Brooks Barnhizer Scouting Report
The NBA prioritizes wings with a scalable game on both ends. Barnhizer's experience fits the bill. But there's much more to like for NBA scouts. Here are 3K+ words why he'll get drafted this summer.
Introduction
The Indiana-born Barnhizer had a tremendous high school career, earning him a call-up for the 2020 Indiana Junior All-Star Game. He improved from 20+ points per game as a junior to over 30 in his senior year. Hereafter, he committed to neighboring Illinois-based Northwestern University.
Entering his fourth year in the Big Ten, Barnhizer continued to improve on and off the floor while earning more minutes each season. As a junior, he crowned his effort with selections to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team, and Big Ten All-Third Team.
For the NBA, his high basketball IQ, consistent decision-making, and scalability of his game as a ball-handling multipositional defending wing. Contextualizing his current game to a feasible NBA role is the emphasis of this scouting report.
Physical Profile
At 6-foot-6, Barnhizer has broad shoulders and a well-filled frame. His consistent motor and toughness earned him a reputation as one of the Big Ten’s hardest and most fearless prospects. Despite his good core strength and decently fluid hips, Barnhizer is a limited athlete.
He has an average wingspan. There’s no official measurement available, but my best guess would be a plus two inches. Regardless, Barnhizer compensates with his strength, physicality, and consistent decision-making. Under Coach Collins’ wings, Barnhizer’s understanding of the game improved in each of his four seasons so far.
Barnhizer has good footwork, especially on the defensive end of the floor. With good timing, he makes the most of his decent verticality. The other side of the coin is that his lateral quickness is below average and that he relies on his consistent motor and effort level to compensate for playing against better athletes, which shouldn’t be graded as a negative by NBA scouts.
Offense
Catch-and-drive
Barnhizer’s most essential weapon for the NBA is his ability to make plays out of closeouts. He has decent handles and creativity. With his improving footwork, Barnhizer has the trust to be his team’s leading scorer. His rim pressure is limited but compensated with his good understanding of creating scoring angles while actively seeking to make the extra play. However, he’s often caught with tunnel vision, where he chases his buckets too much. The first play is an example of him attacking the closeout via the strong side after the open driving angle, but instead of hitting the cutter, he takes it to a well-positioned defender and hits the side of the backboard.
In the second play, the footwork looks off as his pivot foot already told the defender which side he was taking on the drive. Regardless, Barnhizer’s improving footwork shows a good last step where his pivoting before the post-up positioning led to the smooth spin move. To compensate for his lack of paint touches, Barnhizer built a reliable hook finish where his strength level allows him to cash in on these hooks further away from the basket.
In the third possession, Barnhizer shows his decision-making by not attacking the closeout every time he has the chance. He’s wide-open, but his ball-fake on catching the kick-out pass helped him to get fully rid of the defenders around him. However, in crucial positions, it looks like Barnhizer wants to get his team’s scoring too much. The fourth play shows an example where his dribble penetration leads to a crowded defense with a wide-open corner shooter on the weak side. Instead, he prioritized the tough finish in a packed painted area. In the fifth play, we see Barnhizer dishing the pass before the whistle, but that’s when he has a teammate in clear sight. For the NBA, he needs to work on his angle-creation as a passer rather than solely as a scorer.
Passing and playmaking
At over four assists and fewer than two turnovers, Barnhizer’s numbers give a good first glimpse of the positive effect of his passing, especially considering his ball-dominant role. However, the context behind these numbers is Barnhizer not prioritizing the extra pass more often than not. His playmaking reads are basic but consistent. As mentioned, his biggest challenge is to overcome his tunnel vision as a scorer, which often gets in his way, especially during his senior year, as he’s trusted to be his team’s leading scorer. Regardless, extra playmaking from the wing position is his offer to NBA scouts.
One of his advantages is playing booty-ball where Barnhizer uses post-ups to draw help defenders his way. His baby hook or regular hook finish is at the top of opposing scouting reports, helping him to use that as gravity to lure help defenders toward him and thus space the floor for outside shooters. In the first possession, an example is shown. Another vital part of the NBA is dribble penetration, leading to an open teammate. In the second play, Barnhizer enters the crowded paint and gets the paint touch he is looking for. Seeing how crowded the help defenders around him made that area, Barnhizer naturally looks for an outside shooter. That’s a good response on his part, which he should make more of a habit rather than looking for the tougher two-pointer in these scenarios. In that case, his playmaking can truly help a team’s offensive rating due to higher-quality shots being a result of his drives.
On an NBA floor, I mostly expect Barnhizer to be a reliable ball-mover with the third and fourth plays being examples. He recognizes clear angles and space in front of his teammates and doesn’t hesitate to make a quick pass in both plays. On top of that, Barnhizer shows a good understanding of the game that comes with the habit of passing the ball ahead in transition. These intangibles are vital to grade a player’s feel for the game, where he's scoring well compared to most of his peers.
Catch-and-shoot
Barnhizer hasn’t shot over 35% from three in his four-year collegiate career. This season, he’s under 30%, and honestly, NBA scouts shouldn’t care less. The context behind numbers matters, and in Barnhizer’s case, his attempts are a variety of rushing his shots off the catch but also being the player who has to make tougher shots at the later stages of the shot clock. For the NBA, he must develop into an average shooter to support a team’s offensive rating with him on the floor and to receive enough respect for his dribble penetration, especially as a below-average athlete who has to get his advantages via good decision-making.
When looking at Barnhizer’s jumper, his process makes sense. He’s not standing still on the floor and is actively and purposefully moving on the floor, as shown in the first play below. However, despite setting his feet quickly, he’s putting too much pressure on his toes before elevating as high as he can on the shot. He’s also moving backward rather than staying right on the floor. With his high-arcing release, Barnhizer can afford to jump less high while maintaining better stability. The jumper itself is smooth, and the form is consistent but it needs adjustments at the next level to take the fastest shot while managing good balance at all times.
In the second play, Barnhizer pivots his left foot as he’s looking to attack the closeout while bringing the ball to his side. He has to keep the ball and his feet at 180 degrees toward the basket to ensure the best stability. That’s the reason he hit the side of the basket after not attacking the closeout but settling for the shot. The third possession looks much better, but there’s too much pressure on his toes as he’s elevating too high on the shot, leading to a lack of balance. In the fourth play, he’s leaning too far behind, leading to the shot falling short.
The process makes sense, and after adjusting the aforementioned, it’s imminent that Barnhizer will show better results on his three-point shooting off the catch.
Pick-and-roll
For the NBA, the extra value to a team’s offensive rating comes via gradually improving his on-ball touches in time. Barnhizer is a creative enough scorer. His reading the floor leads to good decisions in dribble penetration. That’s the base to succeed as a pick-and-roll ball handler and scorer. While he’s averaging close to six free throws per game, he finishes these at about 77%, which is a reliable number. Despite the lack of high-end athleticism, Barnhizer’s handles and good decision-making get him to paint touches when he needs them.
In the first play, he does well to bank on the straight-line drive the defense offers him, where his stability and balance after the bump are impressive. He almost gets the and-one on the play. For the NBA, that’s the type of individual scoring via pick-and-roll teams look for to add to their bench unit. The handles support Barnhizer’s fluidity in the second possession below, where his jab steps and fakes keep the drop-coverage center from the opponent honest and force a rotation, and thus a possibility to collapse a defense. After the crossover, it’s understandable that Barnhizer tried to execute his advantage creation with the midrange jumper.
Understanding angles is the base for success in the NBA. Barnhizer’s good feel for the game in the third play shows an example. He recognizes the defense playing drop coverage, and thus, he uses the jab step to perfection to force the switch and leave him wide-open above the break for the three-pointer that gave his team the lead. However, at times, he’s caught by surprise with how easily his strength and good frame can help him get advantages. In the fourth play, he misses the wide-open midrange jumper after his defender hits the deck. For NBA scouts, the consistency of his banking on physical advantage creation determines how many ball touches he potentially gets at the next level.
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Defense
Catch-and-shoot
On the defensive side of the ball, Barnhizer shows a good understanding of the basic principles but isn’t consistent with his rotations at times. He’s missed the elbow shooter completely in the first play below after battling for the ball. While he’s in his fourth collegiate year, NBA scouts put urgency on upperclassman prospects to not miss their rotations. The main reason for this is to ensure a team can put these players on the floor without their defensive rating not taking too much of a hit. Plays like the first one below are areas to clean up for Barnhizer.
In the second play, he’s quicker to reach the elbow shooter from NBA range. Despite the make, that’s a good closeout by Barnhizer, who took away the dribble penetration on the weak side but gave up a tad too much of an angle for the shooter to execute the shot. We see a similar outcome in the third play. The mitigate the above, Barnhizer’s barely caught overhelping on defense. That’s one of his strong suits. After a good rotation, Barnhizer does well to jump in the shooter’s vision while putting a hard hand in the face before the shot.
Despite the makein the fourth possession below, Barnhizer shows another good closeout where he recognized the set feet ensuring him to be tougher with the hand in the face. That’s good decision-making on his part. The effort level sets him apart from most of his peers, as it helps Barnhizer to be quick to get in transition for potentially finishing off an easy two by a teammate’s defensive rebound. Those habits are essential ones NBA scouts look for.
Pick-and-roll
Due to the below-average athleticism, teams will try to put Barnhizer in pick-and-roll defense after switches. However, his decent screen navigation partially makes up for the aforementioned. His strength level compensates for a lack of quickness when battling to get through screens. But the area of development for Barnhizer is his footwork and not getting outside of the interior too far when he’s fighting through screens. The first play shows an example where he’s bumped out of the play. Barnhizer did decently to compensate for the mistake from behind and contest the midrange jumper well.
In the second possession below, he’s too reactive to the ball handler’s jab steps and when taking the potential incoming ball screen into account, that’s where the ball handler knew he had to attack Barnhizer’s feet with jab steps and fakes to get the wide-open above the break three after Barnhizer hits the deck. The fourth play is another good example of Barnhizer having to improve his positioning after pick-and-roll sets. After the ICE, he should have taken away that baseline driving opportunity immediately, as the opponent prioritizing the midrange jumper bailed him out on that play.
For the NBA, the screen navigation combined with positioning are areas to work with by adding these to his developmental plan. The feel for the game is decent with his pick-and-roll defense, limiting the negative impact Barnhizer will have on a team’s defensive rating.
Catch-and-drive
As a closeout defender, Barnhizer does well by planting his last step to ensure his balance and use it to take away one direction of potential dribble penetration. The essence of closing out to the perimeter is not giving away an easy driving lane while always trying to push the opponent toward the strong side to ensure a maximum chance of good help defense when needed. The first play below shows a good example of this. Despite the made basket, his opponent had to get through timely help defense but was lucky to find an empty painted area for the floating finish.
Another vital part is recognizing rotations immediately. Barnhizer closed out on the second play but saw his incoming five-man in his closeout lane and thus stayed attached to his assignment on the weak side while doing well in the defensive box-out to ensure the rebound and potential transition opportunity. The other side of the coin is Barnhizer staying too attached to his rotation and underhelping at times. When his opponent got underneath the basket. That’s where he had to force the tough finish or bailout pass, as his body was right across the scorer’s passing lane in case that dropoff case, and thus, a chance to deflect the pass.
Regardless, the good last step and clear decision-making while recognizing the offensive play at hand with his rotations being well gives Barnhizer a chance to effectively guard as a closeout defender. However, the main area for NBA scouts to keep an eye on is the lack of lateral quickness, making him more vulnerable to not close out too hard to take away the three, and thus always leaving room for opponents to take the three of the catch rather than using dribble penetration.
Cuts
The aforementioned high feel for the game is visible in Barnhizer’s defense away from the ball. He’s effective against stopping cutters or when recognizing he has to relocate to try and create deflections. He averages 2.5 steals per game this season, leading the Big Ten. His decision-making, consistent motor, and energy level make that a feasible number for the remainder of the season. For the NBA, he’s a defensive rating booster with how well he understands rotations while he’s not caught ball-watching.
In the first play below, he sees the help defense on the weak side arrive toward the basket as an extra presence. That gave Barnhizer the green light to go help against the five-man in the low post on his return. Despite the foul, that’s a good defensive play and execution on his part. In the second possession, Barnhizer rotates well as the help-side rim protector, and after the opponent got the paint touch, he saw that the recipient would be within reach if he chased the deflection from the weak side, which he eventually did.
Reading the game is Barnhizer’s specialty. In the third possession’s baseline out-of-bounds play, he does well to stay attached to his assignment, dodging the screen away from the ball, whereafter he positioned his body well to ensure he had his back toward the basket and thus effectively guard the rim until the help-side rim protector got the block. The fourth play shows another good execution after recognizing the offense well as the weak-side defender. He’s good at impacting the ball handler to force mistakes, while he smartly ducked in the paint to ensure the dropoff and bailout pass didn’t reach its target on the weak side.
NBA Draft Projection
Based on the strengths and areas of development mentioned in this scouting report, I project Brooks Barnhizer to be an early second-rounder in the 2025 NBA Draft.
He’ll enter the NBA as a 23-year-old ready rotational wing. Due to his role being easier to put in a box, it’s less likely teams will develop his long-term potential, especially considering the current four-year below-average shooting numbers. The lack of developmental foresight and potential takes away the first-round value.
Regardless, Barnhizer is a plug-and-play, defensively stout wing who’ll impact the game with his paint touches and connective passing. That makes him an intriuging options for many NBA teams. Thus, I don’t expect them to wait until he’s an unrestricted free agent, while it’s imminent that Barnhizer will sign a deal with guaranteed money. His camp will try to get to his second contract phase sooner, as he’ll be able to sign that contract before entering his prime.
It’s much expected to see Barnhizer taking one of the 450 guaranteed roster spots in the NBA next season.