Top Tucson Players
In my opinion, Tucson is underrated and has some extremely talented players of their own. While Tucson does not have close to the population of Phoenix, they do have some players that can more than hold their own. Here are the top Tucson players:
Evan Nelson (Salpointe 2020):
Nelson is one of the top players in the entire class of 2020. He has no obvious holes in his game. He is a scoring machine, being able to shoot the deep ball with consistency and being able to finish at the basket. Defensively, he is quick, smart, and able to disrupt shots. Nelson stands out to me because of how smart he is, you can really tell that he has a high basketball IQ.
Majok Deng (Salpointe 2019):
Majok is a straight up problem with opposing teams. How do you stop him from scoring? He is able to shoot the ball from mid-range and deep, while also being able to bully his way into the paint at ease due to his great size and strength. As Deng has put on more muscle, it is noticeable that he does not as athletic as he once was but it still gets the job done by all means.
Jackson Ruai (Amphi 2019):
Jackson is a defensive nightmare for his opponents. He is fast, smart, determined, and has incredibly long arms. He has to be one of the best perimeter defenders in the entire state of Arizona. Even if you manage to get past him, you are in danger of ending up on his highlight tape due to his chase down block-ability.
JT Elder (Cienega 2021):
I firmly believe JT is about to have a huge break out season and he will be the next big name player in Tucson and the class of 2021. He is still a bit of an unknown but he surely will not be after this season. He had a great summer/preseason with Powerhouse Dynasty 15U. Look out for JT Elder in the 2018-2019 season.
Khalid Whitaker (Flowing Wells 2020):
Khalid is one of the best scorers in Tucson, maybe the state. This guy can hit the three ball from way down town, he has great range on his shot and a very quick release. He is also very fast and has solid handles, allowing him to get past defenders. Once he is in the paint, Whitaker has a combination of moves he can use to allow himself to score the ball, most notably his very solid floater.
Julian Molina (Mountain View 2019):
I fully expect Julian to score near 20 points per game this season and attract some heavy college interest. Now that the ball will be in his hands most of the time, I am very excited to see what he can do with it. He has always been a great scorer but I really appreciate his defensive efforts. You can tell that he is a player that takes great pride in playing defense and stopping his match-up.