January 2013

Trey Burke

By James Blackburn

Game Scouted: Michigan @ Minnesota

Michigan Wins 83-75

Box Score

Trey Burke (6’0”, PG, SO)

Stats
36 min, 5-15 FG, 3-6 3pt FG, 5-6 FT, 1 reb, 9 assist, 1 TO, 1 Blk, 1 ST, 18 TP

Strengths
Trey is emerging as one of, if not, the best PG in the country. He leads his team in both points (18) and assist (7.2) per game and does not turn the ball over much (1.9) considering he plays over 33 minutes a game and has the ball in his hands a large portion of his time on the floor. Burke has several qualities and skills that make him an intriguing prospect to NBA teams.

The first thing and the most obvious is Burke’s passing ability and court vision. He keeps his eyes up and is consistently scanning the floor looking to make something happen on offense with the pass. Terrific overall passer who showcased just about every pass a PG can possibly make this game. Showcased bounce, alley-oop, passes in transition, drive and kicks, no-look ,European passes on the baseline, the ability to get by initial defender and using creativity to dump it to open teammate, hit cutters, fed players on back door cuts, and entered the ball to the post. He gets rid of the ball quickly and showed me more and more of his terrific passing skills as the game went on. Had 9 assists this game, but should have had 10 or more as several of his passes that led to wide open shots were missed by teammates.

Another aspect of his game that makes him a complete PG is his speed, quickness, and ball handling ability. Excellent speed with the ball in his hands on the break. Showed the ability to go both directions with the ball- can also change speeds and directions. Showed a nice hesitation dribble and the ability to finish with either hand. Has an excellent crossover dribble move and has many other dribble moves to get by defender and into painted area.
Besides his passing ability, speed, and ball handling, Burke also can score the basketball. Burke is shooting over 50% from the field, 40% from 3, and 80% from FT line for the season and leads his team in scoring per game with 18. Good shooter who has solid form, good arc, rotation, and elevation. Excellent pull up shooter from midrange or from 3. Answered one of my concerns I had by showing he could hit the set 3 off the kick out and did so from a couple of feet behind the arc (NBA range). Can create his own shot and is a solid 1 on 1 player. FT stroke looked solid- poised and patient on the line.

Defensively he has excellent lateral quickness and quick hands. Understands defensive positioning off the ball and jumps to the ball when ball moves. Matched up with Minnesota’s Andre Hollins for most of game and did a decent job of staying in front of him and making not letting him get easy scores. Even had a block on one of his jump shots and did a good job of contesting others.
Overall, he did a good job of directing Michigan’s offensive attack and putting players in the correct spots, waiving players through, and using hand and verbal signals. After struggling to a degree for the first 10 minutes of game he played a tremendous second half and seemed to have either assisted or scored on the majority of Michigan’s field goals in last 15 min or so in 2nd half.

Weaknesses
Struggled with defensive pressure from Andre Hollins at beginning of game and looked a little rattled. Forced a few passes in this game- that he never should of thrown- tried to force the ball several times- most of these coming early in first half. Also seemed to be a little loose and careless with the ball at this time as the defense got multiple tips on his dribble and passes. To his credit, bounced back and played a strong second half against a top 10 team and on the road and finished with only 1 TO.

Size definitely hurts him as he barely 6’0” tall. He struggled to score inside the painted area tonight and this will only become more of an issue at the next level. While he does have a nice pull-up jumper, he lacks a floater, which would be useful at his size. Has the quickness to get to rim-but is more likely to pass if he gets there- if he is going to score- he will pull-up before he gets all the way there. Must get stronger with ball when driving to rim.

Defensively I would of liked to see him pressure the ball more then he did as he possesses good quickness – did it only a couple of times. Got caught on screens too easily and didn’t go ball side on the off the ball screen. Size makes him nearly invisible on the glass on both ends of the court. I question his ability as a help defender- gets bumped out of position by bigger players off the ball- tended to stand beside opponent in help position instead of getting in front of him.

Overview
Good game tonight for the sophomore PG on the road against a Big 10 rival. Even though he struggled shooting the ball for the most part (5-15), he did hit his 3’s and FT’s at a high rate and also dished out 9 assists to help lead team to a big win on the road. Matched up with Minnesota’s Andre Hollins for majority of game- his strength was giving Burke problems to start, but Burke did a better job in the second half and held Hollins to 13 points on 5 of 12 shooting.

Most draft boards have Burke going mid to late first round, although one mock draft had him going as high as number 13. I see him as a back-up PG in the league who can come in and provide quickness, shooting, and run the offense. I wouldn’t pick him as high as 13, but would justify a team picking him late in the first round (25-30) or early in the second round. This is not a big draft for PG’s, so you may see his stock go higher, possibly getting picked up in the lottery, depending on how he does in March and depending on if a team is looking for a back-up PG.
Note :Burke played the majority of the game as #12, because his first jersey (#3) got torn.

Saint Xavier vs. Trinity High School Basketball

By John O’ Malley

On January 11, one of the biggest rivalries in all of high school sports faced off at Freedom Hall. During the football season, the two schools annually draw a crowd of at least 35,000 fans to their showdown. This past Friday, Saint Xavier and defending Kentucky state champs Trinity faced each other on the hardwood, drawing a near 6,000. The game was an emotional nail bitter from start to finish as the Saint Xavier Tigers edged the Trinity Shamrocks 45 – 42. The following players stood out during the course of the game:

Saint Xavier

Brock Kiesler C 6’9 Senior: Big man on the Tigers. Teammates consistently fed him the ball on the offensive end. Post moves with back to the basket can be a little more polished, however the motion is sure there. Kept a low body and determination to finish his post feeds under the rim. Saw some lift in his ability to grab clutch offensive rebounds and had critical tip-in late in the final minutes of the game. Impressive defense, closing out to his defender and denying the the ball to the post. If Trinity guards slashed to the rim, his long arms and a vertical body position allowed him to contest shots. Ended with game-tying 12 points and 8 rebounds.

Robert Shaw PG 5’10 Junior: “Pure PG”. Like any true PG, Shaw was consistently looking to distribute the ball to open players and move the offense. Got other teammates involved with his pass first-type mentality. Showed the ability to score the ball with a solid stroke. Excellent dribbler with both hands, while still maintaining control of possession during traps and tough defense. Very fast in the open court, who could swiftly run coast to coast in transition.

Alex Jones G 6’3 Senior: One of the leading scorers this season for the Tigers and a fundamentally solid player on both ends of the court. Not a real flashy player who needs to improve his ability to create shots for himself, but is gritty competitor who makes great decisions. Very good shooter with a smooth jumper and follow-through anywhere from mid-range to 3-point range. Excellent eyes and awareness on both ends of the court. Played solid-on ball defense. Great use of hands closing out and pressuring defenders. Ended the game with 12 points and 8 steals.

Justin Moody G 6’0 Senior: Skilled 3-point shooter. Nice squared shoulders, high arch release and follow-through added up to a consistent shooting motion behind the three-point line. Great movement off the ball diving and cutting to the basket. Strong upper body to set good, firm ball and back screens to free up teammates.

Trinity

Darryl Hicks G 6’4 Senior: One of the top guards in Kentucky, Hicks shows the ability to score anywhere on the court. He can cut to the basket with a quick in-and-out dribble or pro-hop. He can spot up and shoot from mid-range. Against Saint Xavier, he had difficult time executing most of his shots due to great defensive pressure and high closeouts from the Tigers. His jumper has a nice arch and release, unfortunately his body wasn’t squared to follow-thru some of his jump shots this game. When he attacks the basket, he is willing to draw contact and finish. Excellent low, defensive stance on and off the ball making it difficult for defenders to get around him.

Miles Rice G 6’0 Senior: Excellent penetrator and slasher. Broad shoulders and strong upper body allowed him to absorb contact and finish around the rim. Took over final minutes of the game for Trinity scoring and energizing his teammates. Very high lift on his shot and crashes the offensive boards. Low defensive stance and ability to chase defenders and swipe in help defense. Led the Shamrocks in scoring with 10 points.

Craig Owens F 6’3 Junior: Athletic, undersized forward who likes to drive the ball inside. Able to adjust his body midair when he explodes off the court. Showed the ability to guard any position on the floor with a strong upper body. Slides feet and gets to any space quickly on zone defense.

Trey Ivory G 5’10 Junior: Competitor willing to hustle on both ends of the court. A quick point guard who can also knock down shots from behind the three-point line. Good passer, zipping them to teammates, but would’ve liked to see him reverse the ball and direct the offense. Communication and decision-making need to improve.

James Quick G 6’2 Senior: Committed to University of Louisville’s football program as a top wide receiver in his class. Very quick with great defensive awareness. Great hands consistently attempting to steal ball and trap defenders.

Raymond Spalding F/C 6’9 Sophomore: Long, lanky body. Saw only a few minutes of action this game but his presence was felt. Great defense awareness and showed ability to stay low. Long arms for shot blocking and rebounds. Unfortunately did not see any post game on offensive end. As he grows and becomes more comfortable in his center-framed body, it will be interesting to see what potential he can provide the Shamrocks.

By James Blackburn

Game Scouted: Elizabeth City State @ Winston-Salem State University

Winston-Salem State wins 65-53

Box Score

Angelo Sharpless (G, 6’4”, SR)

Stats
28 min, 4-11 FG, 0-2 3pt, 0-1 FT, 9 reb, 2 assist, 2 TO, 1 blk 8 TP

Strengths
Coming into to tonight’s game, I knew Angelo was a terrific scorer that also had superb athleticism. This was evident before the game even started watching him in warm-ups. Angelo possesses next-level athleticism with his above-the-rim heroics (see video at end). He had two in-game dunks tonight, a windmill at the end, and a ferocious 2 handed dunk on a fast break that almost ripped the rim down. Sharpless has already made two appearances on ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 for his throwdowns.

Angelo Sharpless

What I also knew about coming into the game was his scoring and shooting ability. While he did struggle from the field tonight, going 4-11, he also displayed a smooth shooting stroke with good elevation, form, and rotation on his shot. For the season, Sharpless is shooting close to 40% from 3 and over 53% from the field, terrific numbers for a shooting guard who puts up the quantity of shots that he does. He can do his scoring from anywhere on the floor and has a quick first step he uses to get to the rim, where he has a variety of scoring and finishing moves. He also has the size and athleticism to finish with authority inside the paint. He does a good job of creating space offensively and holding his ground off the ball to get open and is able to create his own shot. He came into the game averaging over 22 points per game, which is good enough to place him in the top 10 in the nation for DII NCAA in scoring. He gets the bulk of his points in transition and gets out on the break quickly.

While he does have over 100 more shot attempts than anyone else on the team (offense clearly runs through him), he also finds a way to dish out over 2.4 assists per game as well. He had 2 tonight and both were highlight-worthy, leading to easy open lay-ups for teammates.

Defensively, Sharpless is the best rebounder on the team. He leads the team with over 9 boards a game, which is top 25 in the nation for DII. The team struggles rebounding with him out of the game and got badly beaten on the boards tonight, with him sitting on the bench most of the first half. He is strong with the ball and uses his athleticism to attack the ball. He plays solid help side defense and is a decent weak side shot blocker (Made an impressive block on the opening possession on a player 3” taller on the low block). Has good quickness and is able to cover large amount of space quickly. He also talked and communicated on the defensive end. Communication is not an area that he has a problem with. Has potential to be even better on the defensive end. Guarded WSSU best scorer, most of the time they were on court together and held him under his average.

While his ball handling is average for the most part, he did show the ability to lead the break several times after a rebound, where he could draw the defense and kick or keep it himself and score.

Weaknesses
Sharpless is a talented player and scorer, but could be better if he improved on several things. While he is not a bad ball handler, who needs to improve his ability go left and tighten up his handle overall, especially when driving in traffic. While he is a good shooter, he does not have a high release. He didn’t struggle to get off his shot tonight, but may if he had a taller player defending him. Forced some shots tonight, that I felt he should not of taken- needs to improve shot selection. Seemed like he was more intent on making highlights then helping team win this game and was more worried about getting out in transition to get his dunks than anything else.

Defensively, he has potential, but tends to take some plays off, and also falls asleep on occasion. Several times tonight, he got beat to the spot and lost his man on the perimeter. He didn’t show any effort to fight over or through screens, content to just switch.

His attitude and on court body language were poor for the majority of the game tonight. I believe I caught him on an off-night. I talked to couple of people who have seen him play before and they said he usually has a great attitude. Got into an argument with his coach early on the first half and was sat out the last 12 minutes of the half (did bounce back and play entire 2nd half and helped pull team with-in 3). Showed visible frustration with teammates, coaches, and referees over mistakes and calls. Also showed frustration when he didn’t get the ball when he was open on the break or in half-court. To his credit, when WSSU started the game off winning 9 to 0, Sharpless did a good job of huddling team together, being a leader, and calming everyone down. I think this is how he normally is, but felt like he just got frustrated tonight with team losing and pressed too much.

Overview
Angelo was held 14 points under his average against a WSSU Rams team that is ranked 17th in the nation at home. He struggled with his shot the majority of the night and did not make things better by displaying a poor on-court attitude. Sat out last 12 minutes of first quarter after getting into argument with coach. Did a good job of bouncing back in the second half to score all 8 of his points and collected 9 rebounds in limited minutes. He has a high ceiling with his shooting ability and above the rim play. In my opinion, he is talented enough to get drafted into the D-League in the later rounds or play overseas. He has a chance to get invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT) in Virginia in April, a showcase tournament reserved for the top seniors in the country, regardless of college division. A strong showing at the PIT could give him a great shot with making a D-League roster. His athleticism will translate as will his scoring and rebounding ability. It will be interesting to see how he finishes the year and if he can keep his scoring average and FG% up in a highly competitive CIAA conference.

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James Blackburn is the Director of Scouting for Basketball Elite. He scouts high school, college and pro prospects. You can follow James on Twitter right this second.

ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Texas A&M guard Elston Turner as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Jan. 13. The USBWA’s weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and will be handed out each Tuesday through Feb. 19 this season.

Turner

As the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, Turner was nominated for the weekly award, which was chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors from a list of Division I conference players of the week.

Turner, a 6-5 senior from Sacramento, Calif., became just the third opposing player to score 40 points in Kentucky’s Rupp Arena, leading the Aggies to an 83-71 win over the Wildcats. Turner’s 40-point outburst allowed him to join LSU’s Chris Jackson and Navy’s David Robinson as the only players to reach the 40-point mark at Rupp. Meanwhile, the win lifted the Aggies to a 2-0 start in their first season in the SEC.

On the afternoon, Turner scored 25 points in the first half and finished 14-19 from the field and 6-10 from 3-point range. The 40-point game was also the first by a Texas A&M player since Don Marbury on Jan. 5, 1985. Earlier in the week, Turner scored 15 points in A&M’s SEC debut, a 69-51 win over Arkansas.

This is the fourth season that the USBWA has selected a national player of the week. The weekly Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week will be considered for the Oscar Robertson Trophy watch list, which will be released at mid-season.

Since the 1958-59 season, the USBWA has named a National Player of the Year. In 1998, the award was named in honor of the University of Cincinnati Hall of Famer and two-time USBWA Player of the Year Oscar Robertson. It is the nation’s oldest award and the only one named after a former player.

Oscar Robertson TrophyAt the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership. The winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy presented by Aflac will be presented by its namesake, Oscar Robertson, at the Devon Energy College Basketball Awards on April 15, 2013, at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. TheHenry Iba Coach of the Year Award and the Integris Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award will also be presented at the gala to be held annually the Monday following the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and the Oscar Robertson Trophy, contact executive director Joe Mitch at 314-795-6821.

Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, the most comprehensive college basketball publication in the world, returns for its 32nd season, bigger and better in 2012-13. Blue Ribbon – long-known as “The Bible of College Basketball” – gives its readers the most thorough, up-to-date and timely evaluations of every Division I team in the country. For more information about Blue Ribbon Yearbooks, visit blueribbonyearbookonline.com.

2012-13 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
• Week of Dec. 9: Brandon Paul, Illinois (Big Ten Conference)
• Week of Dec. 16: Doug McDermott, Creighton (Missouri Valley Conference)
• Week of Dec. 23: Victor Rudd, South Florida (Big East Conference)
• Week of Dec. 30: Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA (Pac-12 Conference)
• Week of Jan. 6: Trey Burke, Michigan (Big Ten Conference)
• Week of Jan. 13: Elston Turner, Texas A&M (Southeastern Conference)

Whitney Young basketball
Paul White, L.J. Peak and Whitney Young have hit the top 5 across several polls. Photo Source: MaxPreps

By Marcus Shockley

This national high school basketball ranking combines multiple available polls for a period of time into a single poll, and creates a ranking for each team based on their average ranking, number of times they are ranked in the various polls, the highest ranking that teams has in those polls and the average ranking. Read more about today’s cumulative ranking below.

School Location High AVG Qty TrueRank™
1. Montverde Academy Montverde,FL 1 1 4 34.250
2. Findlay Prep Henderson,NV 1 1 4 33.750
3. Lone Peak HS West Highland,UT 3 4 4 30.000
4. Whitney Young Magnet HS Chicago,IL 3 5 4 28.750
5. Mater Dei HS Santa Ana,CA 3 6 4 27.500
6. Poly HS Long Beach,CA 5 6 4 26.500
7. La Lumiere School La Porte,IN 4 8 4 24.750
8. Huntington Prep Huntington,WV 4 8 4 24.250
9. St. Benedict Prep Newark,NJ 5 9 4 23.500
10. Prime Prep Academy Dallas,TX 4 10 4 22.500
11. St. Anthony HS Jersey City,NJ 7 10 4 21.250
12. Oak Hill Academy Mouth of Wilson,VA 10 10 4 20.250
13. Desoto HS Dallas,TX 8 11 4 20.000
14. Simeon HS Chicago,IL 11 13 4 16.500
15. Omaha Central HS Omaha,NE 11 14 3 13.333
16. Bishop Montgomery Torrance,CA 15 15 4 12.750
17. Iowa City West HS Iowa City,IA 15 17 4 10.750
18. Lake Oswego HS Lake Oswego,OR 14 18 4 9.750
19. Southwind HS Memphis,TN 16 17 3 7.667
20. Bishop O’Connell Arlington,VA 18 20 3 3.333
21. Pershing HS Detroit,MI 18 22 3 0.333
22. Blanche Ely HS Pompano Beach,FL 22 22 3 -1.333
23. St. John Bosco Los Angeles,CA 21 23 3 -1.667
24. Germantown HS Germantown,WI 23 23 3 -3.000
25. Midwest City HS Midwest City,OK 17 23 2 -7.000
26. Bishop Gorman HS Las Vegas,NV 20 23 2 -9.000
27. Olympic HS Charlotte,NC 23 23 2 -10.500
28. Gonzaga HS Washington,DC 20 20 1 -24.000
29. Christ the King Middle Village,NY 20 20 1 -24.000
30. Thurgood Marshall HS Dayton,OH 22 22 1 -30.000

Notes: This week’s poll includes four sources: Hoopniks, ESPN, USA Today and PrepNation. MaxPreps also released polls during this period but I haven’t included them, due to the fact that they segment private academies from public high schools. I am not sure how, or if, I will incorporate their rankings back into the cumulative rankings.

The top two in the poll remain the same, although all polls have Montverde Academy at #1, with the exception of USA Today, which has Findlay Prep at the top spot. However, movement in the rest of the rankings, as polls vary widely on schools such as Prime Prep, Huntington Prep and St. Anthony. Once again I’m listing the top 30.

Finally: In the poll listing, the ‘high’ value represents the highest ranking in any poll that team received during the ranking period.
‘Qty’ represents how many polls they were ranked in. ‘AVG’ represents their average ranking in all polls where they were ranked.

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Want to know more? You can follow Marcus Shockley on Twitter.

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TrueRank is ™ and © 2013 Neptune Media Group, LLC.

Shabazz Muhammad
Photo Source: CBS

By Marcus Shockley

A recent article in the Charlotte Observer tells of some NBA scouts who think the Bobcats should trade whichever pick they have this year, as it’s expected to once again be in the lottery.

It’s an interesting phenomenon that has emerged ever since players starting entering the NBA draft right out of high school, which has now become the parade of ‘one-and-done’ players into the pros, that players who are projected as NBA superstars start playing games at the college level, their draft status often drops. Last season in AAU it was quite common to hear that Shabazz Muhammad was one of the best players on the planet even though he was still in high school, but now halfway through his freshman season, he’s considered to be ‘flawed and inexperienced’.

James Michael McAdoo of UNC has seen similar changes to his draft status, after a season where he’s struggled to establish himself as a consistent first option for his team. Nerlens Noel was incredibly hyped during the recruiting process before he committed to Kentucky, now still considered a lottery pick but not the lock that many had claimed.

As I open this month’s ESPN ‘Next’ magazine, in which they attempt to project who the next big stars will be in several sports, they have decided against selecting another high school phenom and went with Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving, who was a one-and-done college player for Duke, but is now in his second season in the pros. However, in the comments of the article, people pile in to tell ESPN that they have it wrong, and that the ‘next’ phenom is Andrew Wiggins, the star player for Huntington Prep in the class of 2013. One reader says ‘just watch a mixtape of Andrew Wiggins and he’ll blow your mind’.

I’m not saying Wiggins won’t be a pro and he’s a very talented high school player. But let’s wait on the accolades until he’s proven he can at least compete against collegiate talent.

This is part of the problem. I’m not sure if it’s the SportsCenter Top 10 influence, but people get fooled by highlights. They see a sixth grader scoring like crazy in a video and they immediately project the kid into the next Michael Jordan.

Is the 2013 NBA draft weak on talent? Not really, but what scouts are really saying is that it’s weak on potential superstars. Players like Cody Zeller and Otto Porter are considered NBA talent, but not “franchise” players. One issue I have with that is that those players hardly ever come along, no matter how much talent is supposedly in the draft. Another issue is that it seems like projecting superstardom is something scouts and fans love to do, but rarely get correct. As I write this, the 2014 mock NBA draft from NBADraft.net has the top 6 projected picks currently in high school. That’s become commonplace, but it’s also become commonplace that by the time those players are eligible for the draft, most of them will not be ranked that high.

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Want to know more? You can follow Marcus Shockley on Twitter right this second.

Joe Harris basketball virginia

By James Blackburn

Game Scouted: Virginia @ Wake Forest
Wake wins 55-52
Box Score

Joe Harris (G, 6’6”, JR)

Stats
34 min, 5-14 FG, 2-3 3 pt, 1-1 FT, 4 reb, 2 assist, 4 TO, 1 blk, 1 steal, 13 TP

Strengths
Has tremendous size for the off-guard position (6’6”, 211 lbs)- towered over and looked bigger then whoever defended him tonight. His size allows him to get his shot off even when defenders contest his shot. Known as a knockdown set shooter from the 3-point line, Joe didn’t hit his first 3 until about a minute to go in the contest. Wake did a good job of running him off the 3 point line and making him put the ball on the floor, which he showed the ability to do several times tonight and go to his left or right in a straight line drive and finish.

His shooting is his best attribute offensively, however. His shot is pure and effortless. He has a quick and high release and factoring in that he is a legit 6’6”, he can get it off on just about anyone. Does a tremendous job of getting his feet and shoulders square to the rim every time he shoots- not just on his set shots, but also on shots off the dribble or when coming off of screens. He shoots on balance and can shoot the 1-dribble pull-up as well as set 3’s. Hit 2 big time 3’s with under 30 seconds to go to keep game tight and to pull VA with in 1. Showed the willingness to take and hit the big shot. He came into the game shooting 47% from 3 and 49% from the field. Above average FT shooter- only shot one this game, drops his hands on his follow through a little but is shooting over 75% from the line for his career, and it does not seem to effect his shot.

Does not have a great first step but is quick enough to get around his defender when they close out because of the respect he gets as a shooter. Has a quicker first step on offense that I would of thought coming in. Several times tonight he showcased some nice quick violent jab stabs that threw his defender off balance and allowed him to create separation from his defender to shoot or to get to the rim. CJ Harris for Wake stayed on him when he was in the corner rather then dropping to help. Turned his back nicely to the opposite baseline and went up strong to get the old- fashion 3-point play in first 2 minutes of game.

Moves well without the basketball. Made a couple of plays this game for teammates after attacking rim- Underrated passer- had several nice assists this game. Decent rebounder, showed some tenacity by sticking with his misses and usually rebounding his own miss. Got a big defensive rebound with 35 seconds to go off a FT by Wake.

Defensively, he showed good help side defense and impressed me w/ his activity level on the defensive end in general- even dived on the floor a couple of times to go for loose balls. Average lateral quickness, but did guard 3 positions tonight. Did a better job of defending Chase Fischer (Wake’s shooter) in the second half and not leaving him to help. Contests most shots on the perimeter with a high hand. At his best when he guards a slower 3 or a shooter 2.

Against Wake in this game he was much more then just a set shooter- defended and made plays for teammates.

Weaknesses

Limited on both sides of the ball because of below average speed and athleticism. Quickness was better then I would have thought, but would not say he was much better then average. Defensively he tends to over help at times- must know who is he is guarding- left a shooter a couple of times. He impressed me overall on the defensive side of the ball tonight, mostly because I though he was strictly a shooter, but he tends to come out of his stance at times and a player like him must stay low when guarding. He picked up 4 fouls this game because of having to use his hands a couple of times on the perimeter to keep quicker guards out of the paint. Closed out a couple of times too hard and actually did a decent job of recovering to contest the shot- but this got him into trouble a few times as well.

Capable of straight line drives but struggles to change speeds or directions with the ball. Not very comfortable dribbling the ball up the floor under pressure- must improve his ball handling.

His conditioning is above average (played a team high 34 minutes tonight), but he could improve this area to a degree – looked tired a couple of times with his hands on his knees, but he plays hard on every possession when he is on the floor.

Struggled tonight offensively shooting 5-14 from the field. After finishing his first drive on a lay-up with contact, he struggled to finish inside after Wake ran him off the 3-point line. Turned the ball over several times by over penetrating and losing his dribble.

Overview
Came into game tonight after scoring 19 points in a win over UNC. Leads team in ppg (15.3), asp (2.5), and 3ptFG% (47%) coming into tonight’s game. Also came into this game having scored in double-figures in 12 of the previous 14 games.

Was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Washington in 2010 in HS and was selected as the Gatorade Washington Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Also played football for 3-years in HS, which explains his strength level and toughness.

I believe that with his size and shooting ability, there is a place for Harris in the NBA. That depends on how much he improves over this summer and how he plays the rest of this year and his senior year next year. It also depends on if he can get into the right system at the next level. I see him as a corner 3-point specialist (every team can use one of those), who will also get after it on the defensive end. Being 6’6” and 210 lbs, he has NBA size to play the shooting guard now- has solid core strength and wont get pushed around at next level. Will most likely be 2nd or 3rd option at the off guard and will probably put in some time in the D-League as well. Would be worth a mid to late second round pick for some teams and definitely worth a summer league and/or training camp invite for most teams.

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Want to know more? You can follow James Blackburn on Twitter right this second.