The JUCO Files Part 23
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 over 100 players, can be found here.
Prospects
1. Kion Hayes — College of the Sequoias
Shooting Guard — 6’4” — Freshman — Savannah, GA
Link to Bio and Stats — Link to X Profile
One of the West Coast’s best shooters. Hayes is an automatic bucket with tremendous shooting mechanics. He’s at 39.4% on over five attempts per game. The versatility of shooting stationary while being fluid and comfortable in one or two-dribble pull-ups is the main sell in his profile. The best part is that Hayes combines it with his explosive athleticism. Tremendous slasher and closeout scorer. He has decent footwork, but a good core where he can handle and absorb contact very well. With blow-by speed, the rim pressure is increased because of him leveraging his consistent jumper from downtown.
The high-arcing release is another differentiator. The 11 and 16-second marks show good examples. The other side of the coin is that Hayes is a right-hand dominant finisher, which makes it him somewhat easier to defend. Regardless, the floater is a good counter with the 35 and 40-second mark as an example. Overall, Hayes’ explosiveness puts him in a good spot to play as a off-ball shooter and slasher at the next level. Overall, the offensive value with the shooting consistency will put him on the floor and improve a team’s offensive rating.
The defensive end is tougher to evaluate. Hayes is still growing into his body and has a shooting-heavy diet. It’s not a bad thing by any means, as getting stronger and filling his frame will open up everything for Hayes in the next few years. The areas to focus on is ensuring he can pass more out of his advantages. As of now he’s averaging two assists per game while taking good care of the ball with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. Overall, I expect Hayes to be recruited by many programs at the low-major level.
Projection for next season: Rotational piece for a LM D1 program
We have three more in-depth reports after the paywall.