Louisiana Class of 2018 Guard Breakdown
Now that we are fully into the swing of the grassroots season and starting to head into the time for team camps, we felt that it was time to give our readers a refresher on the guys that will be leading the top teams going forward. We are going to start with the guards.
By now, everybody and their mama should have heard about 6’3 Javonte Smart of Scotlandville. He is one of the top guards in the country and has been for a while now, and he has the potential to go down as arguably the best guard in Louisiana history. Behind him are a pair of guards that have used breakout performances this spring to launch them into national prominence, in Greg Williams and Jared Butler. 6’3 Greg Williams of LCA has spent this spring as teammates with Javonte Smart, coming off the bench for Houston Hoops on the EYBL. He is an incredibly athletic lead guard, but he is capable of doing it all for his team. 6’3 Jared Butler of Riverside is another versitile threat, and what he lacks in elite athleticism, he more than makes up for in polish and basketball IQ. After not playing last spring due to injury, he burst onto the scene with Mississippi Express of the EYBL, and coaches really took notice. No guard in the state has risen up the rankings and onto the national stage like Butler has so far.
Behind those three national names are a pair of teammates for Louisiana Elite, in Tyrece Radford of McKinley and TJ Collins of Bonnabel. 6’2 Tyrece Radford is a lightning-quick lefty that can get into the paint at will. He had one of the best games of the Top 28 in a losing effort against Scotlandville. He went head-to-head with Javonte Smart, and for at least one game he was the better player. 6’2 TJ Collins is a pure scorer that is capable of exploding for huge games. He can shoot really well from deep, and he can finish at the rim around size with the best of them. He showed that when Bonnabel went up against Chalmette in the Top 28 and finished with 37, attacking the best rim protector in the nation in high school in Mitchell Robinson. Both of these players have room for improvement, but hold a few low-mid major D1 offers and grades permitted both of these guys will playing at the next level.
6’2 Jonathan Cisse had a strong season, and is continuing that this spring. He has shown definitivly that he is capable of playing the lead guard, averaging over 8 assists per game for NOLA BB Club. 6’0 Jharon Whitfield is a part of the three headed monster that will lead Madison Prep next year, and he can score with the best of them. 6’3 Parker Edwards has bounced around a bit this spring on different teams, but he is one of the best pure shooters in the class, and already has a D1 offer in hand.