Anyone within grassroots basketball knows how much recruiting has changed over the last five or so years. Between the portal, additional years, and the involvement of money (NIL), high school prospects are becoming far less desirable. There’s no time for colleges to “waste” developing kids when they can acquire a plug-and-play piece elsewhere. In turn, this new approach has swayed many high school kids into reclassifying or going prep/post-grad in order to get properly recruited by coaches of the appropriate level. The most recent example of this is Jayon Connor announcing his decision to transfer to Forsyth Country Day and reclassify into the Class of 2027.
We wrote about his expected breakout prior to this decision, as there was already obvious excitement surrounding Connor. As a reminder, he averaged 27.8 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 2.6 APG, 2.6 SPG, and 1.1 BPG last season. Those numbers are absolutely insane, and should’ve already made him one of the bigger hidden gems on the recruiting trail. However, an additional year of progression only further boosts his stock as a college prospect. Connor was already visibly trending upward as a player who has substantially grown, added powerful explosiveness, and expanded his skillset over the last few years. Now, it’s pretty clear that he’ll become a worthy target for various types of Division I programs.
Although they’ve added multiple new pieces, Connor should fit in seamlessly with the Furies. As evidenced by his per-game averages, he’ll inevitably find production in any potential role. He’s a powerful athlete with an excellent combination of size, physicality, and two-way versatility. Connor’s ability to do so many different things on the court allows him to effectively play multiple positions. He’s a switchable defender who can guard basically any position on the floor. Connor rebounds extremely well for his size and is skilled enough to reliably push the break in transition. Although his skillset continues to grow, he’s already capable of applying constant pressure at the rim, creating with the ball in his hands, and mixing it up as a scorer from all levels. Again, Connor’s trajectory was already very appealing prior to reclassifying, but now coaches will need to get involved before his upcoming blow-up.