 2019, but four of their five kids ranked as top-165 prospects including three inside the top-100 and one top-50 player—2019 no. 47 De’Vion Harmon, who after two years in Oklahoma just transferred to Oregon to play for the Ducks once the 2022 season tips later this fall.&lt;/p&gt;
  448. &lt;p id="4Vt7o6"&gt;Although&lt;strong&gt; Roman Catholic (PA) &lt;/strong&gt;had better days in the past (four players ranked inside the top-100 of their respective classes from 2007 to 2016), the Philly school is slowly but surely getting back on track with the likes of 2022 no. 88 Daniel Skillings featuring as the most recent success coming out of Roman. The first player to make that top-100 cut back in 2017? No. 90 prospect Brad Wanamaker, former Pittsburgh Panther and current Free Agent (lastly played for the &lt;a href="https://www.atthehive.com"&gt;Charlotte Hornets&lt;/a&gt; in 2021).&lt;/p&gt;
  449. &lt;p id="VKnrbo"&gt;No prospect had come out of &lt;strong&gt;Beaumont Academy (TX), Blue Valley (KS), Souther California Academy (CA), East Rockingham (VA),&lt;/strong&gt; before Isaac Traudt made the cut as a top 2022 senior. &lt;/p&gt;
  450. &lt;h2 id="9SmhdC"&gt;And The Most Important Thing... Where Are They Going To Play College Ball?&lt;/h2&gt;
  451. &lt;p id="pUxhmX"&gt;Here is the recruiting leaderboard from the past five years—which includes the senior HS classes from 2018 to 2022 and only accounts for top-50 players in their respective years, updated to include this month’s decisions:&lt;/p&gt;
  452. &lt;ul&gt;
  453. &lt;li id="onHw5a"&gt;20 Commits -&lt;strong&gt; Duke, Kentucky&lt;/strong&gt;
  454. &lt;/li&gt;
  455. &lt;li id="DO36fd"&gt;
  456. &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prep-to-Pros -&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; 10 players&lt;/em&gt;
  457. &lt;/li&gt;
  458. &lt;li id="db6eRg"&gt;10 - &lt;strong&gt;North Carolina&lt;/strong&gt;
  459. &lt;/li&gt;
  460. &lt;li id="q49a6L"&gt;9 - &lt;strong&gt;Oregon&lt;/strong&gt;
  461. &lt;/li&gt;
  462. &lt;li id="602Irt"&gt;8 - &lt;strong&gt;Kansas&lt;/strong&gt;
  463. &lt;/li&gt;
  464. &lt;li id="Ydnqdu"&gt;7 -&lt;strong&gt; Florida, USC, Michigan, Memphis&lt;/strong&gt;
  465. &lt;/li&gt;
  466. &lt;li id="8lcgAL"&gt;6 -&lt;strong&gt; Gonzaga, Texas, Tennessee, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.andthevalleyshook.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;LSU&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  467. &lt;/li&gt;
  468. &lt;li id="3RcZp9"&gt;5-to-1 - &lt;strong&gt;49 Other Colleges&lt;/strong&gt;
  469. &lt;/li&gt;
  470. &lt;/ul&gt;
  471. &lt;p id="CaXu3X"&gt;Kentucky and Duke are clearly the top two universities at getting (top) talent. On average, they have gotten four top-50 players &lt;em&gt;per class&lt;/em&gt; in each of the past five years and are leading the way, as they have done for most of the last couple of decades. Not even Coach K’s departure seems to be affecting that, not at least for now. We’ll keep an eye on how this thing progresses, though.&lt;/p&gt;
  472. &lt;p id="oQB6Gb"&gt;So, have things been different during the past few weeks when it comes to college commitments? Here is how the last month ended looking like:&lt;/p&gt;
  473. &lt;ul&gt;
  474. &lt;li id="n4Baau"&gt;1 Prospect added — &lt;strong&gt;Kentucky&lt;/strong&gt;
  475. &lt;/li&gt;
  476. &lt;li id="xgHk9M"&gt;2 — &lt;strong&gt;Duke, Arkansas, USC, Alabama, Florida, Houston, Missouri, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.theonlycolors.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Michigan State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.vivathematadors.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Texas Tech&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, George Mason, North Carolina, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.tomahawknation.com/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, Northwestern, UNLV, Cincinnati&lt;/strong&gt;
  477. &lt;/li&gt;
  478. &lt;/ul&gt;
  479. &lt;p id="MZmPIZ"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.landgrantholyland.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ohio State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; was finally cooked by &lt;strong&gt;Duke&lt;/strong&gt;, folks. It’s the world we live in, and it was going to happen sooner or later. The Blue Devils ascended to the top spot in the 2022 class ranks and grabbed hold of the no. 1 with their four newcomers, three of them five-star players. OSU, still having the no. 2 class, improved a fantastic 46 spots compared to its 2021 rank; no small feat considering the Buckeyes have not landed a single five-star caliber prospect ahead from this class. The same—even more—can be said of no. 3 &lt;strong&gt;Arkansas&lt;/strong&gt;, now 53 spots above their 2021 rank thanks to landing a five-star player and three more four-star ones.&lt;/p&gt;
  480. &lt;p id="z1MqcP"&gt;As impossible as it sounds, no. 18 &lt;strong&gt;Michigan &lt;/strong&gt;is the first college to have a negative change in its rank for the 2022 season dropping 17 spots from last year's no. 1 spot—not that they need any more firepower, obviously.&lt;/p&gt;
  481. &lt;p id="7Scn4W"&gt;In a similar fashion to Ohio State, both no. 5 and no. 6 colleges in the ranks (&lt;strong&gt;North Carolina and Virginia&lt;/strong&gt; respectively) are the only other institutions ranking inside the top-10 while having landed no five-star prospects from the 2022 class. At the opposite end of the recruiting spectrum, no. 4 &lt;strong&gt;Kentucky&lt;/strong&gt; (3) and no. 12 &lt;strong&gt;Oregon&lt;/strong&gt; (2) have only landed five-star players from the same class of seniors.&lt;/p&gt;
  482. &lt;p id="i3Vccg"&gt;Only &lt;strong&gt;Penn State&lt;/strong&gt; and Ohio State have handed five scholarships so far, with five other colleges handing out four. No. 13 &lt;strong&gt;Cincinnati &lt;/strong&gt;has the highest rise from 2021 (+128 positions in the ranks), followed by no. 32 &lt;strong&gt;Texas Tech &lt;/strong&gt;(+83) and no. 6 Virginia (+73). Not so good for the likes of no. 73 &lt;strong&gt;Gonzaga &lt;/strong&gt;(-71 positions, worst decline), no.61 &lt;strong&gt;Tennessee &lt;/strong&gt;(-58), and no. 86 &lt;strong&gt;Wisconsin&lt;/strong&gt; (-55).&lt;/p&gt;
  483.  
  484. </content>
  485.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2021/10/7/22705524/assessing-the-top-2022-senior-high-schoolers-september-decisions-sharpe-lively-livingston"/>
  486.    <id>https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2021/10/7/22705524/assessing-the-top-2022-senior-high-schoolers-september-decisions-sharpe-lively-livingston</id>
  487.    <author>
  488.      <name>chapulana</name>
  489.    </author>
  490.  </entry>
  491.  <entry>
  492.    <published>2021-09-23T16:25:00-04:00</published>
  493.    <updated>2021-09-23T16:25:00-04:00</updated>
  494.    <title>Revisiting The 2021 NBA Draft: One-and-Dones</title>
  495.    <content type="html">  
  496.  
  497.    &lt;figure&gt;
  498.      &lt;img alt="2021 NBA Draft" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zqdeWCxcxO237RZaZ2i6JZ6-G4g=/0x0:5182x3455/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69900148/1234304355.0.jpg" /&gt;
  499.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by Melanie Fidler/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  500.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  501.  
  502.  &lt;p&gt;With the 2021 NBA Draft in the rear-view mirror, it is time to get a look at the 247Sports Composite Rankings to see how scouts and talent finders fare back in 2020 in relation to where college freshmen were ultimately selected this summer.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="3wArj5"&gt;If you are an avid reader of Ridiculous Upside, you probably know what the 247Sports Composite Rankings are and how they have been more or less reliable in order to predict where players are picked in the different NBA drafts and how they have performed over their careers.&lt;/p&gt;
  503. &lt;p id="HvmO12"&gt;As no player from this year’s draft has played his first game yet, we can only look back to where they were ranked, and which position they were drafted at.&lt;/p&gt;
  504. &lt;p id="1kLNp6"&gt;First things first. Each season, there usually are more than 400 players making the year’s 247 Composite ranks of that class. &lt;strong&gt;For the HS class of 2020, there were 508 entries&lt;/strong&gt;. Here are the Top-25 players in the class:&lt;/p&gt;
  505.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  506.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-PFMNoBBx9ENp4RgmtwAFLz81-0=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22763105/top2521.png"&gt;
  507.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  508. &lt;p id="s6xAIQ"&gt;I have &lt;strong&gt;highlighted in green those selected in this year’s draft&lt;/strong&gt;, including the team that picked them in light gray next to their position in the Composite Ranks (the late Terrence Clark, no. 8 prospect, left us way soon, so keep that in mind while reading the next of this piece). &lt;strong&gt;Out of 25 prospects, 17 were selected&lt;/strong&gt;, which yields an astonishing &lt;strong&gt;68%&lt;/strong&gt; hit rate.&lt;/p&gt;
  509. &lt;p id="TLLrES"&gt;Looking at those selected, the positions they occupy are really not surprising and could have been expected to a certain extent. After all, the best-ranked recruits should be those selected atop the draft. That is mostly the case here, as &lt;strong&gt;the seven-best players were all selected&lt;/strong&gt; and that would have been up to the first nine had Clarke been available. Only one top-10 player wasn’t drafted (remained in college, though).&lt;/p&gt;
  510. &lt;p id="71mi0e"&gt;If we dig deeper, though, these are the full results combining the kids’ rank and their draft position:&lt;/p&gt;
  511.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  512.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9V2nID7BJPBxlvBSoUkET2IHWRE=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22765615/e3d62f80c29dca92d49e9fac6d87aea7.png"&gt;
  513.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  514. &lt;p id="fnWhBr"&gt;There are this summer’s &lt;strong&gt;21 overall draft picks from the 2020 HS Class&lt;/strong&gt; of hoopers. As already introduced, &lt;strong&gt;17 were part of the Top-25 of the class, while the other four fell short of the cream of the crop&lt;/strong&gt;—though not by much. As it usually happens with these things, the chart looks like a shotgun wildly fired toward a couple of axes.&lt;/p&gt;
  515. &lt;p id="M6PKNd"&gt;If scouts were to be fully trusted, the trend line would go from the top-left corner to the bottom-right one. Turns out, they’re not. But it’s not that things can’t look much better considering the volatile nature of scouting.&lt;/p&gt;
  516. &lt;p id="7fODyk"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Of the 21 picks, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;only five &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;heard their name in the second round of the draft&lt;/strong&gt;, with only one player (BJ Boston) falling below the top-50 selections in the 2021 event. That’s an absolutely stunning success rate, even more considering the fact that &lt;strong&gt;16 freshmen were drafted in the first round&lt;/strong&gt;—with the 17th kicking off the second round, too.&lt;/p&gt;
  517.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  518.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/o2CatLYvzUK0oDY3mMBM9vH14Zo=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22765622/649f2ae9f3dc86c1f5a710afe32924e5.png"&gt;
  519.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  520. &lt;p id="PkYnII"&gt;The colleges—or not—that provided the most drafted freshmen to the draft are perhaps the defining trait of the 2021 class of draftees. You are seeing it correctly in the image, folks: &lt;strong&gt;the G-League, a fully-formed professional league made out of borderline-NBA-caliber players, pumped out three kids that were drafted with the second-, seventh-, and 31st-overall picks in late July.&lt;/strong&gt; Those selections and players can’t be considered true prep-to-pros cases, obviously, but they’re the closest to it we’ve gotten so far—barring international talents—and now a proved and tested way to make it to the Association without going to college.&lt;/p&gt;
  521. &lt;p id="bAhLcU"&gt;It’s also interesting seeing the likes of Tennessee and Auburn battling perennial powerhouses like Kentucky or the 2021-loser Duke at the top of the board. Tennessee nurtured to players selected in the 20s with Auburn boasting a couple of second-rounders. Kentucky, by the way, could only get a first- and a second-rounder drafted this past draft.&lt;/p&gt;
  522. &lt;p id="YXS6sl"&gt;Last but not least, we can take a quick look at the 21 freshmen picks of the 2021 draft to compare their position in the 2020 HS class in relation to the slot they were selected at. Although not perfect, &lt;strong&gt;it is a quick proxy to how much value those players can provide the teams that picked them&lt;/strong&gt;, supposing that highly-ranked prospects picked late in the draft are primed to turn into steals.&lt;/p&gt;
  523. &lt;p id="mODU68"&gt;In order to get an objective number, I divided the player’s 247Sports Rank by his draft slot. I called this simply &lt;strong&gt;“Rk/Pk” or “Risk”&lt;/strong&gt;, and &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;the lower its value is, the bigger the supposed “steal”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;. Here is how things turned out this year:&lt;/p&gt;
  524.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  525.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/syAY2_JkGFQamxoJZmHjQEWCjlY=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22765631/8fbf4eba66c8bc90a523810cbe97ba7c.png"&gt;
  526.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  527. &lt;p id="00rnYT"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The top-3 picks in this past draft yielded no risk for their new teams&lt;/strong&gt;. They all were drafted in the position the high school ranks had them at a year ago, and that’s is rather surprising to find holing, even more considering that two of those three players went the average route (NCAA) while the other one opted to turn pro (G League).&lt;/p&gt;
  528. &lt;p id="JccujD"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The biggest “steal” of the draft, combining prospect rankings and draft picks, should be the freshest &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.grizzlybearblues.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Memphis Grizzlies&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; draftee Brandon “BJ” Boston&lt;/strong&gt;. He was the no. 5 prospect graduating in 2020 and spent a year in Kentucky, no less. Greg Brown (&lt;a href="https://www.thebirdwrites.com"&gt;New Orleans Pelicans&lt;/a&gt;) follows him in the second position, with both Josh Christopher and Sharife Cooper (both top-25 recruits) tied for the third spot.&lt;/p&gt;
  529. &lt;p id="isbKWS"&gt;On the other side of the coin, &lt;strong&gt;everybody seemed to agree in arguing the &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.poundingtherock.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;San Antonio Spurs&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; reached a lot in drafting Josh Primo with their top-12, lottery pick&lt;/strong&gt;. Primo was “only” the 58th-best prospect of the 2020 class yet he was drafted ahead of 13 of his classmates. Outside of Moses Moody, who this quick calculation sees as another gamble, nobody went even close to those “reaching” extents, and the third-biggest “gamble” Jalen Suggs is far from that and was even considered a steal-pick by the &lt;a href="https://www.orlandopinstripedpost.com"&gt;Orlando Magic&lt;/a&gt; given his fall to the fifth slot on draft day.&lt;/p&gt;
  530. &lt;p id="wVnJMQ"&gt;And with all that, the 2021 draft saw 21 one-and-dones enter the history books by being selected by an NBA franchise. That’s a bump up from the 2020 draft, which included 17 NCAA freshmen and two more if you factor both LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton in—they played overseas in Australia and New Zealand respectively for a year.&lt;/p&gt;
  531. &lt;p id="buSLn1"&gt;How all of these kids will fare in the NBA is still up in the air. The good thing for us, and for them, is that the Summer League is already rolling so they won’t have to wait a lot to face their first professional basketball test.&lt;/p&gt;
  532.  
  533. </content>
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  536.    <author>
  537.      <name>chapulana</name>
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