DMV Roundtable: Prospect Who Had The Best Summer, Earl Timberlake + Hunter Dickinson Recruitment, Top 250
A new weekly theme on Prep Hoops MD will be a roundtable article done by its three writers. These roundtables will consist of topics not only in the high school season in the DMV, but also will touch on DMV prospects who are already at the next level.
For this week’s edition, prospects who experienced the most productive summers, Earl Timberlake and Hunter Dickinson’s recruitment and last year’s Top 250 Expo are the topics of conversation.
1. Which prospect has had the most productive summer in the DMV?
Giacubeno: There were plenty of prospects in the area who capitalized off of the new recruiting calendar this summer. My choice for this question is Earl Timberlake. Timberlake was dominant throughout the DMV Live event in June, which caught the eye of the North Carolina coaching staff enough to offer the 6-foot-6 southpaw. His high level of play carried over into Peach Jam as he averaged 19.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists throughout the five games. Timberlake announced his final seven schools at the end of July. Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Providence, Miami, Alabama, Seton Hall and South Carolina all made the cut.
Ayalew: When you talk about productivity, the name Henry Coleman comes to mind instantly. He’s not quite from the DMV being based out of Richmond, but for the sake of this discussion, he’s in close enough proximity. Per Open Look Analytics, Coleman had the highest offensive rating (127.4) among all prospects playing for sneaker circuit teams throughout DC, Maryland and Virginia. Coleman was a walking double-double on the Adidas Gauntlet for Team Loaded Virginia. He added offers from the likes of Duke and Michigan prior to cutting his list.
Wilson: There are many guys that could have fit the bill for this question but one guy certainly comes to mind and that is 2020 Andre Screen of St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes and DC Premier. With the departure of Charles Thompson at SSSA due to graduation, we knew Screen’s role would pick up substantially down low and that was immediately noticed at Capitol Hoops Summer League where he averaged 12.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Schools really began to take notice of Screen at the two DMV Live Periods where he showed how dominant he can be with scoring the ball around the rim, rebound the ball on both ends and alter shots on defense. With over 22 offers now, before the summer he only had a hand full to begin with.
2. Earl Timberlake and Hunter Dickinson are two of the most coveted prospects in the country. Timberlake will take an official to Pittsburgh this coming weekend. Where do you feel like he fits best? Where does Dickinson fit best?
Giacubeno: Timberlake is a wing that can guard or play multiple positions. That in itself will give him a great chance of fitting in pretty much any system he chooses. It’s hard to ignore everything that comes with North Carolina. With South Carolina’s head coach Frank Martin, Timberlake would fit right in with the tough-nosed mentality that’s needed to play in his system. Providence has the most history with Timberlake. The Friars offers back in 2017 and I’d assume they would build around Timberlake’s ability and versatility. If Timberlake is looking to be the guy, Providence looks to be the best choice, but if he wants to win a championship, expect him to pick the Tar Heels.
Dickinson is an old school seven-footer who can control a game with his paint presence. Dickinson also received an offer from Roy Williams back in June and resembles many of his bigs that made them a top contender for a national championship. Purdue is known for their development of bigs with playing styles similar to Dickinson. When talking about best fit, I think the Tar Heels and Boilermakers are at the top, but I’ll also keep an eye on Louisville, as they’ve been aggressive in their pursuit of Dickinson.
Ayalew: Timberlake has several good options to choose from, and it will be interesting to see where he goes, but I honestly think he would fit in best at South Carolina. He has a blue-collar work ethic and I think this fits right in with the principles of Frank Martin. Furthermore, I think his physical style of play corresponds with that of the Gamecocks. You can make arguments for why he fits in at other schools, but I simply believe that Timberlake’s talents would be best suited at South Carolina.
Wilson: Earl Timberlake recently cut his list to a final seven of UNC, Alabama, Miami, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Providence and South Carolina and as of right now I do not think there is a clear cut favorite. I know he has mentioned that he loves the toughness that head coach Frank Martin brings to the sidelines for the South Carolina Gamecocks and with the toughness that Earl brings to the court, I can see USC being a great fit for him. Providence has been recruiting Earl for maybe the longest and I can definitely see him thriving from day one in Ed Cooley’s system. Timberlake is taking an official visit to Pittsburgh this weekend and second year head coach, Jeff Capel, found a gem in sophomore Xavier Johnson who is from the DMV which could ultimately help the ACC bunch in recruiting Earl to the Panthers.
To be honest, I believe all three of those schools would be tremendous for Earl. They are all schools that do not get the top tier talent year in and year out which I think can ultimately benefit Earl in the long run.
At the end of the day, whoever lands Timberlake’s services is getting a game changer on both ends of the floor that should see minutes on the court from day 1 he steps foot on campus.
Hunter Dickinson is another senior at DeMatha who recently cut his list to seven schools that included UNC, Florida State, Notre Dame, Purdue, Louisville, Providence and Michigan.
To me, I see Purdue and Notre Dame as the two schools to beat here. I will start with the Boilermakers. Purdue always develop good big men, always seem to have one used heavily in their system and I can easily see Dickinson being the next guy to do that for the Big 10 bunch.
For Notre Dame, they have a great connection to the DMV as Mike Brey went to DeMatha where Dickinson currently goes and Brey and his staff have recruited the DMV well as I could see Hunter being the next guy to follow some of his DMV peers.
If there is a dark horse school to make a late run at the seven footer, I would pick North Carolina to be that school. Dickinson is a old school big that North Carolina usually has had great success with.
Similar to Earl, it is tough to gauge where his recruitment stands but as I said, all schools do well developing big men so whichever one of the schools he picks, that program is getting an old fashioned big that will be dominant on the block and all around in the low post and one of the best big men that can pass the ball in the 2020 class.
3. We are less than 30 days from the MD Top 250. Going through your archives from last September’s event, who took advantage of that stage most and had it transition into a successful high school season?
Giacubeno: I’m going with David Brown III for this one. There were a handful of players that stood out at last year’s event and carried that momentum into their high school seasons. Brown scored from everywhere on the floor and did so efficiently. Brown recently announced that he will transfer to Bishop McNamara, but he did damage as a sophomore at McDonogh in the MIAA A Conference. Since then, Brown has received five Division I offers.
Ayalew: There were so many prospects who benefited from gaining exposure at last year’s camp. I think Jared Billups really took advantage of the setting and made a name for himself prior to last season. He’s an absolute workhorse who thrives in camps as a result of his nonstop energy on both ends of the court. I think Billups firmly placed himself on the radar of the local Prep Hoops staff and D1 coaches around the region from that point forward.
Wilson: The MD Top 250 is a great event for prospects that might be flying under the radar a little bit to get exposure and put their name out there on the map. Last year, I wrote about 2021 Jared Billups of McDonogh as one of my top performers from the one day event and after that event, he seemed to take off even more on both the high school scene and then again in AAU this past summer playing with Team BBC. Ever since the 2018 MD.DC Top 250, Billups has picked up offers from Loyola (MD), Bryant, Mt. St. Mary’s, and UMass Lowell. Look for Billups recruitment to continue to take off but after looking at all the names from the players that attended last year’s event, Billups is definitely a guy that has seen his recruitment skyrocket a little bit.