Prospect Spotlight: Blaize Darling Jr. (2019)
Blaize Darling Jr. arrived in the United States from the Bahamas last year with Lake Mary Prep.
The 2019 guard is a two-sport athlete for the Griffins. He set a school record with a 44-point performance in a win over Halifax on Nov. 30. He also had 17 rebounds and 12 assists in that game.
He says he’s learned to be more involved in the game on both ends of the court. Darling Jr. calls his defense his specialty and his ability to control the offensive tempo.
He went to states as a sophomore for track, which was his first year participating in the sport.
Basketball started for Darling Jr. in 2008 but he says he pursued it fully in 2014.
As for his goals for this season, this is what he said.
“My expectations for this season at Lake Mary Preparatory are for us to win our district and advance to the regional level then aim for states,” Darling Jr. told Prep Hoops Florida. “But other than those goals, also for us to just come together and make each other better players in the long run by learning from each other’s mistakes and accomplishments no matter the outcome of this season.”
This summer, Darling Jr. played for Raptors Elite under coaches Corey Sawyer Sr. and Alex Marshall.
“This past season went extremely great, with our team having a winning record and defeating Gauntlet teams and getting the exposure needed to get well known in Florida,” he said. “This was where I assisted my team with the win with 38 points including 8 3-pointers. This past summer was my first time playing with them coming from the Bahamas to the United States the previous school year.”
No offers or interest have come yet for Darling Jr. but you can bet the junior guard has put his name on the map. At 6’1″, 155 lbs., he is an emerging talent on both ends of the floor.
Darling Jr. says there is always room for improvement, but he pointed to his strengths as his defense, attack to the rim, catch and shoot ability and passing. He wants to continue to improve at creating his own shot and with his stop and pop in transition.
This will be an instrumental summer for Darling Jr. who is on his way up since coming to the states. There is a reason kids come to the U.S. to play ball and Darling Jr. is helping Lake Mary Prep be a team to watch in Class 3A.