Prospect Spotlight: Kenny Dye (2018)
Over the past few years Jacksonville, NC has been home to quite a few of what we would call ‘‘ under the radar’’ prospects. The Class of 2016 featured Bobby Grubbs, Matt Elmore and Robert Colon, while the 2017 class was led by Zach Hobbs who is currently playing at Elizabeth City State University. The majority of the players mentioned only had 1 scholarship offer and have all made great impacts to their college teams in their freshmen and or sophomore season. Well this season, once again there is another player in the town of Jacksonville, NC that is flying under the radar and will be a very nice pickup for a college program.
Kenny Dye has played a high amount of minutes on the varsity level for all four years so he is truly a veteran of the game. He has a very high IQ for the game which shows in how well he runs the show for the Northside High School squad. His assist numbers outweigh his turnovers by a nice amount and he is a smart defender that doesn’t pick up silly fouls by reaching but instead slides his feet to beat his opponents to spots. Although he can facilitate well, it would be foolish to overlook his ability to score the ball, he gets into the paint when he wants and knocks down the midrange shot efficiently. Just recently he went for 37 points in the Onslow County Classic against crosstown rival Jacksonville HS, with 22 of those 37 coming in the 3rd quarter.
Now this is where things get confusing, at this point in time he has no scholarship offers, not one single offer. It’s baffling because he has the size, skillset, IQ, and coachability that college programs love as well as being a good student academically. He’s picked up interest from VMI, Fayetteville State, Lenoir Rhyne and a few other programs, the question now is who will go ahead and offer him. Whatever school that ends up signing this young man will not only be getting an outstanding player but an even better person.