Being Under-Recruited in the HoopState
North Carolina is known by many as the HoopState. Recruiting guru’s, video guys, newspapers, and college coaches call this state the HoopState because of the talent that has been produced throughout the past. Michael Jordan grew up in Wilmington, North…
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Continue ReadingNorth Carolina is known by many as the HoopState. Recruiting guru’s, video guys, newspapers, and college coaches call this state the HoopState because of the talent that has been produced throughout the past. Michael Jordan grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina and many consider him The G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All-Time).
Ben BrysonA lot of talent from North Carolina doesn’t always stay in state, a prime example is Jalen Harris (Arkansas), Bam Adebayo (Kentucky), John Wall (Kentucky), are just a few from recent years.
The Charlotte area and east are recruited heavily, but not very often are players from the western part of the state recruited as Division II level players, much less Division I. People will say that the talent level these recruits are playing in the mountains is not as strong as the rest of the state, I will give them that but talent is talent. Christ School is recruited at a high level because they play a national schedule and bring in top-50 caliber players.
A perfect example that is going on right now is North Buncombe High School senior Ren Dyer. One of the most explosive athletes that I have covered, he was not much of a shooter during his junior campaign, but he put in the work over the summer and now is a legitimate threat from beyond the three-point line. He has had games of 53, 38, 32 and 35 points over his last four games. He scored the 53 against Freedom High School who just lost to perennial national power Greensboro Day by 6 points and feature Citadel signee Fletcher Abee. I am not knocking anyone by saying this, Abee is one of the best shooters in this state.
West Henderson guard Ben Bryson does have an offer from the Division I level, as Tennessee Tech offered over the summer. This kid is without a doubt a Division I player and in my opinion is also being under-recruited. He is a coach’s son and is fundamentally sound and has one of the highest basketball IQ’s I have been around. He can shoot if from deep and does a great job of creating space.
Another example is Devin and D’Angelo Elliott at Carolina Day School. D’Angelo is a 6-foot-3 shooting guard/wing who can really get hot from deep and Devin is a 6-foot-1 point guard who is another explosive guard who has seen his recruitment slip because of playing in the mountains. Between the two of these players, only one offer for D’Angelo from Division III Dean College.
College coaches need to be in the mountains and take a look at some of the talent that is located here. Some other names of guys that can play at the next level are Raishaun Brown (Asheville Christian), Jake Smith (Enka), Ben Beeker (Hendersonville).