The JUCO Files Part 21
It's simple: JUCO is college basketball's backbone. There's a world of talent to discover, of which many belong in Division I. Here in-depth analysis on five must-follow prospects for D1 coaches:
Why JUCO?
It’s not only the Diego Pavia case that’ll potentially lead to NJCAA athletes maintaining their four years when they transition to the NCAA. Fringe D1 prospects must go play JUCO basketball to maintain their valuable minutes while developing must-have skills and going through adversity. The result after two years is a associate’s degree and valuable experience today’s average D1 program seeks.
Instead of paying average players a lot of money in the portal, they’ll gladly shift to JUCO prospects who’ll come in fresh, and are in most cases even better prepared than their D1 peers. It’s a situation where everyone wins.
That’s why I focus on JUCO prospects who should play Division I basketball. I’ve written 15 articles last season, covering close to 100 players of which a majority signed a deal with a D1 or D2 program. I’m ensuring to keep this part of my newsletter at the same status, trying to grow the number of players to over 100. With more and more exposure, these less-coveted prospects will also receive a fair chance to put their name out there.
All previous articles, totalling to close to 100 players, can be found here.
Prospects
1. Elijah Edosa — Rend Lake Community College
Shooting Guard/Small Forward — 6’5” — Sophomore — Scarborough, ON
Link to Bio and Stats — Link to X Profile
What’s intriguing about Edosa is how he’s combining strength and creativity as a closeout scorer. He’s a true wing who shows signs of playing as a skill-forward as well. Great rebounder at over nine boards per game, while he’s tremendously efficient by finishing close to 60% from the field. That’s exciting because he’s taking his fair share of tough shots during a game as well. Body control is the key with him. Great core, fluid hips. Has creativity when he puts the ball on the floor in closeouts, but the handles are decent at best.
He’s putting up big numbers, averaging close to 18 points per game, and that’s a positive as he’s showing he has a scalable role. At 225 pounds, he has broad shoulders while filling his frame well. He’s mostly pressuring the rim, turning face-up scoring into post-up play as well. The footwork combined with him winning space on his bump-ins against defenders has his clear focus on finishing down hill as much as possible. The three-point shooting dropped to 25% this season, but that’s not a big issue for me as the volume is low in both seasons. He has decent mechanics, but is a slow shooter, and thus should only serve as a stationary one when needed.
Overall, the toughness and brute strength puts him in good categories as a defender. Over 2.5 stocks per game, where he’s a tough interior presence and a decent shot blocker, showing good verticality despite the big body. He’s actively playing the passing lanes or helping, but there is some gambling for steals accounted in the total as well. With the role versatility of him switching and defending against fours, Edosa should increase a team’s defensive rating overall when he’s at the next level. I expect him to be a starter for many low-major Division I prospects.
Projection for next season: Starter at the LM D1 level
2. Marsai Mason — Arizona Western College
Small Forward/Power Forward — 6’6” — Sophomore — Phoenix, AZ
Link to Bio and Stats — Link to X Profile
Mason is an athletic power wing. Decent handles and mainly providing his value as a interior defender and shot-blocker while he’s putting the ball on the floor as a closeout scorer. Great burst, takes long strides laterally and he’s a skilled interior finisher. At close to nine rebounds per game, Mason does most of his scoring around the basket. Great last step, handles contact very well and gets himself to the foul line in bunches. In lineups with more shooting around him, the slashing and physicality is a translating part of his game.
Defensively, he slides his feet well and will defend in the pick-and-roll. On top of that, he’s versatile in his role as he can switch to fours as well. Great verticality and combines with his broad shoulders and good strength, Mason brings the strength and skill many programs seek to improve while putting more size next to their guard play. He’s at 28.9% on over two three-pointers per game. But the numbers here are less important. I would have said the same thing if it were close to 40%.
The jumper is still work in progress. The high-arcing release is a good start, but Mason’s solely a stationary shooter, as his physicality and good speed would be more useful in dribble penetration to open up space for better shooters around him. The creativity is decent, but the speed and strength are the value provided for teams. That’ll translate to the defensive side of the ball as well. Overall, the area of attention is the 18 assists in 19 games so far this year while he’s at 33 assists. Passing out the advantages he’s creating with two feet in the paint is what coaches should help him with at the next level. Overall, Mason is going to be a good spark of the bench for many low-major Division I programs.
Projection for next season: Rotational piece for a LM D1 program
3. Jayden Dickens — Pellissippi State College
Small Forward/Power Forward — 6’8” — Freshman — Atlanta, GA
Link to Bio and Stats — Link to X Profile
Dickens came off the bench and got promoted to being a starter a month ago. He’s rapidly developing into one of the better forwards among JUCO freshmen. Still growing into his body, while improving the range on his jumpers. He’s on the raw side, but there’s still two full months of basketball to be played. Overall, the potential is the main sell here. Dickens is physical while showing good handles as a slasher. He’s best to use in closeouts, as he’s versatile in his scoring with his soft touch around the rim, while shooting fadeaways coming off both shoulders.
He crashes the offensive glass hard, looking for putbacks, while he’s strong and shows decent positioning in boxouts which help him to initiate transition offense. Overall, Dickens’ main issue is the lack of range on his threes. The 37-second mark shows an example of how he had all the time and the corner three fell short. At 8 points per game, he’s mostly creating his own offense. Not a volume passer by any means, with 9 assists so far this season. That’s an area of attention. Overall, the purposeful cutting while serving as a off-ball screener to get himself to play-finishing opportunities has mainly been his role. Dickens is growing and he’s versatile because he’ll never have to rely on ball touches to be effective. The curl at the 1:04-mark is an example. Solid process with a quick last step on his off-the-dribble jumper. But the range is the main issue, and leading to his low three-point rate and volume.
I expect Dickens to get much more Division I interest between now and the summer, while it might be best if he returns for his sophomore year, and not going one-and-done immediately. Overall, the physical tools while being a born interior scorer and presence should make him one of the more intriguing returners to focus on for the recruitment class of 2027. In case he’ll make the step after this year, he’ll be much more productive at a low-major Division I program where he can play as a starting three/four combo. Down the stretch, there’s serious high-major potential in Dickens’ profile when he’s entering his upperclassman seasons.
Projection for next season: Starter for a LM D1 program, but has a much higher ceiling with another year of full development in JUCO. Serious
4. Champ Hayden — Lake Michigan College
Shooting Guard — 6’3” — Sophomore — Charlotte, NC
Link to Bio and Stats — Link to X Profile
Tough shot-taker. Tough shot-maker. Looking at Hayden makes you curious of what’s the sell. He has way below-average numbers and has a sustainable field goal percentage in two occassions, being JV competition. He transferred to Lake Michigan from Marauder, a Division II program. This makes his sophomore year a do-or-die in terms of getting to the highest level. That’s the main reason why we’re seeing below-average efficiency. He has the freedom to play the way he wants. This makes it harder for himself to stand out, as he has the prejudice against him.
Regardless, there is a role for him at the low-major Division I level. Hayden’s jumper is consistent and simply one of the better among his guard peers at the JUCO level. The issue in his profile is that the shot selection is horrendeus, and he’s not making the extra pass when he should, while settling for bad shots. Due to the bad competition he faces and the freedom to play the way he wants, coaches must determine themselves on how feasible it is that his game can be scaled down to the role of a stationary shooter and closeout scorer.
That’s the only way for Hayden to succeed. And it’s a good way. Because the natural toughness is going to translate at any level. He’s at over two steals per game, and plays a wear-down style of play, making him fitting to come off the bench to simply wear best opponents down. Loves to defend in isolation and point-of-attack. Plays physical basketball and slides his feet very well. The defensive footwork is one of the positive indicators, but unfortunately it hasn’t improved his offensive game. That’s where he’s getting downhill with ease. The handle is not the tighest, but he’s making a difference with speed and simply being physical immediately. The extra energy while being a good athlete fits him into a microwave paint touch off the bench. The other side of the coin is that the last step is not good. Struggles to balance his body and his touch around the rim is decent at best.
The jumper is pure. Good elevation, consistent process. However, the same story here. Hayden is a classic example of a comeback player under the right circumstances, with coaching and someone who can help him improve his decision-making and composure, while reducing his tunnel vision. He’ll never be a high-major player because of the votality in his performances. But the toughness, body language and will to win are consistent factors, while the flashes are good enough to where low-major programs have a good spark off the bench.
His X profile is full of film. To avoid cherry picking, I took the latest one for your convenience.
Projection for next season: Starter for a D2 or rotational piece for a LM D1-program
All JUCO Prospects
I’ve written numerous articles like these. As of now, I’ve covered over 100 JUCO prospects, which all can be found here.
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All Other JUCO Files
All over 20 articles can be found here. Paying subscribers get full access to my Database.