Prospect Update: Easton Darling (2020)
Winterset guard Easton Darling is a guy who can do a little bit of everything from the guard spot.
The 6-foot rising junior mixes skill and athleticism, and has used those two fundamental pieces of his game to launch himself into a spring and summer of continued development.
“I’ve gotten a lot better at playing down in the post and going up against smaller guards down there. And I’ve been working on my shooting and getting my shot more consistent, and just getting quicker defensively,” said Darling.
A top player in Iowa’s class of 2020, Darling has already enjoyed a prolific career at Winterset, but now, an upperclassmen, he says things will be a little bit different the next two seasons.
“I’ve always been the younger guy, but I’ll be in more of a leadership role now. I’ll need to step in a just lead those inexperienced guys,” said Darling, who averaged 17 points per game last season.
“We’re going to be really small, we’ll look to run a lot. We’ll have a lot of inexperienced players, but they’ll do some key things for us.”
Darling has spent his spring and summer playing and improving with one of the state’s best AAU teams, Martin Brothers 16U. They’ll be down in Las Vegas this weekend for the final tournament of the year.
“This spring and summer has been pretty fun, we’ve been winning a lot of games. Our team is really athletic, so we can get up and down and run a lot. It’s been a fun summer,” said Darling.
“We’re just hoping to get down (to Las Vegas) and turn some heads, and get to the championship and win the thing.”
Still with two years left to rack up some scholarship offers, Darling is a guy who’s just seeing interest come in right now; a lot of it, from a wide-range of schools.
“I’ve been getting texts from a few coaches; Upper Iowa, Bemidji State, Central Missouri has been to a lot of my games. Central Michigan wants me to go to their elite camp, so does Wayne State. I’ve talked to South Dakota a little bit,” said Darling. “I’m enjoying it all.”
Easton Darling is ranked by Prep Hoops as a top 10 prospect in his class. To see the full ranking of Iowa’s 2020 class, click here.