Louisiana Class of 2018 Forwards 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 be moving onto forwards, who will be playing mostly the 4 or 5 at the next level.
The headlining forward for Louisiana is 6’7 Josh LeBlanc of Madison Prep. He is a bit of a tweener, with not quite the height to play his natural position of power forward, but with a 7’ wingspan, and incredibly broad shoulders, I believe he is a good example of the new style four at the next level. With his fantastic work ethic and relentless motor, I believe he can excel at the next level. While playing for Louisiana Elite, he is one of the top performers in the country in multiple advanced stats such as wins added. If he can develop a reliable jumpshot, I think that he has a Draymond Green type ceiling within the next seven years.
There is a bit of a drop off between Josh Leblanc and the next forward for the 2018 class, but I still believe that 6’8 Randy Gladney of DeRidder can be a valuable addition for a D1 team in the future. He has the size to play the four at the next level, and can rebound well enough to be a small ball five, and has been working hard on adding a reliable jumper to his arsenal. He already has multiple D1 offers, and will most likely continue to add more as he finishes out the summer on a strong note with the Houston Defenders of the Under Armour Association.
Beyond those two at the top have already earned D1 offers, there are a handful of players that have college potential, and their interests will continue to pick up as their summer continues. The first of those players is 6’8 Chandler Owenby of St. Paul’s. He is a long post player with sneaky athleticism. He can get up and dunk with authority and protect the rim well. He has also expanded his game out to the mid-range, and if he can knock down corner threes with reliability, he has the potential as a stretch four at the next level. Beyond Owenby is 6’7 Dwight Simon of Peabody. Simon is a big body with a lot of skill around the rim. He can rebound as well as any in the state, and hopefully that skill will translate to the next level despite him being a bit undersized.
Beyond those bigs is a player that has as much potential as anyone on this list, and if a college coach can motivate 6’8 Jaden Edwards of Lafayette High, they will be getting a steal. Jaden can protect the rim at a high level, and has good hands to catch dump downs. He is still a bit inconsistent in the post, but when he is going he is virtually unstoppable. As stated before, there have been questions raised about his work ethic, but Edwards is a mobile big with high upside for any college coaches looking to take a flyer.