2022 Point Guards
The best teacher at this position is experience. Learning to facilitate and create for others is oftentimes accelerated when young players have an opportunity to grow on the floor in real game situations. With young point guards, there are sure…
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Continue ReadingThe best teacher at this position is experience. Learning to facilitate and create for others is oftentimes accelerated when young players have an opportunity to grow on the floor in real game situations. With young point guards, there are sure to be growing pains that include incorrect reads, defensive breakdowns, and occasional turnovers, but coaches that choose to embrace the growing pains in young players at this position, more frequently than not, reap the benefits of their trust and investment.
Here are a few point guards that saw significant minutes leading the show for their teams as sophomores. Most have already shown above-average athleticism at this point in their basketball careers but have various levels of understanding for the game. All these things considered, it is safe to say that they will be playing basketball at the collegiate level in a few years. We are looking forward to tracking their progress.
Kyia Craft Kyia Craft 5'5" | PG Druid Hills | 2022 State GA | 5’3″ | Druid Hills
A small, quick, and compact guard that has a great motor for the point guard position. Physically, she passes the eye test, with a frame that is built to absorb contact when handling the ball. She has very good speed and shows an understanding of how to play with a change of pace and tempo. Her most effective moves are her hesitation and in and out dribble which she uses well to both freeze or shift defenders to get by them with little resistance. She is still developing her finishing options but has shown an ability to finish through contact at the rim. Her high arcing three-point shot will also become more consistent over time. Her motor and commitment on defense is one thing that keeps her on the floor for Coach Rosario Rice even through her mistakes. She competes on defense and takes pride in getting stops. She has a good understanding of how to play on the ball without fouling and how to play passing lanes as a young player. Craft has the work ethic to continue to build on a very solid sophomore year.
Bridget Utberg Bridget Utberg 5'6" | PG Woodstock | 2022 State GA | 5’6″ | Woodstock
Utberg is as natural as they come at the point guard position. She has an advanced ball-handling ability and an understanding of the game that is well ahead of her sophomore classification. When watching her play you can easily identify her constant probing of the defense when the ball is in her hand. Even with her diverse finishing ability at the rim and shifty style of play, that gets her by defenders, she is a very willing passer. She seems to make drives to the basket just to draw defenders to create scoring opportunities for teammates at times. She is a very intelligent player which allows Coach Regina Tate-Leslie to make changes on the fly through her. She is truly an extension of her coach on the floor and it can be seen on film. Utberg makes what can be described as flashy plays at times but when watching film closely it can be argued that she is a very conservative point guard and is simply making the play that best fits the situation. A place of growth for the young point guard is her finishing selection in transition. She is accustomed to finishing off of two feet which sometimes gives chasing defenders an opportunity to catch up and challenge what could potentially be very easy layups. This again can be accredited to her natural inclination to be conservative and intentional with her game.
Katelyn Dunning Katelyn Dunning 5'3" | PG Mt. Paran | 2022 State GA | 5’3″ | Mount Paran
Dunning is a prototypical point guard with a lot of upside. She has a strong compact frame that, when looking at her, you are able to recognize that she spends time in the weight room. She has advanced ball-handling and even as a sophomore showed that she was not rattled by pressure defense. She has the ability to be a one-woman press breaker with her speed and control of the dribble. She has an effective offensive game which includes strong finishes, floaters, mid-range jumpers, and rhythm catch and shoot threes. Even with an ability to score when necessary, she enjoys being a playmaker for her teammates. She has great court vision and a great understanding of the game. She is a vocal leader and a passionate defender. She is not afraid to sacrifice her body to pick up charges or use quick feet and hands to limit the effectiveness of other perimeter players. Size may be a concern for coaches at the next level, but she has proven that she is a very effective true point guard on both ends of the floor. She plays with a lot of basketball intelligence and will only continue to develop in the game.
Kehinde Obasuyi Kehinde Obasuyi 5'5" | PG Carrollton | 2022 State GA | 5’5″ | Carrollton
Obasuyi suffered a season-ending injury at the beginning of her sophomore year but was expected to have an impactful season up to that point. She started as a freshman and showed that she could be a trusted playmaking point guard in her first year. She has a stocky build that she uses well to bounce off of defenders and at times muscle other ball-handlers she defends. She plays with a level of toughness that shows through her willingness to take on and initiate contact when rebounding, even at her size. In her freshman year she demonstrated an understanding of how to execute the pick and roll effectively. She has a consistent mid-range jumper and floater just inside the paint but will benefit from an increased percentage from beyond the arc. When driving to the rim bigger defenders proved to be pretty effective when contesting her attempts, but she showed an improved understanding of how to counter that with her drop passes to her bigs. Coach Shon Thomaston is eager to get her back to help relieve some of the backcourt load for his team.
Gabrielle Johnson | 5’6″ | Callaway
An athletic point guard with a quick trigger beyond the arc. Johnson can heat up quickly from behind the three-point line and has deep range. Whether in the half-court or transition, when given space she can be trusted to knock down open jumpers. She has good speed but will need to improve on her ball-handling in order to really push the tempo. She makes good use of the fundamental dribble moves in order to get around defenders from the perimeter where she frequently uses quick flip floaters to score on the way to the rim. Her slender frame can be a weakness at times but she still shows an ability to focus on her layup attempts and finish through contact. Her shooting ability helps space the floor as defenders have to stay close even when she does not have the ball. Her overall skill and basketball IQ should improve which will help her land a college opportunity in a couple of years.
Tamya Blasingame Tamya Blasingame 5'4" | PG Lamar County | 2022 State GA | 5’4″ | Lamar County
Blasingame brings athleticism with a good basketball IQ to match. She plays with good energy on the offensive end and seems to be even more motivated on defense when her team is looking to press. She does a lot of scoring out of the pick and roll game where she shows both patience and good decision making when using screens to create her own scoring opportunities. She is a very good finisher at the rim even with her size where she shows good toughness finishing through contact. She is not the most consistent jump shooter at this point. Her ability to be able to knock down a few will help the diversity of her scoring ability and she has time to improve on that part of her game. She is a good ball-handler and does not waste her dribble. She has the potential to be a good playmaker because she shows good vision. Look for her to continue to improve on both ends of the floor.