Whenever any sort of recruiting service puts rankings out there’s a lot of controversy and discussion surrounding where certain players are placed within the rankings, and difference of opinion on the rankings themselves. It’s a controversial, imperfect system, but it’s the system used throughout the state, region, and country, so get used to it ladies and gentlemen. For the young guys reading this that may not like where they were ranked, think they were robbed, or even those that were happy with their ranking, just understand that they really don’t mean anything. Fans, parents, and the general public are the only people that actually look at the rankings and formulate their opinions based on that. College Coaches typically don’t concern themselves with rankings, they have their own method’s when it comes to the evaluation of prospects. Here are some prospects that will make a major jump a few months down the road when we update the rankings, some of these kids are underrated in the absolutely stacked NC 2020 class. Let’s take a look!
6’6 2020 Djimon Bailey: Greenfield School/Garner Road 16U
Current Rank 66:
Frankly I thought 66 was too low for Bailey, but regardless there’s no doubt he’s a division one level prospect with his ability to run a team at his size and length. He’s been overshadowed a bit between Coby White and Elijah McCadden in the backcourt with him at Greenfield and playing with 5 Star 2021 Carson McCorckle and UNC Commit/Top 40 National Prospect Day’Ron Sharpe with Garner Road this past summer. This year he has his chance to be the man at Greenfield and if he performs like I think he’s capable of there’s 0 doubt in my mind that he’ll skyrocket through the rankings. He has the chance to be a 20-5-5 kind of guy every night, while being the #1 option on what should be a very competitive Greenfield squad next year. Assuming he stays with Garner Road next summer, that confidence he builds over the course of the high school season should carry over for Bailey, creating what could potentially be a massive “blowup” type summer in 2019.
6’6 2020 Nick Farrar: Apex Friendship/Big Shots Elite
Current Rank: 51
Farrar’s situation was a little bit up in the air with him returning from a major knee injury last season, as he steadily progressed back to his normal self throughout the course of the high school season, culminating in a big summer playing for Big Shots Elite this past July. The sweet shooting, high IQ, combo forward is starting to get his athleticism back in a major way, making him more versatile as a multi-positional defender, which is incredibly important with the way basketball is played currently. He currently has division one interest from a hand full of schools, expect his name to grow throughout the state with him being now almost 2 years removed from his injury and on a really fun Apex Friendship team. Another thing to keep in mind is that Farrar is still only 15 years old, about to start his Junior year.
6’0 2020 Reggie Walton Jr: New Life Christian/Team ENC
Current Rank: Best of the Rest
Walton is another one that was vastly underrated in my opinion, and I think one of the reasons for that is it takes a couple full games of watching him to truly appreciate what he brings to the table as a floor general. He’s not going to wow you with his production, he wows you with intangibles while still being a major contributor both at the high school and AAU level. He simply knows how to be a leader, which is something that really can’t be taught, it’s something Walton was clearly born with. Sometimes those qualities are hard to appreciate, but watching the way Walton communicates with his teammates is the thing that stood out to me for him. He has an offer from Mars Hill and that makes sense, they recently secured Chris Barnette, one of the best true PG’s in the state that really wasn’t appreciated in the right way until his junior/senior year. I genuinely appreciate what Walton does on the court, I have no doubt more within the state will as the high school season comes along.
6’8 2020 Jadyn Parker: West Brunswick/Team United 16U
Current Rank: 45
Jadyn Parker caught the eyes of the Phenom Staff and the Staff of Team United at one of the Phenom 150 Camps in the spring, and continued his rapid development into a do it all forward under the tutelage of Team United throughout the spring and summer. He did a great job this summer improving his motor, footwork on the perimeter and down on the block, along with his ability to create offense for himself of the bounce. Parker has had confidence instilled in him all summer, expect that to translate to the high school level this winter at West Brunswick in a way that will have many coaches wondering what they were missing out on.
6’6 2020 Mehki Townes: Garner High/Team Wall 16U
Current Rank: 100
Townes will be one of the feature offensive players for the first Garner team not coached by Eddie Gray in well over 35 years and I think he’s more than capable of being one of the most productive bigs in the RDU Area. Townes looks like a Division One Left Tackle, but he’s incredibly nimble, with some of the best footwork I’ve ever seen a man of his size possess and an ability to finish around the cup in a variety of ways. His drop-step is nearly unstoppable, giving him a true go to move that will absolutely eat up conference competition next season. If he stays with Team Wall expect him to have a big summer on the Adidas Gauntlet (Or whatever adidas is doing in 2019) and he’ll start attracting major attention from some high D2/Low-Mid D1 Programs.
6’5 2020 Kaleb Scott: Holly Springs High/Garner Road 16U
Current Rank: Best of the Rest
Scott recently transferred from Fuquay-Varina to Holly Springs for his Junior and presumably Senior seasons, allowing him to play with a bonafide high major talent in Kadin Shedrick along with multiple other guys that will play at the next level. This will allow Scott to not be the main focus of an opposing defense just about every time he steps on the court, and give him an opportunity to be a part of a high level culture at Holly Springs under first year coach LJ Hepp. (former DOBO at South Carolina & Head Coach/AD at Panther Creek) Expect more eyes to be on Scott throughout the year as he continues to develop and prosper with his new squad!