Prospect Spotlight: Jake Layman (2021)
Plenty of sophomores have been enjoying breakout seasons through the first month of their 2018-19 campaigns, Sergeant Bluff-Luton forward Jake Layman is one of the biggest surprises.
The 6-foot-7 prospect is averaging 11.3 points on some very efficient 65/71/85 (FG%, 3FG%, FT%) shooting clips through four games. It’s his ability to score from all over the floor that’s been the biggest plus for Layman and the Warriors.
“The last couple of years and this last summer, I really improve on driving to the rack and being a lot more strong and getting offensive rebounds,” he said. “And I always felt like 3-point shooting was one of my stronger skill-sets.”
As a freshman with the Warriors, Layman played in all 25 games for a Sergeant Bluff-Luton team that advanced the 3A state tourney. This season, even though he’s still just an underclassmen, he’s taking a leadership role seriously.
“I think one of the roles I’ve had to step into is more of a leadership role, especially since we had two seniors graduate last season that were big leaders,” said Layman. “So, I’ve been talking more and trying to be more of a leader.”
Layman made big strides this past summer while playing with South Dakota Attack 15U, it was his first season playing with the program after several years of running with Kingdom Hoops. He says SDA will be his team for 16U as well.
That’s a 16U spring and summer where the versatile and skilled 6’7 wing could see a big bump in recruitment.
“I’m not trying to put a limit or a specific goal on my recruitment, but I do want to get as good as I possibly can,” said Layman. “I would like to eventually play college basketball, and it’ll all depend on my junior and season year, obviously.”