High School Basketball Prospects

[Deceptive Speed]

Just found another uber-athletic white guard in Virginia Tech commit PG Hunter Cattoor 6'2 185 a finger 3-star prospect out of Orlando, FL. Ranked #72 PG in the nation Virginia Tech got them a huge steal, and one of the most underrated adds in the c/o 2019! Don't be surprised to see Cattoor starting for Virginia Texh by seasons end.

 

[Shadowlight]

News regarding Michigan and 2019 SF Franz Wagner should be announced soon. I sense he will commit but that is just guessing on my part. Or wishful thinking. He has NBA potential. Probably the third best white prospect in his class behind Mannion and Hurt.

In other news two 2020 top 60 players have committed.

6'5" combo guard Ethan Morton has picked Purdue. Morton is versatile and very skilled and is an exceptional team player who can really dish the rock.

6'6" combo guard Justin Powell will be heading to Auburn of all places. Powell is athletic and also can contribute on the court in a variety of ways. He also is an excellent passer. Given his size and athleticism down the road Powell might someday get a crack at the NBA. But it is too soon to comment on that. It doesn't happen often but every once in a while a white player ranked outside the top 50 in high school can make it in the NBA. Kevin Huerter is a prime example of that.

Powell is ranked number 60 by ESPN which is roughly where Huerter was rated when he was in high school. The point being Powell is a player to closely watch down the road.

 

[Shadowlight]

Great news!! Franz Wagner will be playing at Michigan this season. Apparently the Moritz factor played a role.

Franz is an even better prospect than his older brother Moritz. Franz is smaller and more of a SF type but he is the real deal. Athletic and energetic he should become an instant fan favorite.

And the rare young white prospect who displays NBA potential already.

This season three stud freshman prospects will be showcased and I am looking forward to it. Wagner joins Nico Mannion (Arizona) and Matthew Hurt ( Duke) as three legitimate exciting stars with bright futures. And most importantly NBA type talent.

 

[Bucky]

Good get for Indiana

https://www.crimsonquarry.com/2019/...3.1329957536.1564205668-1205213494.1537816800

 

[Bucky]

Impressive video of Chet Holmgren against Steph Curry!

 

[The Sapient]

Impressive video of Chet Holmgren against Steph Curry!

As of 12 hours ago, the Bleacher Report Hoops Page reported that 247 Sports considers 5star recruit Chet Holmgren as the second best recruit for the class of 2021.

 

[Bucky]

As of 12 hours ago, the Bleacher Report Hoops Page reported that 247 Sports considers 5star recruit Chet Holmgren as the second best recruit for the class of 2021.

Great news! Looking forward to seeing where he ends up!

 

[Bucky]

Badger's just received commitments from 2 Minnesota Big Men in 3Star Center Steven Crowl(6'10) and 4Star PF Ben Carlson(6'8).

 

[The Sapient]

Great news! Looking forward to seeing where he ends up!

Yes, 2021 sounds promising in both basketball and football. RB Will Shipley has been offered a D1 scholarship to play for Alabama.

 

[Shadowlight]

Class of 2020 overview: My list is generally in ascending order leaving the best prospects towards the end.

I will submit reports on 2021 and 2022 as well. Keep in mind top 100 lists vary more than ever it seems.

That said just falling outside some top 100 lists are Caleb Lohner a 6'7" PF who signed with Utah and Carson McCorkle a 6'3" SG who signed with Virginia. Both of these players were in the top 50 but somehow slid. Both can jump and McCorkle kind of fills in for the Kyle Guy role but Guy was rated in the top 40.

As mentioned above Ben Carlson is a promising PF that signed with Wisconsin.

Matt Cross is another promising PF prospect who signed with Miami.

Zach Loveday is a lanky and fast C prospect who is 6'11". He has not signed yet.

Ethan Morton who I mentioned in an earlier post is a slick tall PG signed to Purdue.

PJ Hall is a rugged PF not yet signed.

Samson Ruzhentsev ( Russian) is an athletic 6'6" wing player out of Chattanooga who has not signed yet.

7'0" C Ryan Kalkbrenner is a huge athletic talent. A bit raw but has loads of potential. Currently undecided. Rim protector deluxe.

7'1" Hunter Dickinson is a top 40 recruit who is an old school type C. Not signed yet.

The best white player in the class is 7'0" Walker Kessler out of GA. Not yet signed, Duke appears to be the leader with a few other big boys in the mix. A marvelous talent with great potential, Kessler is a fluid and very fast big man who can shoot it from three. A true star in the making with NBA potential.

Overall, apart from Kessler, these top white players don't jump off the page at least those are my initial impressions. But there is some potential here so there is some hope.

 

[Shadowlight]

Class of 2021 overview. My lists are generally in ascending order leaving the best prospects for last.

Very unique class in that the top player in some quarters is white.

Bubbling near or inside the top 100 are several prospects.

C William Breidenbach is not a great athlete but a solid low post presence.

C Treyton Thompson is rangier with a little more upside.

South Dakota has a solid PF prospect in Matthew Mors.

Both John Camden and John Christofilis are wing players who can light it up.

PF Mason Miller is the son of former NBA player Mike Miller. Not as highly rated as his dad but he is a promising PF prospect who appears to be more athletic than his dad. Mason's mother I believe was a star volleyball player. So some upside here.

Another upside PF to keep an eye on is Ben Gregg out of Oregon.

6'2" PG Carter Whitt is a slick PG who is rated near the top 50. His name has been around for a while but he has drifted down the lists a bit over the years. Still someone to keep an eye on.

PF Zach Clemence has solid athletic ability to go with an emerging skill set.

PF Caleb Hurst is another athletic PF who might have NBA potential down the road.

PG Isael Silva has gotten rave reviews for his PG play this summer. Not quite in the Nico Mannion category but close.

6'10" PF Nathan Bittle is generally rated in the top 20 and for good reason. True basketball skills and very fluid. A natural already on some NBA charts.

7'0" Chet Holmgren out of MN is being compared to Kevin Durant due to his skills from the outside including a deadly three point shot. Very thin and lanky, Chet is a tremendous shot blocker/rim protector too. So you can see why most experts tab him as the player with the most potential out of this class.

So all in all probably a bit better than the class of 2020 and Holmgren looks like a future lottery pick at worst.

 

[Riggins44]

Class of 2020 overview: My list is generally in ascending order leaving the best prospects towards the end.

I will submit reports on 2021 and 2022 as well. Keep in mind top 100 lists vary more than ever it seems.

That said just falling outside some top 100 lists are Caleb Lohner a 6'7" PF who signed with Utah and Carson McCorkle a 6'3" SG who signed with Virginia. Both of these players were in the top 50 but somehow slid. Both can jump and McCorkle kind of fills in for the Kyle Guy role but Guy was rated in the top 40.

As mentioned above Ben Carlson is a promising PF that signed with Wisconsin.

Matt Cross is another promising PF prospect who signed with Miami.

Zach Loveday is a lanky and fast C prospect who is 6'11". He has not signed yet.

Ethan Morton who I mentioned in an earlier post is a slick tall PG signed to Purdue.

PJ Hall is a rugged PF not yet signed.

Samson Ruzhentsev ( Russian) is an athletic 6'6" wing player out of Chattanooga who has not signed yet.

7'0" C Ryan Kalkbrenner is a huge athletic talent. A bit raw but has loads of potential. Currently undecided. Rim protector deluxe.

7'1" Hunter Dickinson is a top 40 recruit who is an old school type C. Not signed yet.

The best white player in the class is 7'0" Walker Kessler out of GA. Not yet signed, Duke appears to be the leader with a few other big boys in the mix. A marvelous talent with great potential, Kessler is a fluid and very fast big man who can shoot it from three. A true star in the making with NBA potential.

Overall, apart from Kessler, these top white players don't jump off the page at least those are my initial impressions. But there is some potential here so there is some hope.

Maybe you already knew this Shadowlight, but Kessler's father is Chad Kessler, who played at the U. of Georgia. His uncle was Alec Kessler who played ball at Georgia also and left as that school's all-time leading scorer in I believe 1990. He played a few seasons with Miami in the NBA and then in Italy before becoming an orthopedic surgeon. He died from a heart attack in 2007 during a pickup game. So Walker Kessler has good basketball genes.

 

[Shadowlight]

Thanks for the info Riggins. I did not know that.

This past draft two white American players were taken in the first round so in general it is hard to see most of the HS prospects I noted above making it in the NBA.

Kessler though has tremendous upside and I expect he will be a first round pick down the road. C Kalkbrenner, if he develops his skills, also has a good chance of being a first round pick due to his wild athleticism.

 

[WhiteWR]

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]

[/video]

Could not care less since he's not American

 

[Bucky]

Could not care less since he's not American

Welcome to the board, but c'mon man! Support our European Baller Brothers! Though I do agree. We need more White Americans making noise!

 

[DWF Upside]

Walker Kessler commits to North Carolina. Coach Williams used to recruit a couple of pale faces back in his early days at NC and even more back at Kansas. But those days are over, this might be a bad move for the kid. Should have gone to Virginia or Duke.

 

[Shadowlight]

I agree that Roy Williams has stayed away from recruiting top notch white prospects for a long time now. Tyler Hansbrough, who he won a national title with, comes to mind but that is going back a full ten years plus.

But he did feature Luke Maye, who wasn't considered a top 75 or more prospect out of HS, the past few seasons and just brought in an athletic white grad student from William and Mary so things might work out with Kessler at NC. He is very talented.

Funny we were discussing players and both of them signed the past couple of days. Another C prospect with a huge upside is Ryan Kalkbrenner and he will be playing at Creighton.

 

[Shadowlight]

2020 Center Zach Loveday will take his talents to Baylor. Loveday is a terrific and fast center who like so many white basketball players gets docked for being white. A lot of potential. He is generally regarded as a top 100 player.

Baylor has trended more white friendly of late after years of being overly caste.

 

[Bucky]

2020 Center Zach Loveday will take his talents to Baylor. Loveday is a terrific and fast center who like so many white basketball players gets docked for being white. A lot of potential. He is generally regarded as a top 100 player.

Baylor has trended more white friendly of late after years of being overly caste.

interesting a Zach Collins type?

 

[Shadowlight]

Loveday is not as highly rated as Collins was but he has potential.

The Gators landed a good one. SF ( 6'6") Samson Ruzhentsev is a versatile and athletic shooter who should become a fixture for them down the road.

Four white players come to mind when I think of the Gators. PG Brett Nelson who I had high hopes for but somehow fell off after his great freshman season where they made it to the finals, Mike Miller, Teddy Dupay and of course Jason Williams. Generally though the Gators have not been white friendly of late.

 

[Bucky]

Loveday is not as highly rated as Collins was but he has potential.

The Gators landed a good one. SF ( 6'6") Samson Ruzhentsev is a versatile and athletic shooter who should become a fixture for them down the road.

Four white players come to mind when I think of the Gators. PG Brett Nelson who I had high hopes for but somehow fell off after his great freshman season where they made it to the finals, Mike Miller, Teddy Dupay and of course Jason Williams. Generally though the Gators have not been white friendly of late.

thanks for the update and thats a good list. I will always remember Lee Humphrey, sharp shooter from the 06 National Championship team. Also Nick Calathes and Chandler Parsons come to mind. Gators are sneaky white friendly in that SEC Conference, though I agree nothing much to cheer for of late, hopefully Ruz changes that!

 

[white lightning]

Don't let the hair fool you. This kid can ball inside or outside. I see him playing in the nba in 3 to 4 years. He will be a freshman at Utah this fall. Here is a video.

 

[Shadowlight]

A little late reporting on the class of 2022 but it has been very difficult to get a feel on that class since it is still early in the game. I think what stands out most is there are three athletic wing type players which is promising. All three are very athletic and can get up so this class doesn't follow the usual white centers and power forwards make up.

Not going to rank them because it is too early but all are in the top 50 except PG Aidan Mahaney who is likely in the top 60. Mahaney, which sounds Irish, has a lot of skill and looks like a very interesting prospect.

Perhaps the highest rated white prospect is center Dylan Anderson. At 6'10", like Mahaney, he just oozes natural basketball talent.

The wings really catch my eye and they all are about the same size--6'5"-6'6".

Camden Heide has a brother who plays QB I believe at one of the Dakota colleges. Listed as a SF he can shoot and jump.

Gradey Dick is from the Midwest and has some Rex Chapman in him. Terrific athlete who can gun it from deep. One to keep a very close eye on although how the hell does someone end up with a last name like that? Grade school must have been murder on him. Ha. I think Kansas is looking at him hard.

Fast rising Noah Batchelor is a SF who many are starting to compare to Kevin Huerter due to his overall game and bounce. He played exceptionally well at the recent USA mini camp that featured nearly all of the top players from several classes.

The constant in all of the classes is that there are too few white players listed. Out of a top 100 the percentage usually hovers around 10% which is down from say twenty years ago.

Chet Holmgren from 2021 is starting to be considered the top overall player of that class. Extremely thin he does compare to Kevin Durant but at this early stage Holmgren is a better shot blocker. He is very adept for such a tall player. Watching footage of him play he reminds me some of Raef LaFrentz ( anybody remember him?) who starred at Kansas from 1994-98 and then played in the NBA. Even some Shawn Bradley although Chet isn't quite that tall. Bradley was probably a slightly better pure athlete but Holmgren has better skills especially his three point range.

 

[Bucky]

Solid pickup for Rutgers. 6'8 Lefty From Sweden.

https://www.onthebanks.com/2019/11/...pikiell-and-rutgers-mens-basketball-geo-baker

 

[Freethinker]

Solid pickup for Rutgers. 6'8 Lefty From Sweden.

https://www.onthebanks.com/2019/11/...pikiell-and-rutgers-mens-basketball-geo-baker

Thanks for sharing. My initial thought reading the article, and seeing offers from better programs including Iowa, was what a stupid decision. However I also learned something else of value in that read. The only other 2020 commitment is also a young White man, PF Dean Reiber. So maybe Rutgers is actually attempting to build a winner and something worth watching?

https://www.onthebanks.com/platform...dean-reiber-commits-to-steve-pikiells-program