Louisiana 2020 Rankings: Guard Breakdown
Reece Beekman 6’2 Scotlandville
Beekman so far this year has been the perfect 2nd option for Scotlandville in Javonte Smart’s senior season. Beekman is a fantastic defender and is often relied upon to guard the other team’s best player. He can also be responsible for shouldering the load scoring, and has been the team’s leading scorer on multiple occasions. I am looking forward to seeing him next season when he fully takes the reins as team’s best player.
Antonio Warren 6’3 McDonogh 35
Warren has had a big year, and for many parts of the season he was the best player for a team that has made the 2nd round in 4A, which is pretty rare for a sophomore. He has a ton of size for the position, and plays with a high motor. He is coming around as a shooter, but he is still primarily used as a slasher.
Michael Thomas 6’1 Hamilton Christian
Thomas has had a huge year for Hamilton Christian, and has stepped up big for them this year after a lot of talent graduated from last year’s squad. He now leads the team in assists, rebounds, steal, and blocks, and is second on the team in points. That should tell you what you need to know about how hard he plays and how athletic he is that he is leading the team in rebounding at just 6’1. He plays with a very high IQ, but I would like to see him cut down on the turnovers going forward. He still has a 2:1 A/TO ratio, but is averaging 3 TO per game.
Jayshun Miller 6’0 Homer
Miller plays for a pretty small school in north Louisiana, so if you haven’t heard of him before I can’t really blame you, but he can flat out put the ball in the bucket. He is a capable scorer at all three levels, but looks his best when he is attacking the basket. He is continuing to drop some weight and get into better shape, but he has had some big games lately, including going for 35 in their final regular season win and 26 in the first round of the playoffs.
Jahmal Byers 5’10 Ville Platte
Byers has a bit of an old school point guard game. He isn’t necessarily trying to score every time down the court, but is always looking to get others involved. He doesn’t have a great shot from the outside, but is always looking to attack the paint and cause a help situation so that he can facilitate to the open man.