One of the top overall prospects in Arizona's 2016 class is Shadow Mountain High School's athletic and talented 6-foot-3 junior guard JJ Rhymes. Rhymes is coming off another strong season for himself and is now primed for a big club season.
Rhymes had a strong junior season while leading his Matadors to a nice 23-7 overall record this season while averaging 21.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per/game. Rhymes joined forces with another top-rated prospect at Shadow this season, senior guard Craig Randall - giving the Matadors one of the best one-two scoring punches in the state.
Rhymes will look to have a strong spring and summer, after leading his club program, Team Bibby, to last week's Main Event tournament championship.
I caught up with Rhymes at the event and he informed me that he currently has scholarship offers on the table from Grand Canyon, Louisiana Tech, Portland State and San Jose State. He also advised me that he is receiving strong interest from Wake Forest, Gonzaga, Washington State, New Mexico, Weber State, Cal Poly and San Francisco.
Rhymes is among the very best available prospects in Arizona's 2016 class, and has already had a terrific high school career. He is primed for a big spring and summer.
Arizona Preps will continue to follow Rhymes' recruitment closely and bring you any updates as they continue to develop.
Arizona Hoop Review Scouting Report: Rhymes is an athletic guard prospect with a nice motor and a strong ability to score basketball off of slashing drives to the basket. He has very good body control and finishes effectively against bigger defenders. Plays much bigger than his size suggests. An excellent finisher and open court player. Has a good shooting stroke with range. His left-handed prowess makes him difficult to defend for opposing defenders. A strong rebounder. Excellent defender with very good quickness of feet and hands. Good ball handler. Solid passer. Already hearing from a number of division-I programs for his services. It will be very interesting to see just how high he gets recruited, as he has already had a terrific high school career.