There were several players that had an impressive season in North Carolina. Some may have stood out more than others and then there were campaigns that flew a little under the radar.
6'10 senior Jadyn Parker at West Brunswick, who is committed to North Florida, could fall into that 'under-the-radar' category but certainly shouldn’t have with his performance this year. Parker put in the hard work and it certainly paid off in a big way.
'This past season was very exciting for me… I just kept grinding hard every day and wanted to prove that we were still going to be a good team if I could lead. Everyone bought in and it was definitely my most productive and exciting season in high school,' he told Phenom Hoops.
As a junior, Parker averaged 12.3 points and 10. 7 rebounds per game at West Brunswick. But he nearly doubled his stats in several areas as a senior, posting some impressive numbers. This year, Parker averaged 21.5 points, 14.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.
Furthermore, he showed how effective he can be on both ends of the floor, leading North Carolina (according to MaxPreps) in blocked shots per game (5.3).
'I really attacked the glass hard this year and developed my ball-handling and shooting,' Parker said. 'This helped me become more versatile so I could attack all bigs and post up guards.'
He is hoping to bring that same game and mindset to North Florida in the coming years. Parker's ability to impact in so many areas on the floor has to be impressive and get fans excited about the future but he is continuing to get stronger and round-out his offensive skillset before stepping on the court.
No matter what though, with an incredibly productive senior campaign and one that should certainly go unnoticed, Parker is wanting to show that he can do much of the same at the next level.
'I'm hoping to bring offensive versatility by pushing the break scoring and setting my teammates up and also rim-protecting on the defensive end.'