At the beginning of each new year, Phenom Hoops works to assemble a series of articles centered around unsigned senior prospects. Last season, hundreds of players from North Carolina went on to play at the Division I, II, III or NAIA levels, and that number looks likely to continue increasing with the current senior class. Typically, we take a closer look at guys who are overlooked and underrated, and today's edition will highlight Justin Monden of Heritage High School.
We’ve seen Justin Monden countless times over his high school career. One thing that is always evident is that Monden has performed every time that we’ve seen him play, no matter what his role may have been at that particular time. This is particularly clear as he has had to adjust his style of play from last season to this season. For example, last season Monden ran the show for Heritage as a facilitating point guard alongside Wake Forest’s Lucas Taylor, who led the team in scoring. Monden was able to showcase his true point guard abilities by getting his teammates the ball in the right spots to score. This season, things are a little different. Having graduated Lucas Taylor, Heritage now needed Monden to handle much of the scoring load, something that he has done very well.
Although teams are able to key in on Justin Monden and he constantly faces double teams, he is still producing at a high level each night averaging 24 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block per game while shooting 48% from the field. In addition, the team has now won 4 of their last 5 games. Monden is electric in the open court and extremely quick with the ball in his hands. He gets to his spots efficiently, especially in the midrange where he does a great job of elevating and shooting over defenders. Around the rim, he finds ways to score over bigger defenders in crafty ways. Defensively, he can pressure opposing team’s ball handlers disrupting their offense.
More importantly, Justin Monden is a high academic student-athlete who holds a 4.1 GPA. Add this to the fact that he has shown the ability to really facilitate and score the ball at a high level when needed, he should be seeing much more with his recruitment.
Monden currently holds an offer from Guilford College.
Monden was invited to Phenom’s NC Top 80 this fall. Here’s what we had to say about him then, “We look at a player who understands how to play to his strengths in every possible setting, Justin Monden. He's a wiry, scrappy guard prospect with the ability to operate as a floor general or capable off-ball threat. Monden loves to attack the midrange for quality pull-up jumpers, but can also knock down shots at a reliable clip from distance or effectively get downhill and make plays within the paint. He handles the ball well, sets up others at a solid rate, and displays toughness defensively at the point of attack. Next in his development process is working to add strength, as it would only help prepare him for the physicality of the college game. Coach Adams on Monden: 'Justin is a heady player. He was coachable and displayed a positive attitude. Hit jumpers and worked well with his teammates. Justin played with energy and unselfishness.' Monden enjoyed a nice showing at camp and should be poised for a productive senior season as a leader for Heritage.”