Shelden Davis @PrepHoopsTN/AboveTheRimGym Fall Combine Recapture
Shelden Davis (Oakland High) gifted the @PrepHoopsTN/AboveTheRimGym Fall Combine with hunger for rebounds and bizarre, raw physical strength.
How did he measure against the competition?
- Class of 2023
- 6’1.5″ F
- Wingspan — 6’8″ or 80″
- Height w/o shoes — 6’1.5″
- Height w/ shoes — 6’2.5″
- Shoe size — 13
- Hand Span — 10.5″
- Hand Length — 8.5″
- Lane Agility — 11.30
- Standing Reach — 8’3″
- Peak Reach — 10’1″
- One-Step Vertical — 22″
- Summer Combine Ranking — #28
- All-Star Top 40
NBA Stylistic Comparison: 2014 Suns Marcus Thornton
Wonderful strength and plus physicality. Less than two participants among the 70+ campers displayed better strength than Shelden Davis. Imagine a freshman competing with and dominating a all high school weight lifting class. Unimaginable. Now, consider a freshman athlete dominating a weight lifting room full of athletes! Inconceivable. Shelden Davis is this young man. He is fantastically strong and is unafraid of using this strength for the power of good.
Davis rebounded and rebounds with an uncommon aggression. The rabid, tenacious pursuit of missed shots is unequivocally Davis’ most tangible contribution right now. It appears to be a lifelong attribute for the powerful player.
Areas for improvement include: handles, speed, footwork.
Considering Shelden’s wingspan is 6-foot-8, he is most likely still growing. The style of play he employed in October 2019 was that of a power forward. This might change as he grows and his agility improves. It might not. What is clear is that he needs to become speedier end-to-end. Davis’ quickness is better than his speed as it now stands. He changes directions deftly. When out in the open floor, Davis is faster than most players his age, but can’t burst ahead of older guards. Again, Shelden Davis might not ever play guard in the traditional sense, but it helps if he is fast enough to lead the break if asked. Wing is his most likely position in his junior and senior years of high school and adapting accordingly requires some forethought and planning.
Dribbling and slashing are two cornerstones of quality guard play. Shelden appears to have the capacity to get around defenders if he improves his dribbling. The change of direction and quickness is now and probably will be later ideal for a more burly, solidly built wing.
Defending the wing position is something Davis can do now. If he were to fail to become a starting Class AAA wing it will not be because he can’t defend the position. This is an area he will succeed throughout his basketball career.
In the short term, Davis would be best served improving two aspects of his game. Footwork in and around the paint. He is able to take a foul and finish, but he doesn’t have the guile or innovation to create challenging shots. Right now his buckets tend to be rudimentary and effective, but not deceptive in any way. A drop step, a baby hook. Anything to create confusion in the mind of his defenders would be key. Secondly, Davis must extend his shooting range. This takes time. It takes time training individually outside of the team practices.
Shelden Davis will get plenty of in-season competition at Oakland High. It is a school filled with talent, hard-working athletes. Just making their basketball team shows Shelden is gritty and committed. Keep an eye on his progress in the coming years. He will be a coveted hooper in Murfreesboro.
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