I want to start this off by saying that there are six courts in this building and I’m only one man, so If I didn’t see a certain performance please don’t come at me, but let’s get to the top five Point Guards from the action today.
Honorable Mention: 6’0 2019 Jamarii Thomas: New Light Disciples
Thomas isn’t going to wow you with his size or athleticism, what he does incredibly well is distribute the basketball at a really high level. He has an excellent first step when driving to the basket, incredibly agile in the air to go with remarkable vision in a really fast paced system.
Look for Thomas to have a big week down in Florida with his New Life Disciples squad at AAU nationals. He’s definitely a next level prospect that scholarship coaches should be watching. His best asset is how good of a teammate he is, always being vocal, but never being too negative, finding the common balance that makes he and his team so successful.
Honorable Mention: 5’10 2019 Kojack Thompson: PSB McDonald
Kojack has already established himself as one of the most productive sub 6’0 guards in the HoopState with Christ School last season. He’s taken on an even larger role with this PSB McDonald squad. Basically everything runs through him on the offensive end, he is the heartbeat of this team and he knows it. He plays with a high level of passion on both ends of the court and like Thomas, he’s an incredible teammate.
He is definitely a score first lead guard and will more than likely end up making a D2 or D3 program incredibly happy with his consistent and efficient production. I expect him to continue attracting attention from coaches throughout the region in need of a guard with the potential to be a program improver at whatever level he chooses.
5. 6’0 2020 Reginald Walton: Team ENC 910
Walton continues to prove himself as a mainstay in the eastern part of the HoopState when it comes to the top 2020 guard discussion and today he continued to show why. His intangibles are off the charts, no coach in attendance will have anything negative to say about his body language, communication skills, leadership, and just overall attitude. It’s incredibly clear this kid is one step ahead mentally than the kids he’s playing against… and he’s a year younger than most of his competition.
Walton is without a doubt a scholarship player in my mind, aside from what he does mentally, he’s a super reliable floor general that can flat out fill it up depending on the matchup, capable of scoring at all three levels, and really defending his position with intensity at all times.
4. 5’10 2019 Bryson Childress: Team Denver 17U
Childress has been on a level this weekend that I frankly didn’t think he had in him at all. I’m happy he proved me wrong with his performances this weekend. He gave a really talented ENC 910 team 32 points on 10 made 3s, including 8 of them in the first half. He runs offense super well and is always playing with a major chip on his shoulder.
Expect Childress to attract the attention of Scholarship coaches the rest of the month with Bobby Lutz at the helm for Team Denver. He’s taken to the coaching really well and has played incredibly efficient basketball throughout the entire week here in Spartanburg. He’s an incredible leader that any coach would love to have in their program.
3. 6’1 2019 Shykeim Phillips: Team ENC 252
Phillips is an ELITE floor general! He never loses control of a situation, always cool, calm and collected as a D1 Point Guard should be. He boasts offers from Old Dominion and ECU, and it’s pretty easy to see why. He has a winning pedigree with South Central playing alongside two excellent, yet different big men in UNC Commit Dayron Sharpe and Luke Davis. Both of those guys have to love playing with a guy like Phillips that’s always looking to make the right play.
If Phillips wants to take the next step as a player, he should work on improving the consistency of that jumper, he’s capable of hitting any shot on the court, but if he becomes a marksmen from deep, I completely expect high major schools to come pouncing in the High School season. He’s everything you want in your PG, on and off the court!
2. 6’0 2020 Jajuan Carr: WBC Elite 17U
Carr is incredibly exciting to watch simply as a fan of basketball. His ability to break down the defense and rise up for a huge jam is what will have highlight companies in the gym for a lot of his games in the near future. (S/O to my guy Anthony at BucketReel for being all over it already) He does a really good job making the right reads on offense, setting his guys up to succeed at a high level.
Carr already boasts an offer from ECU as the new coaching staff has put an emphasis on getting in-state talent into the program in efforts to get one of the biggest schools in the HoopState to the next level on the court. Carr is a great start if they can get him there. He’s the kind of kid that’s going to put butt’s in seats because he’s a major highlight waiting to happen.
1. 6’0 2020 Justin Wright: Team Loaded 2020
I had to run over and fan the flames on this dude after his performance on Friday where he finished with 34 points on 10 made 3s. He’s one of the best shooters in the state of North Carolina regardless of class to go with being a super crafty finisher around the basket and an excellent vocal leader for his team.
He knows what being the #1 option is like at Farmville Central and he really staked his claim as the best scorer on an incredibly talented Team Loaded 2020 squad. Expect his commitment to pick up over the next couple of weeks in a major fashion. At this point he’s a no doubt mid-major kid with a really good chance of being a high major prospect.