Underrated PG Prospects: South Florida
Marlon Suarez, Hialeah Gardens
The 6-foot-1, 175-pound guard is not only the engineer of Hialeah Gardens’ frenetic paced uptempo attack, he’s the pulse of the program.
The drive-first guard is averaging 18.3 points and 3.3 assists, staking his claim as one of the Miami area’s most undervalued prospects. While he’s not as highly acclaimed as a guy like Neftali Alvarez at Miami Christian, he has a purity of vision that results in laser dishes and timely assists.
Diego Rivera, Miami Christian
Shouldering a more prominent role for the defending Class 2A state champions, Rivera showed poise with a 15-point performance during a win over Columbus back on Dec. 8.
Rivera is a quick release shooter who can get into the lane and score.
He’s incorporated a nifty floater into his arsenal and has become more proficient at knifing through traffic and finishing around the rim in crafty fashion.
This was best evidenced during a scoring binge he pieced together as a sophomore.
Rivera erupted when he scored 61 points during a two-game span against Island Christian and Schoolhouse.
While he’s got the scoring tools, Rivera (who is from Puerto Rico) is being groomed into more of a seasoned facilitator.
On a team led by the aforementioned Alvarez’ 10.5 assists per game, the passing game and hitting a wealth of weapons in the right spots is akin to breathing in importance.
Miami Christian’s system very much emphasizes making the extra pass.
It is predicated on sacrificing individual numbers for team prosperity, which means spreading the ball around with crisp and thorough passes.
Understanding the spacing and gaps out there on the court are aspects instrumental to success in the system.
As the backup to Alvarez (who like Rivera is from Puerto Rico), the Class of 2019 Rivera has grasped this while learning the niceties of his mentor’s fluid passing approach.
Timothy Rodriguez, Miami Beach
A year of focus and devotion to your craft can make quite the difference.
After playing sparingly last year and averaging under one point per game, Rodriguez has bounced back while simultaneously seizing the reins of the offense.
He’s averaging 13 points and piloting the 3-point game.