Sin City Scouting Notebook: Jack’s Standout 2018 Guards
The end of the AAU season sees over 1,000 AAU teams travel to Las Vegas to compete in a dozen or so tournaments. It’s a great place to be for a hoops fan, college coach or scout, however there’s just so much going on across the city that it’s hard to see everything. I focused on the Adidas Gauntlet Finale, the Fab 48, Adidas Select Showcase and Bigfoot Hoops The Ei8ht. While I wasn’t able to see everything, I compiled a notebook of standouts from across the country, and we’ll start with the 2018 guard standouts from across the events.
Jaelin Llewellyn | 6’2” PG | Team Loaded VA 17U
The recent Princeton commit showed why he’s going to be a huge steal at that level, and was a catalyst in Team Loaded VA’s run to the Adidas Summer Finale Championship. In their semifinal win over Compton Magic, Llewellyn finished with 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field and pitched in eight rebounds and four assists. The dynamic playmaker showed good leadership and athleticism on both ends of the floor, and what’s really intriguing is that he still has a ton of room to improve moving forward.
Trey Wertz | 6’3” WG | Team Loaded NC 17U
Of the Loaded NC backcourt trio, Wertz may have done the most to boost his stock when in Vegas with a couple of huge shooting performances. He averaged 16.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, and he showed his ability to get hot quickly and light it up from all three levels. On Thursday, he had scored 25 points in a win over Mass Rivals, where he shot 7-for-13 from the field, 4-for-5 from deep and 7-for-7 from the line, and he followed it up with a 21 point outing in a win over the Iowa Barnstormers where he shot 8-for-13 from the field and 5-for-8 from deep. He finished the tournament shooting 41.2% from deep and was an impressive 17-for-18 from the line as a whole, and plenty of coaches were impressed with his shooting ability.
Nate Hinton | 6’5” PG | Team Loaded NC 17U
He’s been one of the biggest stock risers of July as a whole, and while he didn’t put up huge numbers in Vegas he still showed flashes of why he’s a true high major point guard. In their first game, a loss to the NE Playaz, he scored an efficient 18 points where he showed the ability to get in the lane and knock down shots at will without taking a single three-pointer. In their win over Iowa Barnstormers, where his backcourt mates Trey Wertz and Landers Nolley combined for 47 points, he finished with 10 assists to just two turnovers, and he was also one of the best playmakers on the defensive end getting two or more steals in all but one game. His mix of size, quickness and dual threat ability to create for himself and his teammates makes him one of the most coveted PGs on the east coast.
Xavier Johnson | 6’2” PG | Team Takeover 17U
It’s safe to say this kid has be one of the most under recruited point guards in the country. After leading Team Takeover to a championship in the prestigious Nike tournament “The Ei8ht,” where he scored 16 points and dished out seven assists, he picked up a UMASS offer to bring him to 12 total. While he’s sitting with a lot of high major offers, it doesn’t make sense why a downhill point guard with good instincts, great speed and the ability to get in the paint and score at will isn’t coveted by more and more programs, especially considering he has played and produced against some of the best guards in the country in the WCAC the past two seasons. Expect a big senior season from him, and wherever he chooses will get a stud because he’s only got better every time I’ve personally seen him.
Immanuel Quickley | 6’4” PG | Team BBC
Quickley is widely considered one of the best point guards in the country in the 2018 class, and he showed why with some of the best performances of anyone in the tournament, including a 42 point outing in their final game against D1 Minnesota. He’s known as a pass first point guard with tremendous feel, but he showed that he’s capable of being an efficient go-to scorer. He averaged 25.8 points per game, scoring 20 or more in five of his six games, and he shot an impressive 52% from the field and 52% from deep. He’s also a good rebounder for his position, and by showing that he can be a scoring and facilitating threat at the point guard position bolds well for him moving forward.
Tyree Pickron | 6’3” WG | K-Low Elite 17U
There aren’t many true two guards out there anymore, as many want to become a combo or a point guard, but Pickron showed this past week that he has no problem being a catch-and-shoot deep ball threat. He torched nets with his quick release, pretty form and ability to heat up quickly. One thing’s for sure, you aren’t out of a game as long as he’s coming off pin downs.
Tyson Walker | 5’10” PG | NE Playaz 17U
I’m back-and-forth on small guards, but Walker has that “it” factor that makes him so tough to guard and a guy that you can’t really take out of the game. He’s lightning quick both laterally and with his first step, is a tough shot maker both off the catch and off the bounce and he has great vision when he gets in the lane and for drive-and-kick opportunities. The biggest thing is his toughness and swagger. He seems to have that napoleonic complex, where he’s always trying to prove himself and plays with a lot of toughness on both ends.
Calvin Wishart | 6’1” PG | D1 Minnesota 17U
This guy may not look the part, but he can flat out get it done! In D1’s victory over Loaded VA on Thursday, he controlled the tempo, made shots from all three levels and when they needed a play to be made down the stretch he stepped up and got it done. He finished that game with 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field and 4-for-6 from deep. He played pretty steady throughout the event, averaging 13 points, 3.7 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game, and showed that he can hang with bigger, more athletic guards with his toughness and high IQ.
Ian Krishnan | 6’2” WG | District Basketball Club 17U
He may not be the best known prospect on this team, but he’s had a great July and going into his prep season at Proctor Academy his confidence has to be at an all time high. Krishnan is a floor stretching two guard with deep range and above average athleticism, and when he heats up he can really stroke it from deep. In their win over New World VA, Krishnan was 12-for-12 from the field and 8-for-8 from deep, and that performance among others allowed him to pick up his first offer from Norfolk State University.
Devon Dotson | 6’1” PG | SC Supreme 17U
I’ve always been a huge fan of Dotson, you can check his archives on Prep Hoops if you don’t believe me, but he stood out on his first tournament in Adidas (he usually plays with Team Charlotte on the Under Armour Circuit). While Zion Williamson may be one of the biggest household names in high school, Dotson looked like the best player on the court in many of their games and the stats tell that. He finished the event averaging 22 points and 8 rebounds a game at the point guard position, and the only game where he didn’t score at least 20, he still bested Immanuel Quickley of Team BBC, who’s ranked higher than Dotson in almost every national rankings.