The JUCO Files Part 27
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 four 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, while programs can save on their NIL resources compared to when they’ll work the transfer portal.
All previous articles, totalling to over 125 players, can be found here.
This article will contain four in-depth reports, where the first one is open to the public and the other three behind a paywall.
At $6 per month, you’re getting a lot of value for your money compared to what other services charge. I’ve built a track record that’s starting to speak for itself, where multiple prospects have reached out telling how my articles led to them getting in touch with various college coaches!
Prospects
1. Jayden Hackett — Milwaukee Area Technical College
Small Forward — 6’6” — Sophomore — Sobiskie, WI
Link to Bio and Stats — Link to X Profile
Fundamentals and pure toughness. Hackett is the real deal and should be on every mid-major Division I coach’s radar. He’s one of the best floor-spacing wings in JUCO. Has a natural feel to get to his spots. Moves great without the ball and has strong footwork. Sets his feet quickly and has a seamless shooting motion and mechanics. At 44.3% on 246 three-point attempts the crazy part is that the numbers are sustainable for the next level. On top of that, he’ll adjust to a higher level of physicality with his good athleticism and natural toughness.
We’re in a stage where buzz words like “he wants it more” are thrown around too easily. But in Hackett’s case he’s constantly working his tail off on the floor. Consistent motor and has surprisingly well vertical pop as well. The 32-second mark shows an example of why the shot is so pure. Comes off the stagger and that reverse pivot perfectly balanced his body before the fluid rise-up and release. His footwork is advanced and it shows in the 42-second mark. He’s pump-faking the closeout defender with a wide sidestep and again a quickfire release. Teams tried to run him off the line and he’s still shooting in the deep 40s. That’s rare, with him keeping the ball high on the catch while not bending his knees too far being one of the reasons.
At 76 assists to 62 turnovers we’re seeing Hackett play as a secondary creator, mostly passing out of his advantages as a closeout attacker while also playing as a ball-mover. That’s a testimony to him recognizing a good shot versus a potential great shot for a teammate. His motor is seen in how he’s playing the passing lanes at close to 1.5 steals per game while his size and verticality helps him to play as a help-side defender considering the positional size. The more I watch Hackett’s film, the more I am convinced that he’s a clear-cut starter for mid-major or low-major-plus Division I programs.
Noteworthy: Hackett received NJCAA D2 First Team All-American honors.
2. Obi Coleman — Delaware Tech CC
Shooting Guard/Small Forward — 6’5” — Sophomore — Delaware, PA
Link to Bio and Stats — Link to X Profile
The fun part about me embracing JUCO the way I did the last two years is that more and more prospects reach out to me on X to help them with their recruitment. The same happened here with Obi Coleman. But his approach was must different. He has the right priorities, focuses on the academics and is looking for the opportunity to take his game to the next level at a four-year university. Coleman had everything prepared, and diving into his film, there’s clear value for programs at the next level to tap into.
At over 18 points per game, Coleman has shown his skill as a slasher and downhill driver. His game fits perfectly to play as a three while his quickness and speed help him to defend against smaller and quicker guards as well. He’s lethal from the midrange with a fluid pull-up jumper. The shot mechanics need some work, as he’s pushing the ball off his hands rather than a fluid release. But the positive is that he’s getting to the line so fluidly because of how well he’s absorbing contact on his last step. At close to fifteen attempts per game, the other side of the coin is shot selection. Coleman is much better than the 42.4% field goal rate shows, but he’s often looking to shoot himself out trouble, instead of making the extra pass, with 65 assists to 72 turnovers being one of the indicators. At under two assists per game at his volume of attempts it’s a clear sign of him not sharing the ball as much as he should.
The main challenge is to scale is role down, but that’s where his right mindset comes into play. He’ll embrace every role that a coach will trust him with. For the next level it’s all about scaling his role down and growing in a low-usage role as a wing defender and shooter. At over two steals and a blocked shot per game, the defensive activity is a clear sign. On the other hand, he’s not playing the best competition. But that doesn’t matter because from the defensive plays I saw, he’s seeking to make the right reads every time. I believe in Coleman as a slept-on JUCO prospect ready to grow into a rotational piece for a low-major Division I program.
All JUCO Prospects
I’ve written 26 other articles like this one in which I covered a total of over 125 JUCO prospects, which all can be found here.
Paid subscribers get full access to this article, which will cover two more in-depth scouting reports and full access to my JUCO and international recruitment database, while getting full access to those articles as well.