Phenom National Showcase Breakout Performances: 6’4″ Sophomore Nate Hinton

Nate Hinton
6’4” 2018 Northside Christian (Charlotte, NC)

Coming into the weekend, we already had Hinton ranked in North Carolina’s top 5 players in his class. However, Hinton has improved…greatly!

Nate Hinton had a great freshman season, last year at Gaston Day. He started on the upper class laden team, and averaged 13 points per game. What really stood out was his hustle, the way that he threw his 6’5” frame around the court was, not only captivating, but memorable.

Hinton’s head coach, Kenny Burr, left Gaston Day which caused Hinton to transfer to Northside Christian. Northside Christian has been to 4 consecutive State Championship games, and won 3 of them. In that time Northside Christian has put many guys into college ball, and last year they lost some senior leaders.

In comes Hinton, a player that is mature well beyond his age. Not only does Hinton bring his relentless energy to the team, but he also brings a 4.0 GPA and a tireless work ethic. Over the summer Hinton hit the court to work on his jump shot.

See what we wrote about him after the NC Top 80, “Nate is a physically mature guard for his age/grade, but his motor and full throttle approach is his calling call. While just a freshman, Nate would have made the “All Effort” team at the NC Top 80. He combines athleticism and a skill set that will project him a hot prospect at the mid to high level. Nate is best attacking the rim and will need to improve his consistency from the perimeter, but he has all the tools to be an elite level prospect in the NC 2018 class. In addition, we are equally impressed with his intensity on the defensive end of the court. Young man plays both ends of the court!”

As you can see he is a high level prospect, but lacked jump shot consistency. If you would have asked ANY person watching this weekend, you would think that Hinton is a hired gun from the perimeter. His jump shot was smooth, if not flawless. He was hitting on the mid-range pull up, the catch and shoot 3, and making them at a high clip.

Over the weekend, Hinton led his team averaging 17 points and 7 boards per game. The shooting guard also played lock down perimeter defense, the full length of the court.

Hinton has an early offer from Wofford, expect mid and high major schools to go ahead and start getting serious with him.