adidas Invitational: Standout 2019 Guards
In July, we’re focusing on the teams and players that we didn’t fully evaluate during the spring. If you’re coming to the website in July expecting us to continue covering the same set of teams we talked about in the spring, that’s just not what we’re about. There’s roughly 200+ college prospects in each of Ohio’s classes, so we owe it to those kids to be in the back gyms of secondary locations to find the diamonds of the rough this month.
This weekend, our July initiative manifested itself in long mornings at Best Choice Fieldhouse, where Prep Hoops was often the only scout in the facility. As you can tell, it worked out. There’s several fresh new names to cover throughout our adidas Invitational reviews, including this very article.
Jaylen Robinson, 6’1” PG, Apex / Hamilton
Robinson’s ball control against pressure and consistency in calmly initiating offense to his scorers on the wing was impressive. His point guard chops also showed themselves on defense, where he provided ball pressure of his own and played smartly off the ball. Robinson’s jumper is released above his forehead a couple inches in front of the face. In other words, it’s sort of blockable. He shot 35 percent from deep as a junior at Hamilton.
Landen Long, 6’0” PG, Apex / Mason
In the couple of stints that we watched Apex, Long’s 3-point jumper was consistently finding the bottom of the net. The spot-up shooting ability is certainly his strength which allows Long to be a threat off ball once he passes it off to start the offense. He could also theoretically play with another point guard. Although his size could limit his upside as a prospect, there’s a ton to like here in terms of shooting, efficiency, and IQ.
Payton Jutte, 6’4” G, Mid Ohio Pumas / Fort Recovery
Jutte played to his strength this weekend: shooting. He made catch-and-shoot jumpers from deep, was ready to fire coming off curls, and simply remained a threat because of his range. Jutte occasionally shows flashes of being able to finish through traffic with his good size also.
Nick Haddad, 5’9” PG, Crossover / Turpin
Haddad is very fast with the ball. He sprints it up the court all game long and is able to put pressure on the defense in the halfcourt also. As a playmaker, he’s a nice drive-and-kick player who doesn’t really score at the basket. Instead, Haddad has a pretty mean series of moves to create separation in the mid-range for a rhythm pull-up. Nice D-III prospect.
Brice Hill, 6’5” G/W, Mid Ohio Pumas / Seven Hills
Hill was one of our unofficial stock-risers from the weekend. On Saturday morning, he put together his most complete performance we’d seen to date. He was scoring at will from the perimeter, where he can either trail the offense for a pull-up triple or catch and make a move off the pump fake. He uses the jab step effectively and can finish from creative angles after one dribble on runners/floaters.
On defense, it’s still a bit up in the air on which position he’ll have to defend at, say, the Division II level. He acted as a forward this weekend and defended the paint quite well. Although his frame is a bit slight, Hill dedicates himself on box outs and fronting the post. Hill was the team’s best rebounder in Indy.
Payton Moyer, 6’0” PG, Ohio Reign / Toledo St. John’s
Moyer is a different player this grassroots season. He’d been relegated to a spot-up shooting role his entire high school career while playing with NW Ohio and Toledo St. John’s. Those teams were set on playmakers and ball-handlers. Now, it’s Moyer’s turn to create offense and he’s thriving.
He’s a bit of a volume scorer, but Moyer is getting separation off crossovers and step-backs routinely. His advanced ball-handling skills are a ways ahead from 12 months ago. He’s also scoring it confidently, including pulling up in transition. With this sort of continual improvement through college, Moyer could be regarded as a steal in the years to come.
D’Marco Howard, 6’2” PG, Shining Star – Price / Hamilton
Howard is a big guard who plays his butt off defensively. The quick athlete uses his upper body strength to defend the drive; but that’s only if you get downhill, because Howard is going to be in your chest once you pass halfcourt. He hardly ever fouled either, despite super aggressive ball pressure. Howard also uses his size and speed to attack the basket in a hurry. Very quick first step.
Low test scores could limit Howard’s recruitment. But from a pure talent perspective, he is certainly worthy of a scholarship.