This is one of the most interesting times of year from a scout’s perspective. Whether we’re checking in on players who are making the transition from college to the NBA or younger prospects who are getting their first taste of college ball, there are usually some pleasant surprises -and a few disappointments- that begin to emerge.
Players in the Class of 2020 and 2021 should be mindful of a few things when scanning through this list:
-Choice of Program/Level
-Importance of Playing Time
-How Skillsets Translate
-Areas of Weakness
Recognize the mistakes made by those who have come before you and do everything in your power not to repeat them.
We’ll check back in with New England’s Class of 2019 later in the season as they find their footing, define their roles and make the necessary adjustments to the speed-&-physicality of D1 ball.
Here is how the Class of 2019 has fared over the first few weeks of their college careers….
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(Listed in order of The Hustle's Final 2019 Rankings)
1. James Bouknight, 6’5” Wing, MacDuffie, UCONN
Yet to make his college debut due to an off-court issue. Bouknight will rejoin the Huskies after serving a 3-game suspension. He'll have a chip on his shoulder, looking to restore his name and image. My money is on Book to make that happen.
2. Jalen Lecque, 6’4” PG/Wing, Brewster, PHOENIX SUNS
After signing a 3-year/$4.2M deal with Phoenix as an undrafted free agent this summer, Lecque scored 14 points on 5-11 FG/2-4 3pt/1-1 FT (those numbers don’t add up but the G-League website claims that they should = 14 points) to go along with 3 Ast/2 Reb in his G-League debut for the Northern Arizona Suns.
3. Akok Akok, 6’10” Wing, Putnam Science, UCONN
Logged 25 minutes and finished with 4 Pts/4 Reb/4 Blk in an 89-67 win over Sacred Heart. Backed that up with an uber-efficient 12-point, 9-rebound, 3-block game (4-5 FG/2-2 3pt/2-2 FT) in a disappointing loss to St. Joseph’s.
4. Alonzo Gaffney, 6’10” Wing, Brewster, OHIO STATE
Scored 10 points and grabbed 8 boards in a win over UMass-Lowell in his debut. In a nationally televised 76-51 beat down of Villanova, Gaffney scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting in 11 minutes of action.
5. Tre Mitchell, 6’9” Big, Woodstock, UMASS
Mitchell has been as good as advertised while leading the Minutemen to a 3-0 start. After a sub-par (by his standards) 11-Pt/9-Reb/2-Stl/2-Ast debut, the 6’9” big man had 18 points and 7 rebounds in a win over Fairfield followed by 20 points and 6 rebounds in a win over Northeastern. He’s combined to shoot 15-27 from the field over his last two games while averaging 16 points and 7.3 rebounds thru 3 games.
6. Kai Jones, 6’11” Big, Brewster, TEXAS
Potential-laden big man has only appeared in one of Texas’ three games thus far, ripping down 3 rebounds in 5 minutes of action.
7. Symir Torrence, 6'4" Point Guard, Vermont, MARQUETTE
Logged 17 minutes in his college debut with 3 assists and 2 rebounds in a 88-53 win over Loyola-Maryland.
8. Chris Ledlum, 6’6” Wing, Northfield-Mt Hermon, HARVARD
Kicked off his college career with a 13-point/11-rebound double-double in a win over MIT but then played only 8 minutes in a loss to Northeastern. Came back with a 9 Pt/6 Reb/2 Ast effort in a win over Maine. Averaging 8 points and 6 boards in his first 3 games.
9. Joel Brown, 6’1” Point Guard, Brewster, CALIFORNIA
Won the starting PG job and is running with it early in the non-conference season. After scoring 4 points in his debut, Brown filled the stat sheet with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals & 1 block while going 3-5 FG/3-3 3pt/3-4 FT in a birthday win over UNLV in his 2nd college game.
10. Brycen Goodine, 6’3” PG/Wing, St Andrew’s,SYRACUSE
Was held scoreless in a 49-34 rock fight loss to Virginia in his debut but had 2 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists during his 16 minutes of action in a win over Colgate.
11. Tyler Burton, 6’6” Wing, Marianapolis, RICHMOND
In a 100-98 win over St Francis (PA), the 6’6” wing registered 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists and 1 steal in 16 minutes while shooting 2-3 from the field.
12. Richie Springs, 6’10” Big/Wing, MacDuffie, UCONN
Announced his intentions to Redshirt during the ’19-’20 season and will get cleared academically in the process.
13. Ismael Massoud, 6’8” Wing, MacDuffie, WAKE FOREST
Seeing 5 minutes per game while averaging 2.3 points and 1 rebound per game.
14. Mika Adams-Woods, 6’3” PG/Wing, New Hampton, CINCINATTI
Made his college debut in an 81-59 win over Drake, playing 14 minutes and filling the scorebook with 2 Pts/5 Reb/3 Ast/1 Stl.
15. Charles Coleman, 7’ Big, Dexter, EAST CAROLINA
Averaging 11 minutes of play in his first 3 collegiate contests with 1.3 points and 2 rebounds per game.
16. Trey Anderson, 6’7” Wing, Woodstock, SOUTH CAROLINA
Played one minute vs Cleveland State, so we’ll count his first extended action as his true debut.
17. Noah Kamba, 6’1” Point Guard, Dexter, MURRAY STATE
See above. Same applies.
18. Daniel Buie, 6’2” PG/Wing, Gould, NORTHWESTERN
Played 14 minutes and scored 3 points with a rebound and an assist in Northwestern’s 71-61 upset loss to Merrimack
19. Idan Tretout, 6’3” Wing, Wilbraham & Monson, HARVARD
Scored 8 rebounds with 1 rebound and a block in 11 minutes in his debut vs MIT
20. Russel Tchewa, 7’ Big, Putnam, TEXAS TECH
In his debut, played 13 minutes while scoring 6 points with 3 rebounds and 2 assists in an 85-60 win over Eastern Illinois. Has registered double-digit minutes in each game during TTU’s 3-0 start
21. Anthony Walker, 6’8” Big/Wing, Brewster, MIAMI
Debuted against a strong Louisville squad and put up 9 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in 18 minutes. Averaging 16 minutes per game with 6.3 Pts/3 Reb/1 Blk/1 Stl in the process.
22. Bas Leyte, 6’10” Big, New Hampton, UNC-GREENSBORO
Debuted with 8 points and 5 rebounds over 14 minutes in an 83-50 win over NC A&T. Averaging 6.3 points and 3 rebounds in 12,3 minutes per game over his first 3 collegiate outings.
23. Hason Ward, 6’9” Wingspan Big Man, Springfield Central, VCU
Made his college debut against St Francis (PA), scored 2 points and grabbed 4 rebounds in just 5 minutes of action.
24. Tyson Etienne, 6’2” PG/Wing, Putnam Science, WICHITA STATE
Had 9 points, 2 assists and 2 steals in his debut win over Omaha.
25. Maxwell Lorca-Lloyd, 6’9” Big, Northfield-Mt Hermon PENN
Scored 2 points with 2 rebounds in 3 minutes of play in his debut, a loss to Rice.
26. Moses Flowers, 6’1” Point Guard, Thayer, HARTFORD
After a tough debut win over CCSU, Flowers has adjusted and is currently averaging 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists over 27.7 minutes per game as the Hawks’ starting point guard.
28. Wildens Leveque, 6’9” Big, Gould, SOUTH CAROLINA
Played 15 minutes, scored 4 points and grabbed 4 boards in a 66-32 pounding of Wyoming in his college debut.
29. TJ Weeks, 6'6" Wing, Woodstock, UMASS
The best college debut from New England’s 2019 Class belonged to this young man. Weeks went off for 23 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals in a win over UMass-Lowell. In his first 3 college games, Weeks is averaging 14.7 points, 4 rebounds and 1.7 steals while logging 26 minutes per game.
31. Charles Pride, 6’4” Wing, Putnam Science, BRYANT
Went scoreless over 12 minutes in his college debut vs Brown….then erupted for 22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in a heartbreaking 73-71 loss to Rutgers in his 2nd game. Averaging 10.3 Pts/5.3 Reb/2.3 Ast/1.5 Stl thru 4 games.
32. Tyson Walker, 5’10” Point Guard, New Hampton, NORTHEASTERN
Scored 11 points to go along with 2 Reb/2 Ast/2 Stl in 34 minutes in his college debut, a win over city rival Boston University. Averaging 33 minutes of action as the Huskies starting point guard and putting up 9.3 Pts/2.3 Reb/2.3 Ast/1.3 Stl per game.
34. Tre Williams, 6’7” Big/Wing, Woodstock, INDIANA STATE
Played 25 minutes and scored 6 points in his college debut, an 86-81 loss to a tough Dayton team.
35. Preston Santos, 6’6” Wing, Woodstock, UMASS
Averaging 3.3 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist in 13.3 minutes of action during UMass’ 3-0 start
38. Jacob Toppin, 6’8” Wing, Woodstock, RHODE ISLAND
Scored 11 points and grabbed 7 boards in 17 minutes during a win over LIU-Brooklyn in his college debut.
48. Benson Lin, 6’4” PG/Wing, St. Andrew’s, BRYANT
Averaging 6 points and 18.3 minutes per game during Bryant’s 2-2 start
49. Jordan Jones, 6’5” Wing, Exeter, CORNELL
After a tough debut, Jones is picking up the pace and has averaged 7 points in 14 minutes per game in his first 3 college outings.
53. Cam Shockley-Okeke, 6’5” Wing, Exeter, COLUMBIA
In his 2nd college game, had 9 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals in 24 minutes in a 65-63 loss to Wake Forest.
58. Joe Pridgen, 6’6” Wingspan Big Man, Governors, HOLY CROSS
Relentless wingspan big man debuted with 12 points, 8 rebounds & 3 assists in a loss to Maryland and has kept it rolling. Pridgen is racking up 11.7 Pts/7.7 Reb/3.3 Ast/1.3 Stl/1 Blk and playing almost 34 minutes per game in 3 games for the Crusaders.
60. Ody Oguwamu, 6’9” Big, Woodstock, WAKE FOREST
Great college debut for the 6’9” pogo-stick big man who finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds in 21 minutes during a 77-70 loss to Boston College. Averaging 6.3 points and 5 rebounds in 17 minutes per game.
62. Jordan Minor, 6’8” Big, Brimmer, MERRIMACK
Had 16 points and 5 rebounds in his college debut, a loss to Maine. But followed it up with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in a stunning 71-61 upset of Northwestern.
63. Marial Mading, 6’10” Wing, Commonwealth, CHIPOLA JC
Has become one of the hottest JUCO prospects in the nation and picked up offers from Kansas, UConn, Texas A&M, Oregon and Florida, amongst a handful of others. Is averaging 14.8 points, 4 rebounds and 2.5 assists over his first 4 games at Chipola.
70. Travis Evee, 6’ PG/Wing, Vermont, VMI
Scored 3 points in each of his first 2 college games before ripping off 20 points on 7-10 FG/6-9 3pt to go along with 3 rebounds in a brutal 80-77 loss to Presbyterian
81. Johnny McCoy, 6’5” Wing, Tilton, DELAWARE
Averaging 2.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while logging 20 minutes a night for the 4-0 Blue Hens
Tag(s): Home Prep Prospects PAST PROSPECTS: 2019 JAMES BOUKNIGHT GRADUATED CLASSES AKOK AKOK RICHIE SPRINGS JALEN LECQUE TYLER BURTON TREY ANDERSON PRESTON SANTOS ODY OGUAMA SYMIR TORRENCE CHRIS LEDLUM TYSON ETIENNE ALONZO GAFFNEY JOEL BROWN ANTHONY WALKER MAX LORCA NOAH KAMBA MIKA ADAMS-WOODS WILDENS LEVEQUE KAI JONES CAM SHOCKLEY-OKEKE CHARLES PRIDE TYSON WALKER JOEY PRIDGEN DANIEL BUIE MARIAL MADING JOHNNY MCCOY BAS LEYTE BENSON LIN JACOB TOPPIN JORDAN MINOR TJ WEEKS TRAVIS EVEE WOODSTOCK ACADEMY BREWSTER PUTNAM SCIENCE RUSSEL TCHEWA NORTHFIELD-MT HERMON NEW HAMPTON ST. THOMAS MORE MACDUFFIE WORCESTER ACADEMY VERMONT ACADEMY ST. ANDREW'S TILTON WILBRAHAM & MONSON SOUTH KENT LOOMIS CHAFFEE PSA CARDINALS BABC NY JAYHAWKS MIDDLESEX MAGIC ALBANY CITY ROCKS NY RENS METRO BOSTON NY LIGHTNING EXPRESSIONS MASS RIVALS