At the beginning of each new year, Phenom Hoops works to assemble a series of articles centered around unsigned senior prospects. Last season, over one hundred players from North Carolina went on to play at the Division I, II, III or NAIA levels, and that number looks likely to continue increasing with the current senior class. Typically, we take a closer look at guys who are overlooked and underrated, and today’s edition will highlight Bryce Causey of Southwest Guilford and Carolina Knights.
There are many instances where opportunity is a massive part of future success, and Causey has maximized his opportunity to shine as well as anyone over the last six months. Though he was a quality contributor on Southwest Guilford’s state championship team, Causey was largely overshadowed by UNCG-commits Keyshaun and Kobe Langley, Queens-commit Jayden Turner, and two more college-level prospects in Joel Pettiford and Christian Martin. One year later, Causey made the Cowboys histeam and ran the team incredibly well alongside his co-captains in Miles Taylor and Jeremy Mull. His foundation has primarily been that of a scoring guard but the development of his defense, passing, rebounding, and even athleticism has been noticeable. Causey doesn’t appear to be finished improving and will be the type of player to continue trending upward throughout the next few years.
We’ve been fortunate enough to watch Causey grow at various events and camps, including at our most recent Session I of North Carolina Phenom 150 Camp, where we stated: “Next, we look at a player that continues to be one of the most productive two-way performers around, Bryce Causey. He’s a smart, wiry, high-motor guard prospect that truly knows how to do a little bit of everything while relentlessly scoring the ball from all three levels. Causey is an extremely instinctive cutter and quality spot-up threat that simply knows how to make plays without the ball. He’s also a reliable creator with the ability to generate and convert clean looks from all three levels. Causey is phenomenal in transition, both with and without the ball, and can make plays for himself or others. He rebounds and defends very well for his position, understanding how to play passing lanes and force turnovers at a pretty strong rate. Next in his development process is working on getting stronger, as it would make him even tougher for opponents to contain. Coach Smith on Causey: “Bryce is a real good player that is coachable and displays a positive attitude. He’s a great shooter that can alter the course of a game with his play.” Causey was quite impressive throughout camp, getting recognition as a top unsigned senior, and will be a great fit at a variety of programs at the next level.”
Although Southwest Guilford lost all five starters, their storied head coach in Guy Shavers (followed by their new head coach shortly thereafter), and were forced to pick up all the pieces but still found success. Causey posted nightly averages of 16 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 3.5 APG, and 1.9 SPG, arguably making him their most productive player on a game-to-game basis. It’s still only the beginning for Causey, as he recently received offers from Bluefield, Randolph, Montreat, and CIU, and only looks like to accumulate more over the coming months. He’s shown the ability to take over or maximize his role, which will translate extremely well to a variety of college programs.