Prospect Spotlight: Braden Hudgins (2021 Forest Grove HS)
Braden Hudgins Braden Hudgins 6'6" | SF Forest Grove | 2021 State OR continues to develop as a player. Now 6-foot-6 and with more muscle packed on his frame, the junior wing emerged as a bigger player in the Forest…
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Continue ReadingBraden Hudgins Braden Hudgins 6'6" | SF Forest Grove | 2021 State OR continues to develop as a player. Now 6-foot-6 and with more muscle packed on his frame, the junior wing emerged as a bigger player in the Forest Grove attack all year long. And while the Vikings didn’t end up making the post-season in 2019-20, Hudgins was happy about the way things finished with a season-ending win on the road at Liberty.
“It was a pride thing to not go down with a loss,” Hudgins said. “We have seniors that have been in the program for a long time and we didn’t want to leave them with a loss.”
Hudgins had himself a big game in the season finale. He scored 26 points – 22 in the second half – and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. It was definitely one of the best games in what he terms an uneven year.
“It was definitely very up-and-down, which is something that I’ve always kind of been and I’ve been working on,” Hudgins said. “Next year is definitely going to be a big year and to not be up-and-down, that’s a main goal of mine.
On the year, Hudgins averaged 12.5 points and a team-high 5.6 rebounds while knocking down two threes a game at a .350 clip. He’s a shooter with size and in addition to getting stronger physically, his additions to his game have made him more of an overall threat.
“I definitely made improvements in my vision and my dribbling,” Hudgins said. “Shooting has kind of always been my thing so I’ll continue to work on that, but rebounding – last year I probably averaged like one but this year I’ve picked it up a lot. I’m the main rebounder on our team.”
Hudgins is wide open when it comes to his college recruitment as he’s yet to really get on the radar. He played with International Elite’s 16U squad last season on the circuit but has not yet determined where he will play his club basketball this year when AAU season resumes.
Hudgins currently ranks as the #18 player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2021 rankings.