By: Cooper Hart
5’11” ’25 Drew Johnson (Jordan)
Johnson acted as the secondary ball handler for Jordan and impressed with his ability to create shots for himself as well as his teammates. He was poised when facing pressure, almost seeming to thrive off high defenses as he consistently leveraged that positioning into paint touches and open looks for his team. He has a real future as a shot maker, evidenced by the consistent separation off the dribble and comfortability taking and making tough shots. He has a strong frame and uses that to defend bigger guards, excelling at preventing paint touches. Johnson will benefit from operating as a secondary, being able to get plenty of reps and looks without the pressure that comes with attacking consistently loaded defenses.
5’10” ’25 Owen Calvert (Calvary Day)
Calvert continued his productive spring by acting as one of the main catalysts behind Calvary’s 2-0 Saturday. He’s one of the few players that can truly manipulate and dictate how the other nine players move on the court. His handle works well thanks to how crafty he is, changing pace as often as he can to keep defenders guessing. Like many of his teammates, he’s a knockdown shooter with repeatable mechanics and unwavering confidence. That shooting combined with the handling craft gives him an intriguing ceiling as a creative shot maker. Calvert plays every perimeter spot for this Calvary Day team, something that’s only going to help him continue to grow as a combo guard.
6’5” ’26 Tarris Bouie (Chambers)
Bouie was noticeably more aggressive and confident today, actively seeking out looks for himself, attacking the rim with much more force, and even getting more vocal than usual. We’ve talked all spring about the strides Bouie is making, and it seems that now he’s taken arguably the biggest mental one with this mindset shift. Rarely is he passing up open looks or beatable closeouts and instead is hellbent on putting pressure on defenses. This new focus on creating pressure has seen him gain a considerable uptick in free throws, dunk attempts, and weakside passing windows. While it’s not all pretty, seeing Bouie playing with this much urgency should be taken as nothing but a positive sign for his continued development.
6’7” ’24 Jalik Nicholls (NC GBB National)
Nicholls has such an intriguing crossroads of production and potential, and today both sides of that really shined through. He was a consistently reliable presence all day long, always in the right spot and always finishing around the rim. His quiet dominance was impressive, as it’s not often that a player fully understands both their identity as a player and their role within their team. He’s a capable shooter but does most of his work inside via transition, attacking closeouts, offensive rebounds, and well-timed cuts. Nicholls is also a valuable versatile defender and has the athleticism, instincts, and motor to guard his yard against virtually every position. He fits well within this NC GBB team and continues to benefit from the innate understanding of where and how to be productive.
6’4” ’25 KJ Younger (Weddington)
Younger showed us that he was more than just an athlete today, creating plays for himself and others out of DHO/ball screen actions, high post touches, and hustle plays. The Weddington offense ran through him on most of their possessions, relying on him to make correct passing reads or create off straight line drives. Younger was excellent in both situations, not only making the right read with consistency but also throwing the correct type of pass to put his teammate in the best spot to score and to avoid defensive disruption (i.e., turnover or deflection). When he looked to score, he finished through traffic, hit open jumpers in the mid-range and from deep, all at an efficient rate. Younger should see a breakout junior year this coming winter.
6’3” ’24 Joe Rhyne (Gaston Christian)
Rhyne impressed me today, not only with his ability to shoot, but with his ability to make plays off the bounce. He’s well known throughout the state as an elite shooter and it seems like the rest of his offensive skill set is starting to surface. He operated as the handler on a handful of ball screens today and was able to find the open man seemingly every time. His IQ is obvious if you pay attention to how vocal he is on both ends of the floor, so the impressive part about his playmaking was the poise and control that he played with while reading the defense. He made the simple play each time, leading to open threes and layups for whoever was left unguarded. For players known for their shooting, these kinds of developments are always intriguing to see.