Class 2020: Top Guards
,The guard position for the Class of 2020 is loaded! With commitments to Iowa State, UNI and UAB already proves how competitive this class is at the guard position. The top guard in the class is also nationally ranked with…
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Continue Reading,The guard position for the Class of 2020 is loaded! With commitments to Iowa State, UNI and UAB already proves how competitive this class is at the guard position. The top guard in the class is also nationally ranked with ESPN, and has a resume of who’s who recruiting her. The ceiling is high for this group of guards who still have two seasons to entertain us with their skill sets!
Caitlyn Clark – West Des Moines Dowling
Being ranked by ESPN as #4 2020 player makes junior Caitlyn Clark an obvious choice as a top 2020 guard for Iowa. This ranking plus spending 2017 Summer playing on USA team has catapulted her recruiting. Great play on her All Iowa Attack EYBL Championship team this past Summer has kept her in the lime light. Her recruitment letters are a who is who in college basketball, giving her a lot of options when she makes her commitment.
Last year she averaged 27.1 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 4.0 spg, and 2.35 spg. Quite a nice stat line that she will carry into her junior year at Dowling Catholic. Clark has an arsenal of weapons on offense. She has deep range, but can also attack the rim. Great ball handling skills along with a great read on the defense makes scoring in the lane look easy despite often drawling double teams. She should continue to her scoring frenzy this season even if she draws attention from top defenders. Her ability to get her shot of quickly and her creative skills in the lane she will continue to being a major scoring threat. If you are drawling up a scouting report, don’t think you just have to stop her scoring. She is a great passer, often threading the needle to her teammates.
Dowling has attended the state tournament the last two years with Clark driving the team. Despite the graduation of a strong senior class, we expect Dowling to make another run for the Well. Never rule out a team who has a point guard with the strong abilities that Caitlyn has.
Aubrey Joens – Iowa City City High
Aubrey Joens announced this past August she will be continuing her basketball career at Iowa State in two years. She will be joining older sister Ashley Joens who is currently a sophomore for the Cyclones. With the graduation of her older sister, she will need to bring more scoring for a Little Hawk team who returns a lot of talent from a State Runner-Up finish last year. Joens has a great outside shot that we feel she will easily be able to step into the role her sister has left. She loves the game, and it shows on her face when she is on the court. That type of love makes players want to play with her, and that leadership will be huge for City High in the upcoming season.
Even though, City High will be missing the state’s leading scorer, they have a load of talent to fill that scoring gap. City High will not only be returning four of their top five scorers, but all four are entering their junior years. So be looking for this top guard to help lead City High back for third year in a row to the road to State.
Emerson Green – Cedar Falls
Emerson Green is our first of three top 2020 guards headed to UNI. She made the verbal commitment last June to follow her fellow Cedar Fall’s teammates Cynthia Wolf, Kamryn Finley, and Kiana Barney to hometown UNI. Cedar Falls had a strong senior class last year that lost first round of State last year. Although just a sophomore, Green led the team in points with 14.9 ppg. She has great ball handling, allowing her to attack the rim with ease, but can also shoot the 3 with efficiency. Last season she shot 43.4% from behind the arc and 54.7% overall.
Green is not just a scorer though. Her long arms on defense allows her to steal passes on defense. Last season she averaged 3.04 spg. She also has ability to find the open shooter in transition or in the set offense. Last year she contributed to the offense beyond scoring by averaging 3.29 apg. Next season look for Green’s numbers to go even higher. With the graduation of all those future UNI teammates, Green will need to carry a heavier load on offense. The ball should be in her hands more, and the team will be looking for her to carry the team.
Maya McDermott – Johnston
Our second UNI 2020 top guard commit is Maya McDermott. McDermott will be leading the charge on a very talented Johnston team this season. Johnston almost got to the State Championship game last year, and return 76% of their scoring from a year ago. McDermott led this charge as a sophomore averaging 18.9 ppg. Although she is a crafty scorer, Maya will be surrounded by a lot of talent, so defenses will not be able to totally key on her. This should open up her offense even more, and make Johnston that much tougher to beat. With all the talent returning on an already experienced team, Johnston will be a team to watch this season.
She can shoot from the outside, but her best offensive weapon is her floater. She has mastered this move, and can get the ball off quickly and accurately when she is in the lane. She is not just a scorer, she has great vision not only in transition but in the half court set as well. She averaged 4.17 apg, and that should rise this year with all more experienced talent around her.
Kayba Laube – Marion
Last UNI commit from our top 2020 guards is Kayba Laube who was the first of the three to commit in April of 2017. It’s every Iowa girl’s dream to win a state title. In actuality, most do not even experience stepping foot on the floor at Wells Fargo. As a freshman her Marion team lost in State Championship game, sophomore year they took it all. Marion lost some key players on that championship team. Kayba has the experience to lead her Marion team the next two years.
The asset that sticks out the most when you watch Laube play is her shooting range. She is a knock down 3 point shooter, with great range. It will not be a hard transition to the college game for Kayba because many of her shots are already at the college 3 point line. Last season she led the Indians in scoring averaging 13.5 ppg. Although they graduated key seniors, Marion still has sophomore Riley Wright on the roster. Wright is great at penetrating the lane, which will help Laube get more shots off this upcoming season.
Caitlyn Daniels – Cedar Rapids Xavier
UAB commit Caitlyn Daniels, is rare true point guard. The point guard position has converted over the years to involve more scoring. Although Daniels is a great scorer, the part of her game that stands out the most is her unselfish ability to setup her teammates. Players like to play with Caitlyn because they know she wants and has ability to make her teammates look great. She averaged 4.69 apg last season, and in the last two years has already amassed 228 assists for her career.
She might look to pass first, but this CR Xavier guard also has great scoring potential. She has a quick release that allows her to shoot the long ball effortlessly. Her 3 point shooting is accurate as well, shooting 42.5% from behind the arc a year ago. She has quick foot speed that allows her to get past defenders and attack the lane. Once in the lane it is hard to defend her because she finishes well.
She isn’t only a threat on offense. Her quick feet and great read on angles makes her a relentless defender averaging 2.65 spg. I talked to Daniels recently about her upcoming season, and look for Xavier to be running a more up tempo defense. This will play right into the strength of their junior leader Caitlyn Daniels.
Rose Nkumu – Iowa City City High
Rose Nkumu is one of only two top 2020 guards who has not committed, but she is racking up the D1 offers. Nkumu will have options with schools like Creighton, Illinois State, UNI and Drake calling this athletic guard. She is a very athletic guard, with great speed and great vertical, but also has a strong basketball IQ. She has the ability to slither through multiple defenders in the lane coming up at end with a wide open layup. If she does have defenders on her, she is so physically strong she is able to finish over them. On defense she uses her athleticism and anticipation to get into passing lanes to create havoc for the offense. She is a true testament that the best offense is a great defense, creating many shots from her 3.23 spg average. She can also find open teammates in transition showing up in her 3.11 apg.
She has been the floor general the past two years for the Little Hawks. This past season they made it all the way to the state title game, receiving their only loss on the season. Little Hawks record with Nkumu at the point guard position is 47 – 3, showing her abilities as a leader. City High will have to fill the state’s top scoring leader from a year ago with graduation of Ashley Joens. Returning Nkumu and Aubrey Joens, they have the talent to make up for Ashley’s 30.7 ppg. Aubrey Joens is also on this list of top 2020 guards, making this duo one of top back courts in the state.