Player: 6’1 Brandon Roddy 2014
City: Monroe, NC
Class: 2014
Twitter: @Hoopin4_Days
High School: Monroe High School
HS Head Coach: Johnny Sowell
AAU Team: Team United 16U
AAU Coach: Darryl Swilling
Interest: Wingate, Hampton University, St. Marys and NCCU
Evaluation: As a sophomore, Brandon Roddy averaged 16PPG, 4APG, and 4RPG for Monroe High School and his individual and team play was worthy of making the All Union County First Team and All Conference First Team. Roddy is an athletic guard with good speed and quickness and has little to no problem into the lane where he finishes with consistency. While Roddy enjoyed many 20+ point games as a sophomore, he is equally talented with his passes. Roddy is a consensus D1 prospect and look for his interest level continue to increase this summer with the Team United 16U AAU squad.
Player: 6’1” DeShar Thomas
City: Goldsboro NC
Class: 2014
Twitter Name: @DesharThomas30
High School: Wayne Country Day
HS Coach: Terry Jones
AAU Team: Showtime Allstars
AAU Coach: James Black
Interest: Davidson, Radford, Wofford, UNC-Wilmington
Evaluation: Coach Terry Jones of Wayne Country Day stated “DeShar Thomas is an excellent combo guard who’s growing into an experienced, controlled player. His quickness and ability to make plays were instrumental for WCDS in the 2011-12 basketball season where he led the team in scoring at 18ppg. He’s a ‘coach’s’ player; an excellent teammate and student, wonderful character on and off the court, and an emerging leader! Along with his desire and passion to be better than he was the day before, the element that separates him from many other players is his ability to put the ball in the hole! Deshar is such a prolific scorer that even while possibly being in a scoring drought, you never want to see him turn down attempts. He has the ability to change the game with a quick surge of scoring whether feet behind the three point arc, pushing and making plays in transition, or getting to the rim and loading from the free throw line. DeShar is most certainly an under the radar talent who will serve valuably to the next-level program that takes opportunity to invest in themselves by paying attention to him over the next two years…
Player: 6’5 Blake Cranor
Class: 2013
High School: Lake Norman HS
Twitter Name: @blakecranor
HS coach: Brandon Jolly
AAU Team: Carolina Surge
AAU coach: Larry Jordan
Interest: Pfeiffer, Methodist, Washington & Lee
Evaluation: Cranor is a fundamentally sound player that displays a soft shooting touch out to 15 feet. His size and ability to shoot the ball will garnish interest from D3 to NAIA schools. He is an outstanding student, but his understanding of the game and strong basketball IQ are his strongest attributes. Cranor uses position and boxes out well to gain an advantage for rebounding against bigger, stronger and more athletic players. He could garnish more interest with improved strength and athleticism.
Player: 6’1 Austin Hatfield
Class: 2014
High School: Davie County HS
Twitter Name: @austinhatfield4
AAU Team: Kappa Magic (16u)
Interest: BYU, Stanford, Western Carolina, Elon, Liberty
Evaluation: Austin Hatfield had an outstanding performance at the Inaugural Reebok Showdown and his interest and offer list will only continue to grow this summer. A hard working guard that competes, defends, and plays with an aggressive style of ball that is refreshing today. His twin brother Taylor will team up with the Martin twins at Davie County next season and watch their recruitment gain traction and momentum. They are fun to watch and they know how to play the game the correct way. Here is our observations from the Reebok tournament. Austin averaged 19 PPG for Kappa Magic and no one outplayed/outworked this young man.
Player: 6’1 Taylor Hatfield
Class: 2014
High School: Davie County HS
Twitter Name: @taytayhatfield
AAU Team: Kappa Magic (16u)
Interest: BYU, Stanford, Western Carolina, Elon, Liberty
Evaluation: Like this twin brother Austin, a hard-nosed young player that give maximum effort 100% of the time. Knows how to run a team efficiently and effectively and does all the little things/intangibles on the court that enable his team to be successful.
From previous coverage of the twins:
6’1 2014 Taylor and Austin Hatfield- Kappa Magic 16U: This was our first time watching the other set of “twins” for the tournament and we may have set a record of having three sets of twins playing at the Reebok Showdown. While the Martin twins of Davie County and Team Loaded AAU has enjoyed the most recognition and rightfully so, the Hatfield twins are definitely talented young players that are proven winners. Austin Hatfield averaged 19 PPG while his brother Austin finished with 14 PPG, but it is their approach to the game that is impressive. You have two young players that play the game the right way, they compete, guard and defend, but most of all they play HARD! They are both fundamentally sound that has a high basketball IQ and advanced knowledge of the game. They helped Kappa Magic go 3-0 in pool play and they upset SEBL 16U and the WV Wildcats 16U to make it to the championship bracket. Both players are proficient 3 point shooters and have advanced arsenal of offensive moves and scoring ability.
Player: Gregory Joyner Jr.
City: Charlotte
Class: 2016
High School: A.L. Brown H.S.
High School Coach: Shelwyn Klutz
AAU Team: Carolina Blazers
AAU Coach: Patrick Torrence
Interest: music, church activities, being with family
Evaluation: At the spring NC Phenom 150 camp, Joyner dominated the play at the middle school level. A talented young PG with advanced ball handling and passing skills. He has mastered the Earl Monroe “reverse spin” move and makes difficult moves look easy for his age/grade. He is a unselfish guard that plays hard on each and every possession. His passion is impressive and his determined approach should brode well for the talented young player. Joyner is a model citizen and excels in the classroom as on the basketball court as he has all his priorities in order.