Battle of the Best: Top Prospects (2019s)
This weekend, Southfield A&T hosted the Battle of the Best Super Saturday tournament. The day featured an 8th grade all-star type game, then 4 matchups between some of Michigan’s top teams: East English vs Chandler Park, Cass Tech vs Flint Hamady, U of D Jesuit vs Flint Beecher and Hazel Park vs DEPSA. Here are some of the top 2019 prospects from the day:
Kalil Whitehead (Cass Tech)
Whitehead has been killing it this season, generating some legitimate buzz surrounding his recruitment. The 6’6″ forward has a nice inside-out game, of which he displayed in Cass Tech’s victory of Flint Hamady. It seems like Whitehead is good for at least 1 or 2 alley-oop finishes a game. He gets off the ground well, which also helps him as a rebounder. What makes Whitehead such an interesting prospect is his ability to hit the three ball in addition to the damage he does in the paint. He has a nice shot and he looks comfortable firing from deep – in this game there was a sequence where he hit 3 threes within a matter of minutes. Whitehead is trending towards D1, don’t be surprised if he picks up an offer before it’s all said and done.
Brian Taylor (DEPSA)
Taylor is a promising prospect who played well in DEPSA’s loss to Hazel Park. At 6’6″, he has the ideal frame to play the wing and any level. Taylor has played on a DEPSA squad loaded with D1 prospects, so he’s shown he can be effective as a role player. In this game, as well as DEPSA’s game against Belleville earlier in the season, he showed an ability to crash the glass and use his height/athleticism to be an effective rebounder. Taylor has a smooth shot and looks comfortable shooting the three ball – he made a pair of treys in the game against Hazel Park.
Andre Bradford (Chandler Park)
Bradford was a bright spot in Chandler Park’s blowout loss to East English. At 6’3″, he has decent size for the guard spot. He’s fast and quick with a good handle, something of which he uses to penetrate and get to the rack. He does a good job creating offense off the dribble, whether that be for him or his teammates. In this game, he showed a tendency to get to the rim, though he did make a couple jumpers. I saw him this summer running up an age group with The Family 17u – he did more three point shooting then, so he’s capable of doing both. Bradford’s biggest area for development will be in the weight room, as he’s very thin right now. He’s a player to keep an eye on over the course of the next year.
Tariq Shepherd (East English)
Shepherd has held a D1 offer for a few months now – he added another following East English’s victory over Chandler Park. Shepherd is a fantastic shooter and can put up points in a hurry if he gets hot. In addition to his shooting, he’s super fast and does a great job pushing the action in transition. Though Shepherd is a bit undersized, he’s proven himself over and over again against the top competition. It will be interesting to see how he performs once Michigan signee Dave Dejulius graduates and Shepherd becomes the top option for East English. For now, however, he will look to continue being proficient as the number two option.
Ali Brewster (Flint Hamady)
The southpaw had a solid game in Hamady’s loss to Cass Tech. He showed an ability to score from all three levels, as well as hit from the free throw line at a solid rate. At 5’11”, he’s a bit undersized, but he makes up for it with above average athleticism. Brewster has been having a solid year for Hamady so far as he’s averaging around 18 points per game. He’ll be a player to keep an eye on going forward.