Heading into next season, the North Carolina high school landscape appears to be a completely open race—both in private and public schools. Public powerhouses, like North Mecklenburg, lost major pieces in Tristan Maxwell, Trayden Williams, and Shamann Artis. The same thing is happening at private schools. Concord First Assembly was the clear-cut top private school team last season and returns many key players but will have to move forward without guys like Garrett Hien, Cheick Traore, Isaac Boothe, Lloyd Latta, and Ambaka Le Gregam. So, what does this mean for a program like Northside Christian'
They are set to lose Jayden Seymour (Wichita State), Solomon Tucker (Army), and Najir Underwood, but retain basically everyone else on the roster. Glynn Hubbard was sidelined with an injury for majority of last season but should be able to return to form and reassume his position as a leader going forward. While Hubbard was out, MJ Collins (now at Westminster Academy) was a guy who emerged as one of their most productive contributors—especially impressive as an underclassman within this group. That being said, the freshman duo of Wesley Tubbs and Marcus Brown is one of the main reasons for folks to be excited about the current direction.
Starting with Tubbs, who is a long, skilled, athletic wing prospect with tremendous size and a blossoming skillset. His physical tools are quite favorable and Tubbs already understands how to contribute within an efficient offense, but is truly still just scratching the surface. There is a massive amount of upside for him to harness, and he’ll have more than adequate time to do so. Like Tubbs, Brown had somewhat of a quiet showing last season. He continued to gather his footing as the season carried onward, but his ceiling is arguably as high as any wing in North Carolina’s Class of 2023. Brown has such a naturally well-rounded skillset with the ability to impact the game while actively toggling between various roles. There’s no telling how successful Northside Christian will be in the short-term future but these two have the chance to become a special pairing, especially if they stay on their current trajectory.