Kansas Basketball: Recruiting News From Nike EYBL
By Ryan Noel
MoKan Elite – Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma
Top Target: Trae Young, 2017
The #1 target on the Kansas board is elite point guard Trae Young, the leading scorer for MoKan Elite. Young, whose father Rayford played for Texas Tech, had a huge Saturday 23 in the morning session and 40 in the afternoon session. In those two games, he also dished out 17 assists and only turned the ball over 5 times.
Young’s strength is his shooting, as he shows outstanding range and gets his shot off with a short, quick release. But he’s not just a shooter – he’s fully capable of being a driving scorer too. When his shot isn’t falling – he was 7-30 from 3 through four games last night – he’s a great north-south slasher that excels at turning the corner on a screen and finishing at the rim.
If Young is that good on offense – and he is – then why isn’t he a unanimous Top 5-10 player in the class? As good as Young was in the wins on Saturday, he struggled equally as much on Sunday. Unfortunately, he still has issues playing against bigger, more athletic guards – and he was bullied by such in their losses Sunday to Team Penny and St. Louis Eagles. When pressured and faced with that athletic and size disparity, he get sped up too much and tries to force the issue, at times similar to current Kansas guard Frank Mason.
Name to Monitor: Carte’Are Gordon, 2018
Gordon is a beast of a kid that is built a little bit like former Baylor standout Rico Gathers. He’s got tree-trunks for legs, and is already a load for anyone on the Nike circuit to handle.
Gordon’s not a skill player yet, but more of a bruising rebounder and finisher. He plays as hard as anyone – can even be a bit nasty at times – and has really strong hands. He should ultimately end up in the 50-60 range nationally, provided his skill level continues to improve.
Next: California Supreme