Name: Jalik Dunkley-Distant
Class: 2024
Height: 6'6
Position: Guard
School: Orangeville Prep
AAU: Bounce Elite
Summer ball always brings Phenom Hoops new names to watch and keep track of. One player that was quite the talk early on at the Phenom Summer Havoc was a 6'6 2024 prospect in Jalik-Dunkley Distant from Orangeville Prep, as we got our first view of this young talent.
Our scouts sat baseline throughout to learn more about his game and here is what a few of them had to say:
'If you haven't already, make sure you put this young man's name down to watch. Already standing at 6'6, Jalik has such a strong feel for the game at a young age to go along with size and tremendous athleticism. Impacts the floor on both ends and been finishing strong at the rim to start his event.'
'There's an obvious amount of appeal with this Bounce Elite roster, and Dunkley-Distant stands out as much as anyone. He's a long, fluid wing prospect with phenomenal size, athleticism, and an excellent presence in the open floor. Dunkley-Distant applies great downhill pressure, moves well without the ball, and highlighted the ability to create for himself or others as needed. Although already quite talented, he has the chance to be special with continued development.'
'In the times I saw Jalik play, what immediately stood out to me was his athletic ability. The way he used the natural ability to get in the lane and make plays for his team was impeccable. What's also intriguing about Jalik is that he has great size for his position at 6'6. This length allowed him to finish over smaller defenders in the lane and be a big presence on the offensive boards for his team. Although all of these qualities that Jalik possesses are great, he has something that you cannot teach, and that is the willingness to play hard. He was also very vocal with his teammates and made his presence felt through his communication and floor general instincts. On the track that Jalik is on, I feel like he would be a good fit on a D-1 roster in the future given his positional size and ability.'
As you can see, there were a lot of eyes viewing and intrigued with his game, so it was only right to follow up more on this young man, as Phenom Hoops reached out to Jalik to learn more.
Playing with Bounce Elite seems to be going well for the young prospect, as it has helped him learn to be a better leader both on and off the court, while also giving people a chance to see just how he likes to operate and attack on the floor. When describing his game, Dunkley-Distant had this to say:
'The way I would best describe my game is I'm a versatile, all-around scorer and I have a great ability to block shots.'
And it seems like it is only just the beginning for this young man. Playing at Orangeville Prep has only helped him grow as a player, going up against players like Matthew Alexander and Shemar Rathan-Mayes has certainly helped him understand what it takes. Dunkley-Distant mentioned that playing against premier talent like that has helped him in an array of ways, saying 'playing against them and watching them in practice has taught me a lot.' Rathan-Mayes' game has been a big help especially because you can't teach athleticism as these two both have.
Though Dunkley-Distant is a new name for several, he is going to be one you will want to watch and monitor in the class of 2024, as he showcased and checked off a lot of early boxes with his game and should only continue to develop.