2019 Rankings Update: No. 1-25
The first 25 players in the updated 2019 Prospect Rankings provide examples on why we decided to publish an impromptu update.
Corbin’s Climb
Although the top four remains intact, you’ll notice subtle movement to round out the rest of the top ten. First of all, two C2K point guards left the state for prep school: Andre Gordon and William Mfum, a 16-year-old who also reclassified. Meanwhile, Miles “Deuce” McBride and Ben Roderick remain sidelined as they rehab lower body injuries.
The unusual circumstances with those four mid-major prospects paved a path into the top five if someone was willing to capitalize on the opportunity. After all, if McBride and Roderick stay healthy, it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the 2019 class cracking top seven status. But, Gahanna Lincoln two-guard Josh Corbin did just enough with All Ohio Red this spring to nudge his way into rarified territory.
So, why Corbin? If you haven’t been paying attention, he led Ohio’s EYBL affiliate in points per game, mainly via the 3-point shot. Also if you haven’t been paying attention, the ability to knock-down 3-pointers is important. Corbin converts from distance under duress, after a couple dribbles, on the catch, and off movement. The 6’3” guard is also a fluid athlete with a high IQ and deceptively good slashing ability. His outstanding performance was reciprocated with four scholarship offers this spring.
No. 8-10 Stock-Risers
Brison Waller has shown promising flashes this spring. We were relatively low on him after his junior season at Garfield Heights with worries about his offensive skill and overall impact on the game. However, the 6’9” athlete is loaded with defensive versatility against frontcourt players and transition finishing ability— both valuable qualities that are unique to him amongst Ohio’s 2019 crop.
Javohn Garcia is a consistent jump shot away from being as many as five spots higher in the rankings. He’s met every other marker that we’re looking for in a point guard and exceeds most other PGs in the size, defense, and poise categories. Shoring up the transcript will be crucial for Garcia.
Max Martz earned First Team All Grassroots honors for the spring after numerous scoring outbursts for Nova. Penn University landed a quality shot-maker with size, versatility, toughness, the clutch gene, and discipline.
Clump of Wings
Five consecutive players from no. 10 to no. 14 represent a cluster of wings that are hard to separate. We’ve already mentioned Martz, so let’s move onto no. 11, Tanner Holden. Holden has more untapped potential than any of the players in the clump. His jumper needs work, which is what we’re referring to when we say “untapped.” However, his finishing ability is highlighted by a 45 percent field goal percentage in EYBL play.
State Champions Lunden McDay and Nathan Bruns continue to raise the charts in this new update. McDay jumped ten spots while Bruns was sitting at no. 35 after the high school season. They’re also both two-way weapons on the court, but the similarities stop there.
McDay’s only reason for being outside of the top ten is height. Although he compensates with long arms, we’re concerned about his ability to defend big wings at the Division I college level. However, he’s proved us wrong before by being tremendously instinctual, smart, and athletic. He’s moved up by proving himself as a complete scorer.
We considered Bruns more of a D-II prospect coming into the spring; now, he ranks higher than roughly ten other D-I prospects. With a Toledo offer under his belt, the two-sport prospect (who we’re told shows resemblance to Ben Roethlisberger under center) has a quality basketball option to consider. There’s few holes in his game, but Bruns isn’t the quickest of cats out there.
Smack-dab in the middle at no. 13 is Javin Etzler, who verbally committed to Miami (OH) and switched from Indy Heat to All Ohio Red this spring. Etzler is somewhere between a stretch four and a big wing. But the bottom line is that Etzler is a shooter with size with a knack for getting defenders off-balanced with his pump fake and jab step.
Other Notables
- With 27 D-I signees in the 2018 class, our top 2019 top 25 is also exclusively players we project to play at that level in college. Among this group, a player may identify a better D-II fit or decide to go prep, but we expect D-I opportunities to be available to everyone here. Currently, players as low as no. 24 already have a MAC offer.
- Players who slid down the list mostly did so because they didn’t play very much this spring.
- Evan Bainbridge (35 → 16) had the second largest leap behind Nathan Bruns (35 → 14). Bainbridge took advantage of a pair of Gauntlet weekends by aggressively looking for his shot and snagged offers from James Madison, Northeastern, and Kent State. The 6’9” stretch forward can put the ball in the basket from distance or turn over his shoulder for a soft-touch hook shot.