High School Basketball Prospects

[Jack Lambert]

Jacknyc gave me the idea to start a thread where we can talk about good white HS basketball players without having to start a new thread for them! So we can keep tabs on some of our great HS players. If you find a player you like, don't hesitate to post about him here!

I'll start off with a 2014 athletic shooting guard from Texas. Austin Grandstaff is an absolute beast, who is the complete package, able to score, pass, and play defense. He is also very highly recruited, with offers from Arizona to Marquette to Iowa State. He'll be exciting to watch in college!

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Austin-Grandstaff-133795

[video=youtube;NoIoWssip18]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoIoWssip18[/video]

 

[jacknyc]

Great idea! Easier and better to keep track of all the prospects in one thread than dozens of individual ones. Especially at this level. Thanks!
p.s. Grandstaff looks amazing!

 

[Jack Lambert]

Great idea! Easier and better to keep track of all the prospects in one thread than dozens of individual ones. Especially at this level. Thanks!
p.s. Grandstaff looks amazing!

Thanks! And I agree with you on that as well; much easier access with just one thread.

Domantas Sabonis, son of Lithuanian great and NBA Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis, has signed with Gonzaga!!

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...ga-signs-arvydas-sabonis-son-damontas-sabonis

[video=youtube;kfplY35NIho]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfplY35NIho[/video]

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

please forgive me if i've missed seeing posts about the two youngsters i'm about to mention.

6-foot-5 class of 2015 shooting guard, Matthew McQuaid, already has a ton of offers, despite the fact that he barely looks to have hit puberty yet.

the kid is a killer on the court, though. the highlight video below features his outside shooting, but he also plays way above the rim.

[video=youtube;PDCyPtETwh0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDCyPtETwh0[/video]

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

6-foot (or maybe a bit taller) class of 2015 shooting guard Andrew Dotson is likely destined for a position change at the next level. fortunately for him, he has the ball skills to probably handle it. pun!

[video=youtube;R_1znDPww3E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_1znDPww3E[/video]

 

[Jack Lambert]

Those are some great looking prospects there, Jimmy!! I really like McQuaid's potential at the next level... he has a LOT of good offers to choose from.... I hope he ends up at Creighton from his Rival's list.... Here's another guy to look at: Ethan Happ

With Wisconsin losing Ben Brust, they are bringing in Ethan Happ. This 6'7 play-maker is very athletic and has some nice passing skills as well. He was recently named Tournament MVP for the very prestigious U-18 Albert Schweizer Tournament in Germany. He put Team USA on his back, averaging 19 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks during the seven games!! His senior year in High School was even more impressive; Happ led his team to a 28-1 record and averaged 33 points and 15 boards per game!! This kid is going to be a star for the Badgers one day!! Here are some of his highlights:

[video=youtube;HPgAG1HWbLQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPgAG1HWbLQ[/video]

 

[Jack Lambert]

It looks likes Steve Wojciechowski might be turning Marquette around arleady... After getting transfer Matt Carlino, he got a recommit from 2015 6'2 4-star PG Nick Noskowiak. Noskowiak is a beast.... he'll be doing some great things at Marquette in couple years!! He can really score, and has some sweet moves as well.

Take a look at this:

[video=youtube;qrU_RE9zmco]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrU_RE9zmco[/video]

 

[Jack Lambert]

Here's a very interesting prospect: The Kansas just landed 16 year old (soon to be 17 year old) 2014 Ukrainian shooting guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk! This guy is GOOD. He is very athletic, and he's one hell of a scorer. He'll be a great player for the Jayhawks one day. You gotta watch his highlight video!

[video=youtube;dYU7cDI2SYE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYU7cDI2SYE[/video]

 

[Shadowlight]

Watch this guy

Here's a very interesting prospect: The Kansas just landed 16 year old (soon to be 17 year old) 2014 Ukrainian shooting guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk! This guy is GOOD. He is very athletic, and he's one hell of a scorer. He'll be a great player for the Jayhawks one day. You gotta watch his highlight video!

[video=youtube;dYU7cDI2SYE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYU7cDI2SYE[/video]

He was at the Nike Summit but didn't play well but this is unusual for a college to sign such a young white player under 6'9".. He is gifted athletically and skill wise and will be able to enter the 2015 draft.
All of a sudden Kansas will be must watch TV.
Scouts are saying he is the best wing player ever to come out of Europe.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Today, the Wisconsin Badgers received a commitment from 4-Star Grand Rapids, MN PF Alex Illikainen. I think Jimmy may have mentioned this guy once before... This 6'8, 220 pound forward is an incredible athlete who absolutely lit it up as a junior. He averaged 25.5 PPG to go along with over 15 rebounds per game!! Watching his highlight video, Illikainen has an array of offensive skills, from dunking, to working under the basket, to driving the lane, and shooting the 3. I look forward to seeing him a Badger in a couple of years!! He'll fit right in; I'm very glad he didn't go to Minnesota.

Here's his newest highlight video I found on Youtube. You'll like what you see:

[video=youtube;-j3QCGh0RcU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j3QCGh0RcU[/video]

 

[Jack Lambert]

I had a bit of free time during the week, so I was watching some H.S. basketball prospects when I came across this kid. 6'4 Class of 2015 guard Fletcher Magee is VERY impressive. He plays on an AAU squad featuring some of the top players in the class, including a few 4-5 star guys with room-brightening smiles. They all have had Big D1 offers; one kid, Antonio Blakely, who's been offered by Kentucky, Louisville, UNC, you name it. Ben Simmons, a kid who committed to LSU, but would've had his pick of offers, and Daniel Giddens, who's going to Ohio State. So why didn't Magee get these offers as well? From what I read, he seems to play great for the AAU team. That's strange, isn't it... At any rate, he's recently committed to Wofford. He's gonna be a star for the Terriers, who so far have an all-white recruiting class for 2015. The bouncy 2-Guard can slam the ball, attacks the rim well, and has a really good-looking jump shot. He has some good court vision, as you'll see with a couple of his passes. Good luck to the future Terrier!!

[video=youtube;1Wi5GP6R9AU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wi5GP6R9AU[/video]

 

[Freethinker]

Sometimes I have more hope that basketball is going in the right direction than football. Well I guess basketball only had one direction it could go it was so bad....

Nonetheless, thanks JL for posting these. I was especially impressed with Magee. Great hops and a quick release.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Sometimes I have more hope that basketball is going in the right direction than football. Well I guess basketball only had one direction it could go it was so bad....

Nonetheless, thanks JL for posting these. I was especially impressed with Magee. Great hops and a quick release.

I'd love to think so as well, Freethinker. Even though college football seems to be getting worse, it's still a little better than college basketball at the moment, and for sure waaayy better than the NFL this year. There are still way too many all-black teams in college basketball, but some CBB teams are very enjoyable to watch, even if they only have 1-2 white players getting time. For instance, Syracuse has Trevor Cooney, a guard who can score in bunches. When there is a stud white player on a college basketball team, I'd say it's roughly the equivalent to a team like South Carolina or Virginia this year, with a white QB, a few white OL, and FB. I'd rather watch a guy like Cooney tear it up as the lone "White Knight" on the team easily over a college football team like Ohio State, Clemson, Alabama, Ole Miss, etc. Also, I think the caste match ups in basketball are much more stark than the ones in college football. No matter what in football, you'll still have the nearly all-black defenses (especially DBs) and mostly black skill players on offense. In basketball, you can have a team with 3-4 white starters going up against a team with none. The difference is very noticeable to DWFs, more so than football. Like Mercer vs. Duke last year, or Wisconsin's Final Four run. If a person can follow the sport and find out which teams are worth watching, College basketball is definitely a very enjoyable experience. I'm sure you, Jimmy, myself, and others will be able to find which teams are worth cheering for this year as the season draws closer.


In recruiting news, Matt McQuaid (Jimmy mentioned him up above) just committed to Tom Izzo and Michigan State today!! It's a much better choice than SMU for sure.

 

[Vanilla_Sky]

Sometimes I have more hope that basketball is going in the right direction than football. Well I guess basketball only had one direction it could go it was so bad....

Nonetheless, thanks JL for posting these. I was especially impressed with Magee. Great hops and a quick release.

I have definitely noticed a huge uptick in the number of white players being recruited by D1 schools for basketball, there are also a lot more foreign-born white players who are attending private prep/hs schools so that is also a contributing factor.

 

[Jack Lambert]

There's one guy who I read about committing to UNC a little while ago, and I thought of him again for some reason. I went back and reread the "article" that talks about his committment... take a look at this drivel for yourselves... http://www.chatsports.com/ncaa/a/Re...first-commitment-in-the-2015-class-1-10697314

That kid is Luke Maye (his highlight video is in the link). He's rated almost a consensus 4 star by recruiting sites, and he's 6'7 and 230 pounds. He's a rugged, scrappy player under the rim, and can shoot the three. One of the things the article mentions is that Maye's commitment shouldn't be taken as a negative sign regarding because of the "student-athletes" not attending class. Wow, so getting a commit from a white guy instantly means to UNC fans their recruiting may be suffering? What a load of crap. It gets even worse: the article says if May brings his lunch pail to practice everyday, if he studies that playbook and is in the gym shooting all night, he'll have the "honor" to be a role player as a senior for 5-10 minutes of non garbage time among the black supermen that UNC "usually" recruits.

Well, seeing as how mentioned supermen managed to get absolutely spanked on the boards earlier this year by a smaller and more tenacious Butler team, maybe UNC could use a couple of guys like Maye. Of course, maybe not, as UNC fans will probably say their team "weren't motivated" or "didn't care" against Butler and Iowa, and that if they simply attempted to play basketball, would've blown their "inferior" competition out of the gym...

Luke Maye

 

[Jack Lambert]

There are a couple of Washington 2016 kids I wanted to mention right here. Both of these kids are going to be GOOD.

The first is Steven Beo. He's a 6'2 shooting guard out of Richland, and boy can he ball it up. In his first two games of the season, he has scored 94 points!!!! His first game, he had 49 points, and even got 11 rebounds as well! I haven't seen highlight videos around for him yet, but it sounds like this kid will be good!! Washington's Lorenzo Romar has already offered him, so he's gotta be pretty good. Expect some more high major interest for Beo if he keeps this up. Best of luck to him this year.

Steven Beo


http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/steven-beo


The other kid should be pretty good too, and is starting to draw high major interest. That would be Sam Cunliffe, a 6-6 small forward. His offensive skill set is pretty developed; he can either light you up from three, or drive the lane and finish. He also has some great court awareness from the looks of his video, with some of the passes that he makes. I expect him to be rolling in with some offers before too long! It looks like these two could be two of the best on the West Coast.

Sam Cunliffe


[video=youtube;d0b9cwD0ZRk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0b9cwD0ZRk[/video]

 

[Jack Lambert]

I thought I'd update this with a few guys.

The first is on 6-10 PF/C Antonio Vrankovic, who's committed to Duke this last week!! For Duke's current class, they'll have two white guys (superstar Luke Kennard who should be starting from Day 1) along with Vrankovic. For CF Fans, the Blue Devils should be watchable again next year, especially with Kennard and Allen.

Here's Vrankovic's highlight tape: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH2vA1koPIY


The next guy is German combo forward Mortiz Wagner. The 6'10 prospect has committed to play for Jon Beilien and Michigan next year!! From his highlights, he looks like a solid all around athletic player with a nice offensive game, as well as some good defense. After watching his highlights, I really like this kid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MxNL6diTjM


Another kid is Belgian prospect Thomas Akyazili. The young guard has a good looking offensive game, and should bring a bit of diversity to Colorado's squad next year!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5leXZV9vqs



Another guy who's going to be a stud on college is 6-3 Vanderbilt commit Camron Justice. Kentucky's 2015 has a good looking shot, and should be able to contribute right away at Vandy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXB423GKQkM

Also, to update an above post, Steven Beo committed to BYU!!!

 

[Jack Lambert]

5-Star 7 footer Stephen Zimmerman commits to UNLV today. I wish him the best of luck, although UNLV is where good prospects go to die under Dave Rice. I wish he would've picked Kansas instead. Zimmerman does look VERY impressive though. He should be in the NBA!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Moq_fhIC8


Another prospect to look for next year is fast-rising 6'10 combo forward Alex Olesinski out of La Lumiere, Indiana. He's a pretty smooth athlete that should fit right in with the Bruins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVlHt1lq2Dc


Here's another major guy: sweet shooting combo guard Ryan McMahon. His highlight videos absolutely blew me away. He averaged around 30 PPG during his senior year at Cardinal Mooney in Florida. He's an underrated athlete as well. He can pull up and hit it from anywhere on the court. You gotta see him. He's so good that Rick Pitino offered him soon after he saw him play. He'll be a player for the Cardinals!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5PdnrgAaAs

 

[Sports Fan]

Thanks for the updates.

I saw that one pick up too, Jack.

Vrankovic should be a good signing for Duke. His dad Stojko played for the Boston Celtics. I remember him from the old Bulls vs. Blazers video game. lol

 

[Shadowlight]

McMahon

The media questions his athletic ability but it is worth noting the kid has a 39" vertical! It is a good thing when big programs pick guys like McMahon.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Wow!! It looks like Wojo's breaking from Marquette's "traditional" recruits a bit. He just got a commit from transfer Andrew Rowsey, who's a combo guard that played at UNC Asheville last year, and averaged almost 20 PPG!

Marquette also just got a commit from 2016 SF Sam Hauser!!

Here's an article on both. http://www.jsonline.com/sports/gold...o-attend-marquette-b99501878z1-304071581.html

Oh, and they also have huge 5-star PF Henry Ellenson and his older brother, SG Wally Ellenson this year as well!! It looks like the Golden Eagles will be must watch basketball the next couple of years!


In Wisconsin basketball news, the Badgers got a commit from a 6'11 Belgian forward Andy Van Vliet! http://host.madison.com/sports/coll...cle_8b2e305a-0a4a-5ac1-9b3e-8b0ad9925f0b.html

It's looking like good times for the two big Wisconsin basketball schools.

Also, Nick Noskowiak, the dynamic PG whom I posted about above, had some problems his senior year of HS, and ended up committing to Iowa State. I don't know how much I like this, considering Hoiberg isn't a fan of white players, (he's kept Matt Thomas on the bench for his first two years, and despite praising him, seems intent to keep him there) but hopefully he'll be able to play. http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/nick-noskowiak

 

[celticdb15]

Wow!! It looks like Wojo's breaking from Marquette's "traditional" recruits a bit. He just got a commit from transfer Andrew Rowsey, who's a combo guard that played at UNC Asheville last year, and averaged almost 20 PPG!

Marquette also just got a commit from 2016 SF Sam Hauser!!

Here's an article on both. http://www.jsonline.com/sports/gold...o-attend-marquette-b99501878z1-304071581.html

Oh, and they also have huge 5-star PF Henry Ellenson and his older brother, SG Wally Ellenson this year as well!! It looks like the Golden Eagles will be must watch basketball the next couple of years!


In Wisconsin basketball news, the Badgers got a commit from a 6'11 Belgian forward Andy Van Vliet! http://host.madison.com/sports/coll...cle_8b2e305a-0a4a-5ac1-9b3e-8b0ad9925f0b.html

It's looking like good times for the two big Wisconsin basketball schools.

Also, Nick Noskowiak, the dynamic PG whom I posted about above, had some problems his senior year of HS, and ended up committing to Iowa State. I don't know how much I like this, considering Hoiberg isn't a fan of white players, (he's kept Matt Thomas on the bench for his first two years, and despite praising him, seems intent to keep him there) but hopefully he'll be able to play. http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/nick-noskowiak

Awesome all around!!

 

[Jack Lambert]

I figured I'd post about a few more recruits.

Iowa State managed to recruit two white guys in this last class, the aforementioned Noskowiak, and 6-8 PF Brady Ernst, who was a late scholarship offer and signing by new coach Steve Prohm. Prohm even describes Ernst as a guy who's got "good upside" and is a "good athlete" You don't here that too often about white players.

Based on this video, you can see why Prohm says what he does! The kid looks to be a baller.

[video=youtube;BHrLI_rNNxg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHrLI_rNNxg[/video]

Brady Ernst


A big (both literally and figuratively) 2016 name is 6'11 center Jayce Johnson, who's got offers from the likes of Gonzaga, Kansas, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Marquette, etc. He basically has his pick of where to attend college. From his video, he looks like a tough athlete who isn't afraid to mix it up on both ends of the floor. He's got a nice scoring touch, and his also able to protect the rim.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_atyQIW59c

Jayce Johnson

Top 100 PG Payton Pritchard has decommitted from Oklahoma (a VERY good choice). He's got his pick of teams after him, with offers from Wisconsin, Kansas, Louisville, and even perennially black Baylor. He even got a call up to Team USA, so you know he must be good!

http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/payton-pritchard

Here are his highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKc_mdQ81bc

Payton Pritchard



One last update: Sam Cunliffe, a guy who I mentioned on the first page, committed to Arizona State!

 

[Jack Lambert]

I LOVE college basketball, so forgive me for posting so many guys, but it's one of the only "mainstream" American sports that have a lot of our guys and even a few majority white teams to root for.

Anyway, here's a guy I've heard people call the next "Sam Dekker." That would be 6'8 PF Mitch Lightfoot. Based on his video, I'd say they're about right. This kid is a freak athlete that has what scouts call "limitless upside." He's been offered by the likes of Kansas and Arizona.

Mitch Lightfoot

[video=youtube;fhOHsjy67vY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhOHsjy67vY[/video]

 

[jacknyc]

The next Sam Dekker?! Sorry, but this highlight tape shows me nothing.
The guy can dunk. So what.
What actual skills does he have? Can he shoot, dribble, pass, create his own shot? etc. etc.

Isn't the giddiness over black athletes that can jump through the roof, but haven't developed skills, i.e., 'upside', something that we are collectively sick of?!
I don't see much difference here.
Mitch Lightfoot may be a great player. I don't know and I am not trying to disparage him. But really this tape shows nothing more than a guy who can dunk when he's under the basket.