Melancer46
Living Legend
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2011
- Messages
- 10,316
- Like
- 13,442
Orangezoo recommended that I throw together a post to kinda keep all of my analysis in one place, so I'll do that here. I don't necessarily want to just copy over all of my write-ups on each individual game that I've watched, as that would make this post even more huge than it already is, so my plan here is to organize a section of links for each prospect and provide a statistical overview/general scouting report from what I've watched. The plan will be to occasionally update this OP with more links and scouting reports as I have time but I can't really make any grand promises. We've kinda lucked out the past couple weeks with my new job starting out painfully slow and I know that's probably coming to an end shortly. So without further adieu, I'll start with the incoming 2022 class:
Class of 2022
Judah Mintz
Game film:
Oak Hill vs Link | 2022.3.31 | HS Game
LIVE: #3 Oak Hill Academy (VA) vs Hargrave Military (VA)
ANNUAL SCRIMMAGE
2022 NJ Shoreshots HGSL vs 2022 Team Durant EYBL
Stats (including the NIBC games that I did not watch):
Judah is listed at 6'4", and if that's true, I would guess he's probably around a 6'7" or so wingspan. Perfect size for a SG in college (and obviously a plus if he's our PG) and a nice counterpart to Girard's relative small stature at the top of our zone. Defensively, he's locked in mentally more than most of the guys we recruit; you can see him darting his eyes back and forth between his man and the ball to make sure he's in a good position and simply does a nice job most of the time of getting into his stance and trying to stop his man from scoring. He was often tasked with guarding the other team's best players and I believe his coach at Oak Hill said he was their best defensive player. I wouldn't expect him to constantly be forcing turnovers on the defensive end the way we did with MCW for example, but he should be a pretty good defender nonetheless. In terms of rebounding the ball, he has the athleticism for it. He generally opts to leak out a bit rather than boxing out; he doesn't abandon the team or anything but he kinda has one foot out the door to try to get some easy points in transition. I'm interested to see if that will continue at Syracuse; he played SG both in high school and AAU, so their PG would stick around for outlet passes while Judah would leak out. That may not be the case with us. On the offensive end, he's a good ball handler with a decent first step, but I think the thing that allows him to be successful more than anything is that he just doesn't really move the way everyone else does. For example, he'll be curling around to receive a handoff; the defender will naturally expect him to keep going when he gets the handoff and instead, Mintz will load up as he's taking the handoff and immediately explode the other way, creating a massive advantage for himself. He has a herky jerky style of movement that just keeps defensive players a bit off-balance and once he has them off-balance, he throws in pump fakes, step throughs, double clutches, and some flopping to draw easy fouls. His ratio of free throws to FGA rivals the biggest foul merchants in the NBA; he's going to be a PITA for people to guard. In terms of being a jumpshooter, he elevates extremely well on his jumper. The footwork isn't always consistent, but he generally gets a pretty good balance as he's going up. I wouldn't say there's any fatal flaw in his mechanics and the people commentating his games constantly referred to him as one of the best mid-range shooters in the country. He shoots it well at the FT line as well, which generally bodes well. He's a pretty talented passer as well and doesn't get tunnel vision on his drives. Lastly, one of the things I really look for when I watch a kid that plays on a relatively stacked team like Oak Hill Academy is the pecking order that they have. I can only watch so many games so it's easy to just catch them on a night where the player of interest doesn't shoot it well, or shoots it much better than usual, etc. But generally speaking, if you have a bunch of top 100 players on your team and there's a clear pecking order, they've sort of realize a couple of them stand out from the rest. That's absolutely the case here; while Oak Hill had four Top 100 recruits on their team, they clearly lean on Caleb Foster (#12 recruit in the 2023 class, committed to Duke) and Judah Mintz for most of their production, and Judah not only led the team in scoring, but led the entire league as well (and on good scoring efficiency). If there's one thing that might hold him back early on, it would be that he's not very strong yet. Part of it is certainly that he likes selling contact, but he can definitely get knocked around a bit on the offensive end, wiped out by screens on the defensive end, etc. It's possible that this could translate to not finishing around the rim as well as he did in high school, and if he doesn't get a good whistle, he could struggle a bit with his efficiency. Additionally, he's not the kind of athlete that will just explode past his man with ease; he has to work to create his advantages against HS competition (granted he's playing against elite HS competition, but still, college is a step up). It's entirely possible that he'll struggle in matchups against super athletic defenders. But all in all, Judah is the real deal IMO. He should be a starter on Day 1 and I'd expect him to give us somewhere around 14-16 points per game as a freshman.
Justin Taylor
Game film:
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
Stats (averages across the three games unless otherwise noted):
He's sort of stuck between the 2 and 3 positionally right now. I think he'll probably start out at the 3, but I really wish he was more physical if he's going to be playing on the back line of our zone. Across the three games I've watched, he had a grand total of 5 rebounds despite being one of the biggest players on the team. I don't think his ball-handling is good enough to feel comfortable with him as a 2 guard in the short-term; he's mostly limited to the occasional straight-line drive right now. On the flipside, he can score around the rim when he gets there and he seems very comfortable in the mid-range and perimeter shooting the ball despite relatively poor percentages. He does a nice job of hopping into rhythm in catch-and-shoot situations, is comfortable curling around screens and pulling up, and does a pretty nice job of probing the defense when he's working off a screen. One thing to maybe look out for; he naturally fades away on his jumper and it results in a lot of his misses being short. I wouldn't be surprised if our coaches try to tweak that part of his shooting form to see if that improves his percentages. Against 2-3 zones, he played at the FT line and did a really nice job of making himself available and making decisions with the ball once he got it. Against man-to-man, he made some smart backdoor cuts, did a good job curling around screens, etc. I think he'll probably struggle to get all the way to the rim early on in his career, but there's a chance he develops into a three-level scorer as he continues developing. He's nothing to write home about as a passer, but he generally makes quick decisions rather than holding the ball a lot. All in all, I think he's a pretty promising recruit and he seems ahead of Chris Bunch in the development curve right now. I wish we didn't have to rely on him for major minutes as a freshman, but he could be a solid 4 year player if he continues developing and sticks around.
Quadir Copeland
Game film:
Same as Justin Taylor's links
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
Stats (averages across the three games unless otherwise noted):
Quadir will ultimately play the 1 & 2 for us, but he has the size to potentially fill in on the backline if push comes to shove. As a ball-handler, I liken him to MCW, where he can do relatively advanced stuff with the ball, but his handle in general is very loose and ripe for steals if he comes across a good defender. He generally does a nice job of putting his body between the defender and the ball to help shield it, but there will definitely be opportunities to pick his pocket. It's a good starting point but would definitely like to see him tighten it up if he's going to be our lead ball-handler in the long-term. He doesn't really take jumpshots; in the 3 games I watched he took a grand total of 4 jumpers, 1 of which was just a prayer to beat the buzzer and he made none of them. He seems to be a pretty good free throw shooter though, so maybe the jumper will come along as he continues developing. He has the length, strength, and athleticism to get into the paint pretty easily. He unfortunately has shot a very low percentage at the rim (like, worse than what we've gotten from Joe Girard in college), as he tends to contort his body, double clutch his layups, etc. to draw fouls instead of focusing on just making the shot. Having said that, he does draw a lot of fouls and that's propped his scoring efficiency up to merely bad instead of horrendous. He's a really talented passer and he knows it. There will be turnovers with him as he tests the limits of his abilities and takes chances that probably aren't wise, but the good will generally outweigh the bad and he can simply make plays that nobody else on our team can. Additionally, he gets after it on the glass; he's picked up a lot of offensive rebounds as he's naturally bigger than most of the guards that are defending him and he does a nice job of crashing the glass on the offensive end. That effort isn't there as much on defensive rebounds, but it's not bad. On the downside, he's just a non-factor when he doesn't have the ball in his hands. He doesn't really move unless it's to post up and call for the ball and he sometimes doesn't even pay attention to the game that's going on in front of him. Defensively, he shows maybe the worst effort I've seen from a Syracuse recruit. He constantly falls asleep on defense with no idea where his man has gone, he offers no resistance when he's switched onto a big man, and he generally lets his man go by and lazily reaches in for cheap fouls. He also regularly just doesn't rotate on defense and points at his teammates to tell them to get out there instead. He certainly has the length and athleticism to be a menace at the top of the zone, but our coaches will have to get him to lock in there. All in all, there's NBA potential in him if he puts in the effort, but he has a long ways to go and I'm afraid if he doesn't change his ways, he'll end up in Boeheim's doghouse.
Chris Bunch
Game film:
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
Stats (in NIBC games + the non-NIBC game I watched):
Bunch seems to be a stereotypical Syracuse forward. Long, athletic, and mostly a standstill shooter. He doesn't really elevate on his jumpshot and shoots with a very wide base, which makes it difficult for him to shoot off the dribble outside of the occasional stepback. If he wants to take his game to the next level, adjusting his shooting form will be an important step in the journey IMO. I think he's a pretty good fit for the zone defense, as he's more of a run and jump kind of defender rather than a guy that's going to get down in his stance and lock someone up, but that could always change. He's probably not a good enough ball-handler to really create in the half court right now, but with his athleticism, he could be a weapon in transition in the short-term. All in all, it seems like he'll be forced into early playing time based on the current roster makeup. I'm hoping he'll be a pleasant surprise for me the way Woody Newton was as a freshman. He's a pretty good athlete and is certainly a willing shooter; there's a framework for a good player here but he really struggled this past season.
Peter Carey
Game film:
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
Stats (averages across 3 games):
I think Carey probably projects as a PF. His narrow frame probably won't support bulking up a ton and he's just a naturally skinny dude. He's not a physical player; gets pushed around by legitimate big men pretty easily, struggles to post up, doesn't set strong screens, etc. I'd say he's best paired with a C that can step out and hit jumpers as that just doesn't seem to be Carey's game at all (though with his long layoff, maybe he's worked on that). Carey's best attributes right now are his athleticism and coordination. The way he can run, jump, and contort in mid-air at his height is something we haven't really had since maybe Jerami Grant's time here and with his AAU team, he was always looking for lob passes to come his way. High school was a bit of a different story; he was almost literally twice the size of most of the players he came across so he was able to engulf pretty much every missed shot in his vicinity and could pretty much shoot it at the rim whenever he wanted to. He played a complimentary role next to his brother during his sophomore year; his brother won Player of the Year in their league as a senior. In Carey's junior year (2019-2020), he stepped into the starring role. The one game I watched from that season, Carey put up 24 points, 21 rebounds, and 4 blocks, and his numbers were only that low because it turned into a blowout and he got plenty of rest in the 2nd half. He's seemingly bulked up quite a bit since those days, but remains skinny and weak. He seems to really lack shooting touch; he's a poor free throw shooter and he airballs an alarming number of shots, both from the mid-range and at the rim. All in all, he's sort of a ball of clay at this point, but I like taking a chance on a big man as athletic as he is (assuming he hasn't lost that athleticism with his injuries). He probably won't be ready for the physicality of ACC players this upcoming year, but hopefully in time he'll turn into a contributor for us.
Maliq Brown
Game film:
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
Stats (averages across 4 games I watched):
I think Maliq can probably fill in as a PF in our system but ideally projects as a C long-term. He's fairly developed physically and shouldn't get pushed around inside the way Carey for example likely will. I'm not entirely sure what to make of his HS film. He was fairly dominant in the two HS games I watched. I don't think the level of competition is very good, but FWIW, the team that Brown put up 29 and 9 against in a win is the same team that beat Copeland/Taylor's team by 35 points. Having said that, I think most of Brown's production in the HS games was simply a product of being bigger than pretty much everyone else. He can't shoot and he's probably not going to do much, if anything, off the dribble (though he did show a couple flashes of straight line drives). He's a legitimately talented passer for a big man; that part is really nice to see, but the rest of his offensive game is weak enough that you probably don't want the ball in his hands anyways so that talent will likely go unutilized. Defensively, there's flashes of him diving on the floor for loose balls, picking up steals, blocking shots, etc., but his effort level in general is not good. His film is littered with lazy reach ins, players blowing by him, failing to box out/sometimes just vacating his spot and taking himself out of position for rebounds. Athletically, he can run fairly well. His earlier HS/AAU film shows a guy that really struggles to elevate off the floor. He'd go up for dunks and barely be able to reach the rim or just flat out come up short. He did show more elevation in his most recent game, but overall, I worry that as a relatively short center, the lackluster elevation will really hurt his chances of contributing for us. All in all, I'm skeptical that he'll ever really crack the rotation here, but hopefully he'll prove me wrong.
Class of 2023
Reid Ducharme
Game film:
Twitch (1:39:46 into this video)
Twitch (6:17:37 into this video)
Stats:
According to Reid, he's up to 6'7" with a T-Rex wingspan vs. the 6'4" he's listed as on 247. He seems capable of playing the 2 or 3 for us if that's true and that's essentially what he's doing for his AAU team as he began the game on the back line of their zone and eventually moved up to the top. I wouldn't say he's a particularly strong defender, but he's at least getting experience in the 2-3 and has the athleticism to potentially be alright in it. He's a pretty basic ball-handler right now, but he does have a pretty nice first step that he's able to use to attack closeouts and he can elevate pretty well. Once he gets to the rim, he finishes pretty well, shielding defenders off with his body or the rim to finish in traffic. When he isn't attacking closeouts, he seems to need ball screens to free himself up for scoring opportunities right now. He's struggled with his 3 pointers in the couple of games that I've watched, but supposedly that's one of his calling cards. Looking at his shooting form, he turns his body in the air more than you'd like; this was a common criticism of LaMelo Ball for a few years before his coaches ended up converting him to shooting more of a set shot and it's helped him a lot. I'm not sure if our staff will want to overhaul his mechanics that much, but it would probably help if they can coach some of the twisting motion out of him a bit. All in all, his combination of potentially being a shooter and also being a pretty smart and athletic finisher gives him a chance to be an impactful scorer in the future.
Trey Autry
Game film:
Twitch (1:54:00 into this video)
Twitch (6:13:10 into this video)
Twitch (3:15:52 into this video)
Kiski Basketball v. Western Reserve Academy (Double Header) (1:33:00 into this video)
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
Stats:
Trey is listed at 6'3" or 6'4" I believe and he's a physically strong dude. He does a nice job of getting down into a defensive stance, fighting through screens, and just playing good defense. He can sometimes get beat by quicker players, but for the most part, he projects as a good defender IMO, particularly in man-to-man. He also does a very good job of winning 50-50 balls. Offensively, he plays almost purely off-ball for City Rocks while being the primary ball-handler for his HS team. I think he's more suited as a secondary ball-handler right now; he's just not the type of ball-handler/creator you want to be depending on for your offense. Having said that, he will have some matchups that he's able to overpower to get to the rim and he's shot the ball very well in the games I've watched. With City Rocks, he was one of the guys they designed plays for, running him off stagger screens, flair screens, etc. to free him up for 3's and he held his own against Kwame Evans, currently the #2 recruit in the country, helping to lead City Rocks to an upset victory while leading the team in scoring. I think Autry is being undervalued a bit as a recruit; I wouldn't say he should be a super high priority for us, but if he were to take one of our final spots, I wouldn't be mad.
Class of 2024
Damarius Owens
Game film:
Kiski Basketball v. Western Reserve Academy (Double Header) (1:33:00 into this video)
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
Stats:
I spoke to an old friend of mine in Rochester about Owens. He says he's currently 6'7" and still growing. He's another typical SU type of forward: long, lanky, and athletic. He has pretty nice form on his jumpshot and he elevates beautifully for it. He mostly operates as a screener for his HS team and can both roll to the basket or pop out to the three point line from there. Having said that, he has shown flashes of being able to create off the dribble, and considering the idea that he may still be growing taller, I start thinking of a guy with PF size that can take his man off the dribble and I start to get pretty excited. Defensively, he gets hunched over more than you'd like, but he puts in good effort, does a pretty good job of staying in front of his man, and does a really nice job of contesting jumpshots. He could be a really good defender as he starts to fill his body out. All in all, he still has a ways to go in his development, but there's star potential here IMO and we should be making him a priority recruit.
Class of 2022
Judah Mintz
Game film:
Oak Hill vs Link | 2022.3.31 | HS Game
LIVE: #3 Oak Hill Academy (VA) vs Hargrave Military (VA)
ANNUAL SCRIMMAGE2022 NJ Shoreshots HGSL vs 2022 Team Durant EYBL
Stats (including the NIBC games that I did not watch):
- 19.3 points on 44/75 two pointers, 5/15 three pointers, and 32/40 FT shooting for a TS% of 62.7%
- 2.1 rebounds
- 3.3 assists to 2.3 turnovers
- 0.1 blocks and 0.7 steals
Judah is listed at 6'4", and if that's true, I would guess he's probably around a 6'7" or so wingspan. Perfect size for a SG in college (and obviously a plus if he's our PG) and a nice counterpart to Girard's relative small stature at the top of our zone. Defensively, he's locked in mentally more than most of the guys we recruit; you can see him darting his eyes back and forth between his man and the ball to make sure he's in a good position and simply does a nice job most of the time of getting into his stance and trying to stop his man from scoring. He was often tasked with guarding the other team's best players and I believe his coach at Oak Hill said he was their best defensive player. I wouldn't expect him to constantly be forcing turnovers on the defensive end the way we did with MCW for example, but he should be a pretty good defender nonetheless. In terms of rebounding the ball, he has the athleticism for it. He generally opts to leak out a bit rather than boxing out; he doesn't abandon the team or anything but he kinda has one foot out the door to try to get some easy points in transition. I'm interested to see if that will continue at Syracuse; he played SG both in high school and AAU, so their PG would stick around for outlet passes while Judah would leak out. That may not be the case with us. On the offensive end, he's a good ball handler with a decent first step, but I think the thing that allows him to be successful more than anything is that he just doesn't really move the way everyone else does. For example, he'll be curling around to receive a handoff; the defender will naturally expect him to keep going when he gets the handoff and instead, Mintz will load up as he's taking the handoff and immediately explode the other way, creating a massive advantage for himself. He has a herky jerky style of movement that just keeps defensive players a bit off-balance and once he has them off-balance, he throws in pump fakes, step throughs, double clutches, and some flopping to draw easy fouls. His ratio of free throws to FGA rivals the biggest foul merchants in the NBA; he's going to be a PITA for people to guard. In terms of being a jumpshooter, he elevates extremely well on his jumper. The footwork isn't always consistent, but he generally gets a pretty good balance as he's going up. I wouldn't say there's any fatal flaw in his mechanics and the people commentating his games constantly referred to him as one of the best mid-range shooters in the country. He shoots it well at the FT line as well, which generally bodes well. He's a pretty talented passer as well and doesn't get tunnel vision on his drives. Lastly, one of the things I really look for when I watch a kid that plays on a relatively stacked team like Oak Hill Academy is the pecking order that they have. I can only watch so many games so it's easy to just catch them on a night where the player of interest doesn't shoot it well, or shoots it much better than usual, etc. But generally speaking, if you have a bunch of top 100 players on your team and there's a clear pecking order, they've sort of realize a couple of them stand out from the rest. That's absolutely the case here; while Oak Hill had four Top 100 recruits on their team, they clearly lean on Caleb Foster (#12 recruit in the 2023 class, committed to Duke) and Judah Mintz for most of their production, and Judah not only led the team in scoring, but led the entire league as well (and on good scoring efficiency). If there's one thing that might hold him back early on, it would be that he's not very strong yet. Part of it is certainly that he likes selling contact, but he can definitely get knocked around a bit on the offensive end, wiped out by screens on the defensive end, etc. It's possible that this could translate to not finishing around the rim as well as he did in high school, and if he doesn't get a good whistle, he could struggle a bit with his efficiency. Additionally, he's not the kind of athlete that will just explode past his man with ease; he has to work to create his advantages against HS competition (granted he's playing against elite HS competition, but still, college is a step up). It's entirely possible that he'll struggle in matchups against super athletic defenders. But all in all, Judah is the real deal IMO. He should be a starter on Day 1 and I'd expect him to give us somewhere around 14-16 points per game as a freshman.
Justin Taylor
Game film:
Combine PG Black vs IMG at DME Showcase
Combine Academy: #0 Jacob Cooper, #1 Kai Evans, #2 Jayden Brewer, #3 Ethyn Brown, #4 Jason Kimbrough, #12 Corneilous Williams, #15 Jared Weakly, #21 AJ Smith...
www.youtube.com
12-08-2021 Speights Academy (107) vs IMG Post Grad (110)
This video is cut off in the overtime period.
www.youtube.com
Military Circuit Game 5: FUMA vs IMG
SUBSCRIBE to Fork Union Military Academy's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?user=ForkUnionMilitaryVISIT Fork Union Military Academ...
www.youtube.com
Stats (averages across the three games unless otherwise noted):
- 15.7 points on 10/24 two pointers (8/13 at the rim and 2/11 from mid-range), 5/16 three pointers, and 12/14 FT shooting for a TS% of 50.9%
- 1.7 rebounds
- 2 assists to 0.7 turnovers
- 1 block, 0.3 steals
- I also tracked his warm-up shooting before one of his games and he shot 29/43 from 3 in those warmups
He's sort of stuck between the 2 and 3 positionally right now. I think he'll probably start out at the 3, but I really wish he was more physical if he's going to be playing on the back line of our zone. Across the three games I've watched, he had a grand total of 5 rebounds despite being one of the biggest players on the team. I don't think his ball-handling is good enough to feel comfortable with him as a 2 guard in the short-term; he's mostly limited to the occasional straight-line drive right now. On the flipside, he can score around the rim when he gets there and he seems very comfortable in the mid-range and perimeter shooting the ball despite relatively poor percentages. He does a nice job of hopping into rhythm in catch-and-shoot situations, is comfortable curling around screens and pulling up, and does a pretty nice job of probing the defense when he's working off a screen. One thing to maybe look out for; he naturally fades away on his jumper and it results in a lot of his misses being short. I wouldn't be surprised if our coaches try to tweak that part of his shooting form to see if that improves his percentages. Against 2-3 zones, he played at the FT line and did a really nice job of making himself available and making decisions with the ball once he got it. Against man-to-man, he made some smart backdoor cuts, did a good job curling around screens, etc. I think he'll probably struggle to get all the way to the rim early on in his career, but there's a chance he develops into a three-level scorer as he continues developing. He's nothing to write home about as a passer, but he generally makes quick decisions rather than holding the ball a lot. All in all, I think he's a pretty promising recruit and he seems ahead of Chris Bunch in the development curve right now. I wish we didn't have to rely on him for major minutes as a freshman, but he could be a solid 4 year player if he continues developing and sticks around.
Quadir Copeland
Game film:
Same as Justin Taylor's links
Florida Coastal Prep Red @ IMG National PG
https://floridacoastalprep.com Florida Post Grad Basketball#PostGrad #FCPBasketball #FCP #BasketballFollow Us on Twitter:https://twitter.com/flcoastalprepCon...
www.youtube.com
Military Circuit Game 6: Legecy vs IMG
SUBSCRIBE to Fork Union Military Academy's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?user=ForkUnionMilitaryVISIT Fork Union Military Academ...
www.youtube.com
Stats (averages across the three games unless otherwise noted):
- 10.3 points on 6/19 two pointers (all but one miss coming at the rim), 0/3 three pointers, and 19/22 FT shooting for a TS% of 48.9%.
- 6 rebounds
- 6 assists to 4.3 turnovers
- 1.3 blocks, 1 steal
Quadir will ultimately play the 1 & 2 for us, but he has the size to potentially fill in on the backline if push comes to shove. As a ball-handler, I liken him to MCW, where he can do relatively advanced stuff with the ball, but his handle in general is very loose and ripe for steals if he comes across a good defender. He generally does a nice job of putting his body between the defender and the ball to help shield it, but there will definitely be opportunities to pick his pocket. It's a good starting point but would definitely like to see him tighten it up if he's going to be our lead ball-handler in the long-term. He doesn't really take jumpshots; in the 3 games I watched he took a grand total of 4 jumpers, 1 of which was just a prayer to beat the buzzer and he made none of them. He seems to be a pretty good free throw shooter though, so maybe the jumper will come along as he continues developing. He has the length, strength, and athleticism to get into the paint pretty easily. He unfortunately has shot a very low percentage at the rim (like, worse than what we've gotten from Joe Girard in college), as he tends to contort his body, double clutch his layups, etc. to draw fouls instead of focusing on just making the shot. Having said that, he does draw a lot of fouls and that's propped his scoring efficiency up to merely bad instead of horrendous. He's a really talented passer and he knows it. There will be turnovers with him as he tests the limits of his abilities and takes chances that probably aren't wise, but the good will generally outweigh the bad and he can simply make plays that nobody else on our team can. Additionally, he gets after it on the glass; he's picked up a lot of offensive rebounds as he's naturally bigger than most of the guards that are defending him and he does a nice job of crashing the glass on the offensive end. That effort isn't there as much on defensive rebounds, but it's not bad. On the downside, he's just a non-factor when he doesn't have the ball in his hands. He doesn't really move unless it's to post up and call for the ball and he sometimes doesn't even pay attention to the game that's going on in front of him. Defensively, he shows maybe the worst effort I've seen from a Syracuse recruit. He constantly falls asleep on defense with no idea where his man has gone, he offers no resistance when he's switched onto a big man, and he generally lets his man go by and lazily reaches in for cheap fouls. He also regularly just doesn't rotate on defense and points at his teammates to tell them to get out there instead. He certainly has the length and athleticism to be a menace at the top of the zone, but our coaches will have to get him to lock in there. All in all, there's NBA potential in him if he puts in the effort, but he has a long ways to go and I'm afraid if he doesn't change his ways, he'll end up in Boeheim's doghouse.
Chris Bunch
Game film:
Montverde vs Wasatch | 2021.12.10 | HS Game
Montverde Academy (FL) Eagles vs Wasatch Academy (UT) TigersDecember 10th 2021No Copyright Intended.Please subscribe for more vids!
www.youtube.com
Boys Varsity National Basketball vs Desert Valley Prep
www.youtube.com
Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Centennial 12/7/2021
www.youtube.com
Stats (in NIBC games + the non-NIBC game I watched):
- 9.1 points on 10/28 two pointers, 13/47 three pointers, and 5/7 FT shooting for a TS% of 41.0%
- 2.4 rebounds
- 0.7 assists to 3.1 turnovers
- 1.4 blocks and 0.6 steals
Bunch seems to be a stereotypical Syracuse forward. Long, athletic, and mostly a standstill shooter. He doesn't really elevate on his jumpshot and shoots with a very wide base, which makes it difficult for him to shoot off the dribble outside of the occasional stepback. If he wants to take his game to the next level, adjusting his shooting form will be an important step in the journey IMO. I think he's a pretty good fit for the zone defense, as he's more of a run and jump kind of defender rather than a guy that's going to get down in his stance and lock someone up, but that could always change. He's probably not a good enough ball-handler to really create in the half court right now, but with his athleticism, he could be a weapon in transition in the short-term. All in all, it seems like he'll be forced into early playing time based on the current roster makeup. I'm hoping he'll be a pleasant surprise for me the way Woody Newton was as a freshman. He's a pretty good athlete and is certainly a willing shooter; there's a framework for a good player here but he really struggled this past season.
Peter Carey
Game film:
Middlesex Magic 2022 vs NY Lightning - Hoop Group Jam Fest Spooky Nook
Magic wins 71-70Middlesex Magic 2022 vs NY Lightning
www.youtube.com
Frontier Regional School Boys Basketball v Monument Mountain Western Mass DIII Quarterfinal
February 28, 2020
www.youtube.com
Frontier Regional School Basketball vs Narragansett Western Mass DIII Semifinal
Hosted by Jeff Tirrell & Chris CollinsBear Country 95.3Filmed at Umass Curry Hicks CageMarch 5, 2019Produced and edited by Kevin MurphyVideo TeamAlec Eckel, ...
www.youtube.com
Frontier Regional School Boys Basketball vs Palmer Western Mass Quarterfinal
Filmed February 28, 2019
www.youtube.com
Stats (averages across 3 games):
- 15 points on 21/39 two pointers (18/30 at the rim) and 3/9 FT shooting for a TS% of 52.4%
- 11 rebounds
- 1.3 assists to 1.7 turnovers
- 2 blocks, 0.7 steals
- Just noting that in the AAU game I found (muuuuuch better level of competition), Carey put up 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 block on 4/8 shooting)
I think Carey probably projects as a PF. His narrow frame probably won't support bulking up a ton and he's just a naturally skinny dude. He's not a physical player; gets pushed around by legitimate big men pretty easily, struggles to post up, doesn't set strong screens, etc. I'd say he's best paired with a C that can step out and hit jumpers as that just doesn't seem to be Carey's game at all (though with his long layoff, maybe he's worked on that). Carey's best attributes right now are his athleticism and coordination. The way he can run, jump, and contort in mid-air at his height is something we haven't really had since maybe Jerami Grant's time here and with his AAU team, he was always looking for lob passes to come his way. High school was a bit of a different story; he was almost literally twice the size of most of the players he came across so he was able to engulf pretty much every missed shot in his vicinity and could pretty much shoot it at the rim whenever he wanted to. He played a complimentary role next to his brother during his sophomore year; his brother won Player of the Year in their league as a senior. In Carey's junior year (2019-2020), he stepped into the starring role. The one game I watched from that season, Carey put up 24 points, 21 rebounds, and 4 blocks, and his numbers were only that low because it turned into a blowout and he got plenty of rest in the 2nd half. He's seemingly bulked up quite a bit since those days, but remains skinny and weak. He seems to really lack shooting touch; he's a poor free throw shooter and he airballs an alarming number of shots, both from the mid-range and at the rim. All in all, he's sort of a ball of clay at this point, but I like taking a chance on a big man as athletic as he is (assuming he hasn't lost that athleticism with his injuries). He probably won't be ready for the physicality of ACC players this upcoming year, but hopefully in time he'll turn into a contributor for us.
Maliq Brown
Game film:
VBB vs Blue Ridge (2.8.22)
www.youtube.com
PG Basketball vs Blue Ridge School
SUBSCRIBE to Fork Union Military Academy's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?user=ForkUnionMilitaryVISIT Fork Union Military Academ...
www.youtube.com
Team Final v Team Loaded
www.youtube.com
Team Loaded v Team Loaded NC
www.youtube.com
Stats (averages across 4 games I watched):
- 14.3 points on 24/30 two pointers (all at the rim) and 9/17 FT shooting for a TS% of 76.0%
- 6.5 rebounds
- 1.3 assists to 0.8 turnovers
- 1.8 blocks and 0.8 steals
- In the two HS games I watched, he put up a total of 45 points and 20 rebounds
- In the two AAU games I watched, he put up a total of 12 points and 6 rebounds
I think Maliq can probably fill in as a PF in our system but ideally projects as a C long-term. He's fairly developed physically and shouldn't get pushed around inside the way Carey for example likely will. I'm not entirely sure what to make of his HS film. He was fairly dominant in the two HS games I watched. I don't think the level of competition is very good, but FWIW, the team that Brown put up 29 and 9 against in a win is the same team that beat Copeland/Taylor's team by 35 points. Having said that, I think most of Brown's production in the HS games was simply a product of being bigger than pretty much everyone else. He can't shoot and he's probably not going to do much, if anything, off the dribble (though he did show a couple flashes of straight line drives). He's a legitimately talented passer for a big man; that part is really nice to see, but the rest of his offensive game is weak enough that you probably don't want the ball in his hands anyways so that talent will likely go unutilized. Defensively, there's flashes of him diving on the floor for loose balls, picking up steals, blocking shots, etc., but his effort level in general is not good. His film is littered with lazy reach ins, players blowing by him, failing to box out/sometimes just vacating his spot and taking himself out of position for rebounds. Athletically, he can run fairly well. His earlier HS/AAU film shows a guy that really struggles to elevate off the floor. He'd go up for dunks and barely be able to reach the rim or just flat out come up short. He did show more elevation in his most recent game, but overall, I worry that as a relatively short center, the lackluster elevation will really hurt his chances of contributing for us. All in all, I'm skeptical that he'll ever really crack the rotation here, but hopefully he'll prove me wrong.
Class of 2023
Reid Ducharme
Game film:
Twitch (1:39:46 into this video)
Twitch (6:17:37 into this video)
Stats:
- 19.5 points on 12/20 two pointers (10/15 at the rim), 1/10 three pointers, and 12/14 FT shooting for a TS% of 53.9%
- 4 rebounds
- 1.5 assists to 2 turnovers
- 0 blocks, 1 steal
According to Reid, he's up to 6'7" with a T-Rex wingspan vs. the 6'4" he's listed as on 247. He seems capable of playing the 2 or 3 for us if that's true and that's essentially what he's doing for his AAU team as he began the game on the back line of their zone and eventually moved up to the top. I wouldn't say he's a particularly strong defender, but he's at least getting experience in the 2-3 and has the athleticism to potentially be alright in it. He's a pretty basic ball-handler right now, but he does have a pretty nice first step that he's able to use to attack closeouts and he can elevate pretty well. Once he gets to the rim, he finishes pretty well, shielding defenders off with his body or the rim to finish in traffic. When he isn't attacking closeouts, he seems to need ball screens to free himself up for scoring opportunities right now. He's struggled with his 3 pointers in the couple of games that I've watched, but supposedly that's one of his calling cards. Looking at his shooting form, he turns his body in the air more than you'd like; this was a common criticism of LaMelo Ball for a few years before his coaches ended up converting him to shooting more of a set shot and it's helped him a lot. I'm not sure if our staff will want to overhaul his mechanics that much, but it would probably help if they can coach some of the twisting motion out of him a bit. All in all, his combination of potentially being a shooter and also being a pretty smart and athletic finisher gives him a chance to be an impactful scorer in the future.
Trey Autry
Game film:
Twitch (1:54:00 into this video)
Twitch (6:13:10 into this video)
Twitch (3:15:52 into this video)
Kiski Basketball v. Western Reserve Academy (Double Header) (1:33:00 into this video)
Life Christian vs Western Reserve Academy
Hansel Emmanuel Donato and Angel Montas with Life Christian Academy vs Demarius Owens and Tyler Linhardt of Western Reserve Academy
www.youtube.com
Columbus Academy vs. Western Reserve Varsity Mens' Basketball
www.youtube.com
Stats:
- 11.2 points on 12/21 two pointers (11/15 at the rim), 10/21 three pointers, and 13/15 FT shooting for a TS% of 68.9%
- 4.2 rebounds
- 1.8 assists to 1.2 turnovers
- 0.5 blocks and 0.7 steals
Trey is listed at 6'3" or 6'4" I believe and he's a physically strong dude. He does a nice job of getting down into a defensive stance, fighting through screens, and just playing good defense. He can sometimes get beat by quicker players, but for the most part, he projects as a good defender IMO, particularly in man-to-man. He also does a very good job of winning 50-50 balls. Offensively, he plays almost purely off-ball for City Rocks while being the primary ball-handler for his HS team. I think he's more suited as a secondary ball-handler right now; he's just not the type of ball-handler/creator you want to be depending on for your offense. Having said that, he will have some matchups that he's able to overpower to get to the rim and he's shot the ball very well in the games I've watched. With City Rocks, he was one of the guys they designed plays for, running him off stagger screens, flair screens, etc. to free him up for 3's and he held his own against Kwame Evans, currently the #2 recruit in the country, helping to lead City Rocks to an upset victory while leading the team in scoring. I think Autry is being undervalued a bit as a recruit; I wouldn't say he should be a super high priority for us, but if he were to take one of our final spots, I wouldn't be mad.
Class of 2024
Damarius Owens
Game film:
Kiski Basketball v. Western Reserve Academy (Double Header) (1:33:00 into this video)
Life Christian vs Western Reserve Academy
Hansel Emmanuel Donato and Angel Montas with Life Christian Academy vs Demarius Owens and Tyler Linhardt of Western Reserve Academy
www.youtube.com
Columbus Academy vs. Western Reserve Varsity Mens' Basketball
www.youtube.com
Stats:
- 14.3 points on 14/24 two pointers (12/20 at the rim), 2/5 three pointers, and 9/11 FT shooting for a TS% of 63.5%
- 4.3 rebounds
- 2 assists to 1.3 turnovers
- 0.3 blocks, 1 steal
I spoke to an old friend of mine in Rochester about Owens. He says he's currently 6'7" and still growing. He's another typical SU type of forward: long, lanky, and athletic. He has pretty nice form on his jumpshot and he elevates beautifully for it. He mostly operates as a screener for his HS team and can both roll to the basket or pop out to the three point line from there. Having said that, he has shown flashes of being able to create off the dribble, and considering the idea that he may still be growing taller, I start thinking of a guy with PF size that can take his man off the dribble and I start to get pretty excited. Defensively, he gets hunched over more than you'd like, but he puts in good effort, does a pretty good job of staying in front of his man, and does a really nice job of contesting jumpshots. He could be a really good defender as he starts to fill his body out. All in all, he still has a ways to go in his development, but there's star potential here IMO and we should be making him a priority recruit.
Last edited:
