2022 Fall Preview Top Performers
SUWANEE, GA—With this past Sunday behind us, the 2022 HoopSeen fall camp series has come to a close, and the high school season is next up on the basketball calendar. This Fall Preview was a great springboard for players to get some reps in before going off to their respective high school teams.
We kick off camp coverage with some of the day's top performers.
McNeill makes the game look effortless. He’s so smooth with the ball in his hands, and he can get anywhere he wants with the ball. McNeill has been among the best guards in the gym two weeks in a row. He blends athleticism and craft well. He puts pressure on defenses with his ability to get to the rim. He missed shots he normally makes early on, but he started to round into form as the day went on. Even when his shot wasn’t falling, he impacted the game on the glass and via his passing.
Richardson is an outstanding PG on the rise. He brings some size and plenty of athleticism to the floor. Richardson is an aware defender as one may come to expect from someone who plays at Archer. He scores the ball well at the rim and doesn’t mind contact. He showed that he’s a confident shooter who can hit from the perimeter. Richardson uses his athleticism to his advantage as a creator. He can get into the paint at will and score or distribute. He had one of the more impressive outings on Sunday.
As soon as games started in the afternoon, Johnson immediately stood out. He’s an electric scorer who can shoot the lights out or take his man off the bounce and glide to the rim. Johnson used his athleticism to soar for rim-rattling dunks and creative layups. While his scoring is what caught everyone’s attention at first, his competitiveness on defense was something else that stood out to our staff. We expect Johnson to be a guy who sees his recruiting stock rise during the winter leading into the travel season.
Isaiah Dennis had an attention-grabbing camp. The junior guard out of Baldwin High School was part of a group that made the trip up, and he had a nice day. His ability to score the ball consistently from multiple levels was impressive. He has deep range on his jumper, and he can hit tough ones from mid-range too. Maybe it’s just recency bias talking, but he’s the kind of electric scorer that can lead a team on a tournament run. If Baldwin is in the 4A playoffs, I’m not sure that I’d be thrilled to be matched up against a guy like Dennis.
Shephard took advantage of the Fall Preview as much as anyone on Sunday. In fact, he was one of my biggest ‘wow’ guys that I had no idea about. A long, lanky 6-foot-5 wing, Shephard impressed with his intensity and how easy he made everything look. He made some effortless plays above the rim to go along with exciting playmaking with the ball in his hands. Shephard also caused problems on the defensive end of the floor with his length. I’ll go out on a limb and say he had the highest ceiling of any prospect in the Fall Preview – and that’s exciting because he mixed that upside with a ton of production while on the floor. Remember the name as we head into the scholastic season. - Garrett Tucker
