Prospect Spotlight: Jayden Houston (2021)
There’s always new talent to be discovered in the spring and summer, and this past weekend the best fresh face we saw was Davenport North guard Jayden Houston.
A 6-foot slasher, Houston plays his grassroots ball with Quad City Elite 15U, one of the Midwest’s best teams. He brings a certain tenacity and toughness to the squad, and his skill-set is refined for such a young player. But for right now, Houston’s mostly focused on simply getting better.
“I think I do a good job driving and getting to the hoop, but I got a lot of things I need to work on, like ball-handling and working on my shooting and stuff like that,” he said. “All that stuff, it’ll come, I train a lot, and there’s a lot of stuff I need to work on.”
He was showcasing an adept jumper and his strongest ability was getting to the rim. It’s still unclear whether Houston might be a point guard or an off guard down the road; for now, he’s a versatile threat that can hurt you in a variety of ways.
“I think I can play anything; point guard, shooting guard, and I can play some three for my high school team,” said Houston. “Mainly, right now, I’m more of a shooting guard.”
Houston was playing up a grade with the sophomore team last season. That was a good experience, and it’s clear that the future of the Wildcats is bright.
“We had a good season overall, I think we only lost three games. We all got along well together,” said Houston.
“My coach told me that I’d probably be playing up with varsity next year. I’m hoping to contribute a lot to the team, I’m hoping to get more vocal and be more of a leader.”
First, though, he’s got two big live period weekends ahead of him with Quad City Elite. They’ll be in Milwaukee this weekend for the Summer Jam, and in Overland Park, Kansas the last weekend in July.
It’s a bit early for most of the class of 2021’s recruitment to start, and instead of concerning himself with what college coaches might be watching him, Houston is focused on improvement.
“We have a lot of good players on that team, a lot of talent. We’ve been playing good, but there’s still a lot of things we want to work on,” said Houston.
“I have a lot of goals, I’m in the gym every day trying to get better in general. These next two tournaments, we’re trying to win them both. And I’m just trying to be the best I can be.”