Prospect Spotlight: Kian Scroggins (2020)

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A rising player in Kansas City’s 2020 class, Raymore-Peculiar 2020 forward Kian Scroggins brings good size and a versatile, well-rounded skill set to the floor.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He says he enjoys competing, likes to shoot the ball from the outside and mix in a dunk or two.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">I can fairly easily score the basketball but my main focus is to continue to get better on the defensive side,” he says.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Scroggins spent the past offseason competing for Yanders Law out of Springfield and says the experience helped prepare him for the upcoming season and beyind.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They are a great organization and Rob Yanders was a phenomenal leader and coach outside and inside of basketball,” Scroggins said. “ He prepared me well I think, he made me a more physical player, and just a better overall player.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Scroggins says he will be playing for KC Run GMC this upcoming offseason. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A left hander, Scroggins says he spent much of the offseason focused on improving his right hand.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I did not never want to use it but now I love going right and can go either way without taking difficult left handed shots,” he says.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Raymore-Peculiar features a young team, but have a lot of the pieces necessary to be successful. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We are a young experienced team, we know we it takes to win and we have what it takes to win, people don't talk about Ray-Pec I think and there minds will change soon, they'll stop sleeping,” Scroggins said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A fan of LeBron James, Scroggins says he tries to take elements from the Lakers’ star’s game and make them his own.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“James, he's easily arguably the best player ever, but all aside from that, he is a very great overall player, he likes to do it all, he is a great leader and mentor and that's what I think is great in a competitor, he works so hard when no one is looking, great integrity, and does a lot of good stuff outside of basketball like volunteering, donating, all the stuff,” Scroggins said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Scroggins says the biggest influence on his basketball career has been his older brother, Dante Scroggins who played at Sedalia Smith-Cotton and now plays at MidAmerica Nazarene in Olathe, Kan.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“He can score the ball pretty well but he takes defense very seriously,” Scroggins said. “What I implemented to my game was going straight up down low on defense if my man catches the ball, it helps and will continue to help throughout my career.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Although he currently does not hold any offers, Scroggins has talked to several college programs, including Creighton, Oregon State, Northwestern Louisiana, Drake University, SEMO and others.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>