With the spring evaluation period now also behind us in Arizona girl's high school basketball, one player that looks to have bigger things ahead in her future is Boulder Creek High School's skilled 5-foot-8 sophomore guard prospect Darian Slaga. Slaga, a nice underclassman prospect in the state, is coming off a strong two seasons in her high school career and now will look to develop into one of the state's elite guards.
This season as a sophomore starter for head coach Josiah McDaniel, Slaga did everything she could to help her team win - displaying serious emotion on the floor and playing her heart out. The talented sophomore prospect averaged 13.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals per/contest. While leading the team to an 18-11 record in the state's competitive Division-I Class, Slaga would help lead the team to the state playoffs before a playoff loss to Xavier.
As a freshman starter, Slaga was invincible - averaging an eye-popping and team-high 18.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.9 steals per/game. While's Slaga's numbers would drop in the scoring column a great deal as a sophomore, as she saw a lot of time at the point guard position for her team, she looks to be preparing herself for a very big junior season in the state.
Slaga is among the state's top guard prospects already and should only continue to improve as a player a great deal over the next two years. She looks to still be growing physically and already has very good size for the guard position. Capable of playing both guard spots on the floor, Slaga is a very skilled guard prospect with a nice shooting stroke out to three-point distance and also a mid-range game that suits her well. She is a very good ball handler with good vision of the floor, and also pushes the basketball ahead to the open player on the floor.
Slaga is a good penetrator and finisher in traffic and also possesses very good body control. She is also a good defender and has good overall lateral quickness. She plays with good intensity and is a competitor that enjoys winning.
She should develop into a serious guard prospect next season and this summer will look to be very important for her college recruitment, especially since she has the potential to become a high-major division-I guard with continued hard work.
Keep an eye out for Slaga this summer and next high school season, as she becomes on the hottest targets in Arizona's 2015 class of top-rated girls prospects.
