Prospect Spotlight: Shykeim Phillips (2019)
Shykeim Phillips | South Central High School
Height: 6’2” | Position: PG/SG | Class of 2019
Strengths: Scoring Efficiency, Defense, Basketball IQ
Areas For Improvement: Athleticism, Size For Position
South Central HS has an excellent two way player in their rising junior guard Shykeim Phillips. He’s about 6’2” tall with a slender frame that appears capable of naturally putting on muscle in the long run. Despite his frame, he has proven to be stronger than he appears.
Defensively, he aggravates ball handlers and even some really good post players with his quick feet, quick hands and abnormally strong core. His teammates really feed off of his defensive abilities, using his stops to go on several momentum changing runs. Often times, you can catch him going on personal scoring runs behind his full court man to man pressure, stealing the ball and dashing inside for easy fast-break opportunities. He could make a case for one of the top all around defenders in his graduating class.
Offensively, he’s extremely efficient. His patience with the ball typically lands him wide open looks off the ball and he does an excellent job attacking close outs. Has a solid mid-range game and uses a good variety of pump fakes and drop steps on smaller guards. He also converts free-throws at a relatively high clip for a high school player, shooting over 80%. Wouldn’t be shocked if he became a 50-40-90 kid by his senior season. I can’t say enough how patient he is offensively.
As a point guard, he’s continued to improve with experience and developed into a very dependable play-maker for his teammates while maintaining his scoring efficiency. His changes of speed, patience and combinations of hesitations give opposing defenders fits. If he grows more (or not), continues to get stronger and dish the ball at a high level while maintaining his ability to score with great efficiency, he’ll work his way up tons of recruiting boards sooner than later. He’s a dynamic two-way threat.
(Video Footage Courtesy of BucketReel)