Winter Climbers: Class of 2020 Part V
The natural curvature of the basketball Earth just began to rotate our impending playoffs into view. It is that time when the upper limb of the playoff sun appears above the horizon as a result of the diurnal rotation of…it is a sunrise metaphor. Deal with it.
Time to revisit the Class of 2020 rankings and adjust to account for the player’s growth and stagnation. Also, 23 new players splashed into the pool.
If you want to look at the complete rankings, smash here.
Climbers are either players previously undervalued, unseen, or possibly players that developed their game in the last few months. These players represent the four biggest climbers (LEFT-new rank, RIGHT- spots climbed upward).
#11 Andersson Garcia ⇑2
Andersson is the fifth Hamilton Heights Christian Academy junior in the rankings. Read that sentence again. Four HHCA players exist in the top 10 and Andersson is just a single spot outside of that top ten now. A Domincan by birth, Garcia is blessed with 6-foot-7 size and wing feet. He has a lot of basketball understanding to grasp. His passing is solid and court vision is good with the ball. There are problems with his basketball mind in that he clearly grew up around a much slower, or at least less efficient game devoid of the structure he now witnesses weekly. Minds can grow faster than bodies at his age. Garcia has a strong chance at playing D1 basketball. East Tennessee State and Tennessee State offered him summer 2018.
#92 Ty Hurst ⇑1
Carter High boasts a great scorer and his name is Ty Hurst. Hurst changes floors faster than Bridgestone Arena between the Nashville Predators and Taylor Swift. In Ty’s case he is dashing from defense to offense or back again.
Speed is the foundation of his entire game. Speed translates very favorably to the next level. His scoring and overall contributions will not dip much as the level rises because Ty is accustomed to playing effectively fast.
Carter High gets over 16 ppg a night from The Gunslinger.
#27 Javonte Platt ⇑1
Always an open floor prodigy, Javonte “J.J” Platt is blossoming into a complete player. Platt’s bounce is ridiculous and that he pairs it well with his confident slashes makes him a nightmarish mark.
Javonte climbed just the single spot as much of the top 30 remained relatively stagnant. Platt playing next to 2020’s best prospect Keon Johnson is helping him compete at high speeds better.
High speeds have always been Platt’s preference, but with Stewarts Creek he occasionally found his option was score or force a shot. Now he can score or find Keon. Few players in the country are better at catching passes than a skyward Keon Johnson.
AAU season, still a couple of months away for state hopefuls Webb, will be a great test of Platt’s development and maturity as a player. He scores so often that recruiters will wonder if he is ok playing “pure point guard” and 17u will be his showcase.
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