We continue our new Summer Player Rankings with our next release – the 2014 class summer player rankings for shooting guards. This position is also fairly loaded with some talented prospects, and has numerous division-I prospects at the position.
Leading the way for this summer’s rankings at the position is Pinnacle High School's 6-foot-4 rising junior guard Dorian Pickens. Pickens is among the top prospects in the country at his position after a strong spring performance on the club circuit. As a result of his spring performance, Pickens is now regarded among the top 50 players in the country in the 2014 class - already receiving division-I scholarship offers from such schools as Arizona State, Arizona, Weber State, Northern Arizona, Boston College and Rice.
Next among the top shooting guard prospects in the class is Dobson High School's 6-foot-4 rising junior shooting guard Kodi Justice (Arizona State commit). After an early verbal commitment last fall to the Arizona State Sun Devils and head coach Herb Sendek, Justice burst onto the recruiting scene, although very few people in the Arizona basketball scene had even seen him play. Since the commitment, Justice has taken off - turning in numerous strong performances in local basketball events. While he still has yet to really blow up on the national club circuit, Justice has the ability to do so as a bigger guard with an ability to play both guard positions and a knack for shooting the basketball with range.
Talented 6-foot-4 rising junior guards Austin Nehls of Catalina Foothills HS, Roberto Reyes of Gilbert Christian HS and Lyrik Shreiner of Glendale HS are each very talented prospects, and will have very similar college recruitment. Nehls is the most intriguing prospect of the three, since he is a lesser known prospect but is coming off a big sophomore campaign where he put up big scoring numbers. He is an excellent shooter of the basketball and has some upside as a prospect. Reyes and Shreiner are both very talented prospects athletically and are excellent students, so they will both have nice opportunities ahead of them. Both prospects are terrific athletes but still need work on their ability to consistent knock down perimeter shots with range.
Ultra-athletic 6-foot-4 rising junior guard Jalen Brown of Mountain Pointe HS is not on this list, since Brown has decided to quit playing basketball for Mountain Pointe's varsity team, so that he can focus on football. Brown is among the nation's top football recruits. Had he decided to keep playing football, Brown would be another prospect high on this list of rising junior guards.
Here are our Summer Player Rankings for the shooting guard position in Arizona’s 2014 class. While we have not seen everyone at the position in the state, these individuals have proven to be the best at the position at this point in time.
Arizona Preps 2014 Class Summer Player Rankings – Shooting Guards (In Ranking Order)
1. Dorian Pickens 6-4 JR SG Pinnacle HS (Phoenix, AZ)
2. Kodi Justice 6-4 JR SG Dobson HS (Mesa, AZ) - (Committed to Arizona State)
3. Roberto Reyes 6-4 JR SG Gilbert-Christian HS (Gilbert, AZ)
4. Austin Nehls 6-4 JR SG Catalina Foothills HS (Tucson, AZ)
5. Lyrik Shreiner 6-4 JR SG Glendale HS (Glendale, AZ)
6. Romano Bottini 6-2 JR SG Brophy Prep HS (Phoenix, AZ)
7. Nathan Markovich 6-2 JR PG/SG Basha HS (Chandler, AZ)
8. Austin Witherill 6-1 JR PG/SG Mountain Pointe HS (Phoenix, AZ)
9. Connor Triplett 6-3 JR SG Brophy Prep HS (Phoenix, AZ)
10. Dominic Krane 6-3 JR SG Marcos De Niza HS (Tempe, AZ)
Summer Player Ranking Notes: Our player rankings have been determined by a body of work from each student-athlete. Each player’s body of work consisted of performances throughout the high school season, and also performances throughout the spring and summer. A top performance throughout the high school season impacts a player’s ranking a great deal. A student-athlete’s performance throughout the spring and summer will have an even bigger impact, since our staff is able to observe Arizona players in competition against much better local, regional and national competition. The complete body of work has been taken into consideration for each of our player rankings. Player rankings are based on a particular student-athlete’s ability to play the game of basketball – not academic performance, although a player can help him or herself if he/she is an excellent student. Rankings are done to help aid college coaches in their ability to identify the top student-athletes by position and class in the state. These rankings are forwarded to college coaches at every level throughout the country. Rankings will be updated throughout the year.
