Early Spring Standouts from the 2024 Class
At this point in the spring, I’ve seen a wide range of players. We’re talking from the most hyper-local teams to some of the nation’s top players and travel programs.
Here are some of the available 2024 standouts I’ve seen now that I have about a month’s worth of data to pull from.
CJ Brown is among the top available players in Georgia’s 2024 class. With Game Elite, he’ll undoubtedly have plenty of coaches flocking to see him. Right now, he has a handful of offers, but his list should become pretty lengthy after the first pair of live periods. He has high-major athleticism and is good for several dazzling moments when he takes the floor. From the PG spot, Brown uses his athletic gifts to impact the game on both sides of the ball. Not only does he impact winning—just helped lead Kell (GA) to the school’s first state championship—he also plays an entertaining brand of basketball. He’s explosive and can pop off for a highlight-reel play at any given moment. He’s well-regarded in Georgia already, but Brown should impress on a more national level this spring and summer as well.
I can’t point to anyone in the country that had a stock-boosting high school season like Edgecombe. He went from being outside of national top-100 rankings across the board to vaulting up to being a top-50 prospect with a host of high majors knocking on his door. He's currently at No. 20 on our overall 2024 national rankings. At the Tip-Off Classic, he led Southeast Elite to an impressive 3-1 weekend. He combines athleticism with a smooth offensive approach. Edgecombe’s jumper looks like money every time he lets it fly, and he uses his burst to get to the rim or create separation in the mid-range. Now that he’s an established name, expect to see plenty of coaches adorning the sidelines of Southeast Elite games during the upcoming live periods.
Harris is a favorite among those who spend most of their time bouncing around the Peach State. It’s not because he’s flashy or anything like that. It’s because he’s an everyday player. Harris is as dependable of a star as you’ll find. It’s not a matter of if Harris will produce in a game, it’s just a matter of how much he’ll end up with. He does a little bit of everything on a game-by-game basis. Schools like Purdue and Stanford are among those who have offered, and I’ve seen Purdue head coach Matt Painter around Grayson (GA) games on more than one occasion to see Harris.
I’ve seen Team Huncho at two different Tip-Off events now, and Braedan Lue has been a standout at both. He has all of the physical tools one could ask for. He’s had a college-ready body for years and has the athleticism to back it up. Lue had an ever-developing skill set that extends to the perimeter. Like CJ Brown above, he’s coming off of a season in which he was one of the primary contributors on a team that won a first state title in school history. High majors are starting to reach out, and that could emerge as a noticeable trend this spring.
Between seeing him at the HoopExchange camp in Orlando in March and the Tip-Off Classic last weekend, I’m all in on Tillery being a stock riser this summer. An athletic slasher, Tillery makes big-time plays at the rim. He can also be used as a multi-positional defensive stopper. Tillery already has a handful of offers, but I think he’ll accrue a more sizable list as we move forward behind the first wave of live periods. The Nightrydas are coming off of an undefeated weekend in Atlanta that saw them pitted against a who’s who of highly-touted recruits.
Both Garrett Tucker and I have been fans of what we’ve seen out of Pace this season. He’s quickly stacked solid weekends on top of each other going into the live periods in a couple of weeks. Pace is someone that D1 coaches should be looking into this spring and summer. He’s a bigger guard that consistently gets into the paint and makes things happen. Pace can be a primary scoring option, and he can take on more of a distributor role if needed. Sleeper might not be the right term, but he’s more under the radar than he should be. That shouldn’t be the case for much longer though.
Bell is a guy that I’ve gotten to see plenty already this travel season. He’s a sleeper prospect for Metro Elite. Bell is good enough to play in college at some level. There’s a spot at the next level for a tough playmaker like him. He’s the kind of guard that I’d want to have the ball in tight situations because he can go out and get you a good shot when needed. Bell has had some tremendous outings against the tougher opponents Metro Elite has gone up against. An 18-point outing against TSF comes to mind, and that’s something he’s replicated time and time again.
I have been impressed with Josiah Marsh during both of Play With Heart’s Georgia Cup runs. He’s a name that coaches should check in on. He’s an athlete that impacts the game on both ends. Play With Heart has either won or played in championship games twice already this travel season, and Marsh has been at the heart—no pun intended—of both runs. His athleticism is great and all, but I know coaches will love to hear that he’s a player that can reliably knock down shots from the perimeter as well. I’ve seen him drop in multiple 3-pointers plenty of times this spring. Another under-the-radar prospect.
