Freshmen to watch: Jaylen Hall from DeMatha Catholic
Jaylen Hall, 6’0″, PG, 2021. DeMatha Stags HS. Hyattsville, MD.
Grassroots Team: Team Durant
This summer Jaylen played in the DeMatha Summer League as a incoming freshmen. He immediately caught our with his quickness, strong frame, composure, toughness & demeanor. He has a great IQ with superb court vision. Jaylen is a true PG who gets downhill very fast & in the lane at will. He plays & carries himself way beyond his years. Jaylen has inherited excellent genetics from his father, Henry Hall who was an All Met basketball player for Parkdale HS & played for D1 UTEP in college. Henry has a had a tremendous influence to Jaylen on & off the court. Henry & Jaylen were frequent visitors to nearby DeMatha Catholic since Jaylen was 5 years old & they developed a bond with DeMatha Head Coach Mike Jones..Since his 1st visit to DeMatha, Jaylen realized it wold be his future high school team for him 9 years into the future & he never once wavered. During his middle school years Jaylen was consistently ranked in the 2021 rankings, but is now time for his next step in his journey into the best competition nationally at the high school level at DeMatha HS. We visited with Jaylen last week at DeMatha & he has grown 2 plus inches since summer & he is on the brink of going over his current height of 6’0″. We are amazed at his wingspan which is over 6’8″ & we are looking forward to watching Jaylen play more in the preseason & regular season. While DeMatha’s schedule is not finalized we do know they will be playing in the DC / Baltimore Catholic High School Challenge at UMBC featuring 4 games with 7 powerhouse teams with national ranking potential on Demeber 2. Prep Hoops will be in attendance with probably all 3 of our DC/ MD staff.
While some experts say the term upside applies to Jaylen, we firmly believe he is step above upside. He knows exactly where he wants to go in life & basketball. Jaylen could be one of the most mature freshmen we have seen & we use the term Jaylen gets it, or he has the IT factor. He has IT on & off the court & in my opinion he is a legit D1 recruit with high major potential. This summer Jaylen had a great summer for Team Durant 14U averaging 15 points & 7 assists, numerous steals, & many intangibles. Additionally, Jaylen was moved up to Team Durant 15U for several long stints & played at a high level. At the DeMatha BSN Jaylen competed against many juniors & seniors & displayed his IQ was which off the charts for a player much older. Jaylen’s floor game was outstanding & he began BSN play feeling his new teammates out. He kept getting better during the summer exhibiting his outstanding ball handling & facilitation skills. Jaylen can handle the ball with both hands at a very high level & showed his speed, acceleration & explosiveness with blow byes in the full & half court settings. He continually broke down the defense & getting past his defenders with dribble penetration going the the rim. Jaylen never seemed rushed, but his decisions were very quick & he made some nifty drop offs, kick outs & alley oops for FG conversions when he was in rim attacking mode. He proved beyond any reasonable doubt that he can make any pass on or off the dribble with great precision from anywhere on the court. As the summer progressed Jaylen displayed excellent shot mechanics from all levels & very deep range beyond the college 3 point line. In all facets of basketball Jaylen utilizes his tremendous wingspan for rebounds, deflections & steals. He has superb instincts & reactions to the ball which are very quick. We immediately picked up that Jaylen sees plays before they happen & that he is a very special player in every phase of basketball.
While we chatted with Jaylen extensively at DeMatha, & we asked Jaylen about his ball handling & offensive skills & he said, “I understand my role as a true PG very well & what DeMatha & Coach Jones wants me to provide for our team. My ball handling skills are very good. My go to move is the between the legs crossover, stop n go, & the dribble snatch (step back). I like to use a double cross over & then attack the rim.” His dribble moves are very compact, precise & quick. His explosion & acceleration is excellent from a stop n go dribble move, or from a standstill where he gets into top gear very very fast. Jaylen can play with a beautiful change of pace, & pull defenders close to him, then blow past them.
We asked Jaylen to describe how he perceives his style of play & he said, “I know I have excellent court vision which includes my peripheral. My dad & Coach Jones have been a huge influence in my life & basketball. They have shown me how to play winning basketball, the fundamentals, and how a true PG needs to play. My dad says some my instincts such as my court vision, and seeing plays before the develop are things I was born with. They came from my dad & mom who know basketball inside out. Dad is tough, but he is very caring & great father, and I have a tremendous mom.”During the summer we were very impressed with Jaylen’s shot mechanics & he said, “I can shoot very well & I consider myself a knock down shooter from 3 which I can shoot on & off the dribble from anywhere. My range is very deep, but I do not settle. I read the defense ,scan my progressions, & I can make very quick decisions. My main priority is to create ball movement, run our offense & get my teammates involved.” Jaylen can score very well from all 3 levels if needs to. This summer he played both 15 & U and 14U for Team Durant. In Las Vegas playing for Team Durant 14U in the National Fab 48 Tournament, Jaylen played off guard. He averaged over 2o points a game & was a nightmare for opponents with his very diverse & advanced scoring & basketball skills. In big games great players step up their game, & before the Fab 48 we already realized Jaylen had this trait.
Next up is defense, & in our opinion Jaylen is an elite defender who plays with high intensity /motor the entire game. He possesses excellent footwork, lateral movement & big time toughness. Jaylen is well aware of his super long wingspan & he knows how to use it & adds,” I take great pride in my defense & my goals is to be the most complete player I can be. I play defense with great intensity & consider myself as a lock down defender & ball hawk. My wingspan is 6’8″ the last time it was measured & I use it to get steals, rebounds, & deflections.”Jaylen is ultra quick to loose balls & can snatch rebounds out of mid air with his great ball reactions. We really like his toughness, focus & his ability to go under screens, and fight thru picks. Almost every time Jaylen wins the 50/50 balls.
It is very obvious Jaylen has a great passion for basketball & thrives on competition. He is continually workings to improve his game & works out 6-7 days a week. Jaylen trains at DeMatha with Coach Toby & he has his on Personal Trainer, Kevin Lancaster. He works on both sides of the ball, & anything basketball related in his workouts. Over the summer Jaylen added dunking on a consistent level to his arsenal. He adds, “I attribute my explosion & vertical to running & plyos & flexibility. I run 400 meters 4 times in a row, with very short breaks in between. This summer & early fall I ran the 400 in under 60 seconds. Plyos really help me. I jump rope, use resistance bands, perform hop jumps, power skips & other plyos a few times during the week. We perform flexibility before & after workouts at DeMatha & in my workouts with Mr. Lancaster.” We gave Jaylen some simple advice, just keep on doing what you are doing & keep on keeping on.
In the classroom Jaylen is a very good student. DeMatha will not play their players if they are not meeting academic standards. DeMatha & the WCAC pride themselves on great academics & conduct code during in school & during games. We firmly believe Jaylen will excel on & off the court during his next 4 years at DeMatha. He receives great academics & structure at DeMatha & home. Jaylen is very close to his mom & dad who he names as role models in addition to Coach Jones. Jaylen is protected to grow 3 or more inches, but if does not we believe he will maintain his D1 high major potential. We do not want to place any player under pressure with expectations like these, but Jaylen can handle it, & in fact if anything it will add to his very, very high motivation. Like his dad who achieved 1st Team All Met in the late 80s, Jaylen is an All Met /All State waiting to happen.
This season we will be providing great coverage for DeMatha & the WCAC. We have predicted a 4 top tier teams in the WCAC who have the potential to win the conference & achieve a top 25 national rankings which are in no order: DeMatha, Gonzaga, Paul VI, & St. Johns. We will be providing DeMatha & Gonzaga team previews in the near future in addition to St. Mary Ryken. SMR & Bishop O’Connell are very dangerous teams in the DC/DMV with great potential to be ranked in the DC DMV top 10 teams. It is unknown at this time if Jaylen will play on the varsity or JV this coming season on of one the deepest teams in DMV & perhaps nationally. Possibly the best prediction would predict is that Jaylen will play on both varsity & JV. No matter which team he plays for we will be scouting Jaylen the DeMatha JV & Varsity the entire 2017/18 season.