Carson Newman Showcase Evaluations (Cincinnati 61-70)

With the Fall Leagues behind me I can concentrate on getting to the evaluations from the Carson Newman Showcase from a weeks back. I had three other evaluators posted, all three were former college coaches and their input is very important to my final analysis. I will post a story for each team from the event.

 

 

 

 

Cincinnati (61-70)

 

#61 Austin Brown (Cumberland County)

5-10 PG 2015

Gym rat is always in the thick of things, Brown has a passion for playing and it shows in his effort and willingness to include his teammates. A decent outside shooting threat would be much more effective and accurate if he worked on his mechanics, such as a higher release and a quicker trigger. He plays hard on defense and uses basketball smarts and anticipation to make up for his lack of overall athleticism. Young man is much more adept at playing in the half court than the wide open transition game of a camp setting, despite our efforts to slow the tempo. Brown showed leadership qualities as we transitioned from post entry to three-pass games being vocal and setting a tempo for his offense.

 

#63 Seth Lenard (Sweetwater)

6-4 WF 2016

One of the top wings in the camp regardless of class, Lenard is really starting to come into his own as a player and as a young man. He has excellent length and athleticism and a motor that has recently become much more prevalent. Maturity seemed to be a hot button topic that was keeping him from being the player he could be, that has changed drastically and seemingly overnight. Lenard proved he had the confidence to drain the outside shot and was sterling putting the ball on the deck and finishing at the rim. Once his strength and confidence catch up to his body and mind, the sky is the limit. He excels in transition always seemingly in attack mode, he has the hops and the ball handling ability to score on either side with either hand as well.

 

#64 Aiden Waldrum (Hendersonville)

6-6 PF 2015

Developing big man showed some much anticipated interior work using his excellent size and motor. He seemed to be a natural fit for the half court setting we attempted to create with our three-pass and post entry possessions. Waldrum used his size to carve out post position and create scoring opportunities for himself. On defense he plays solid post fundamentals and has enough footwork to keep his man from moving him into easy scoring position. He could really upgrade his level with the addition of a short jumper or a go to move in the post. The next steps in his evolution as a player will be to work on his hand strength, this allows him to catch the ball cleanly on post entry chances and becoming more passionate about controlling the boards. His size and understanding of the post, especially on offense, needs to translate to the defense side as well. Carving out space, boxing out and anticipating caroms make him that much more of a commodity for the next level.

 

#66 Jawan Howard (East Hamilton)

5-8 PG 2015

Small lead guard is a penetrate and dish competitor who makes good decisions with the ball, limits his mistakes and looks to make the easy pass for the easy score. He plays with a nice tempo and was comfortable in either the transition setting or the half court game. He has an adequate shooting touch when given time and is a very passionate defender. He plays tough and hard and belies his size with effort and momentum, shows leadership qualities and takes charge with his play. Becoming more of a leader, requires more vocal contact with his teammates. Set the tone with his play and take charge with his work ethic and dedication to winning.

 

#67 Bailey Lamb (Grainger)

6-2 SG 2015

"Quickest release in the camp" said one evaluation of Mr. Lamb and we concur. Young man is playing with extreme confidence and has become a knock down shooter with deep range. His size and strength allow him to pull from anywhere along the deep line. As his confidence continues to soar his next step is becoming more of an overall scoring threat, becoming more forceful and willing himself to be great. Lamb needs to incorporate some dribble drive moves, a short jumper off the two dribble advance and more runs to the bucket, drawing fouls and making himself much harder to guard. He needs to work on moving without the ball better, finding open seams to get his touch or make his move. Unselfish player who will need to work on his lateral quickness and overall athleticism. An average defender, Lamb like a great deal of shooters, tends to gamble on defense and not use his fundamentals.

 

#68 Darius Graves (CSAS)

5-8 PG 2017

Extremely aggressive small lead guard, Graves is a mile a minute but has a way of keeping himself under control and limiting his bad decision and turnovers. Rising sophomore has a big time motor, excels on the defensive end where he challenges his opposition, basically daring him to advance the ball on him. He is the quintessential point guard, he sees the floor and is comfortable in both the half court setting and playing fast and aggressive transition basketball. We hate to harp on size and from a defensive standpoint it renders itself mute but offensively it comes into play. Bigger guards can throw him off his track, he often sees plays but doesn't have the overall strength to complete the action. He needs to become more confident in his offensive game. Make the jumper a priority and add a floater, a must have for any diminutive guard.

 

#69 Silas Clark (Cumberland County)

5-11 PG 2018

Rising freshman has an above average basketball IQ and simply makes winning plays. He is comfortable as a lead guard and has the outside shooting ability to play the two as well. His biggest asset is his ability to think the game, anticipate plays before they happen and seemingly always finds ways to keep possessions alive. He is a good rebounder for a very small kid again using his anticipation techniques and his basketball savvy. Creative scorer has a very nice floater, loves to find the open man, gets as much joy out of an assist as a score and despite his small frame is a willing defender. Clark is the kind of kid that coaches love and teammates embrace, confident and willing to anything to get the job done. As with most incoming freshman size and strength are immediately a concern, here is no exception. His slight build will be an issue as he plays against stronger kids on the prep level, but his focus on becoming stronger and working relentlessly on his skills should overcome those deterrents.

 

#70 Noah Fager (East Hamilton)

6-3 SG 2017

Good fundamentals are evident upon observation of this rising sophomore shooting guard. Fager is a good shooter when given time despite a somewhat slow release. He runs the floor, and is very good at spotting up and finding his crease in the defense to take his shot. The next step in his evolution will be to add some off the dribble action into his arsenal, making him not so hard to guard. He has no trouble facing up and when he adds confidence and strength those contested deep shots will become, one dribble head fakes into a short and makeable foul line extended jumper.