With the travel season behind us and the high school season about to officially get underway, there's simply no better time to take a look back at some of the prospects that came through our doors over the last calendar year. Addison Archer is a prospect that we've seen closely and written about extensively over the last eighteen months, but he finally started to blow up over this past summer.
He's already established himself as one of (if not the) top post prospects in his entire class, especially within North Carolina, but this has been in the making since Archer was just a seventh-grader. We saw him prior to even finishing his seventh-grade season, stating, 'Archer already sports a long, wiry frame and has great coordination for his size. Offensively, he displays a terrific feel and has an array of crafty finishes around the basket. That being said, Archer makes the most noticeable impact on defense, where he was easily one of the top shot-blockers across the seventh-grade. He knows how to utilize his length to get rebounds over stronger opponents. Archer needs to add strength going forward, however, he's begun showing spectators that he's worth getting excited about.' That was nearly two years ago. Fast-forward to now and we've seen him in virtually every setting with various different teams and supporting casts, making it easy to proclaim that he's the real deal.
A year after our initial viewing and months after our Tennessee camp, we see Archer again at the Queen City Showcase. He continued to stretch out physically while still maintaining his high-level defensive identity, blocking, rebounding, and dunking absolutely everything in sight. After that, we wrote, 'Having seen the post prospect throughout the last calendar year, it's becoming even more glaringly obvious that Archer has the chance to be a real star. He's always had natural timing as a rebounder and rim-protector, but now his offensive arsenal is starting to develop, making him a true two-way headache for opponents. That being said, Archer's defensive presence is at a really high level, but he could easily be the best long-term prospect from this event.'
Since then, Archer has gained plenty of notoriety, especially after teaming up with Team CP3, and still looks likely to be a top tier prospect. He just continues to get stronger and more fluid on the perimeter, but already has the two-way feel and instincts necessary to become an absolute force. There's a lot to like, especially given the way he moves for his size, and folks would be wise to start jumping on the bandwagon now, as it's going to get pretty full over the next few years.