Class of 2022 – Who’s Next?
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Class of 2022 – Who’s Next? By Michael Wholey 11/16/20 9:00 AM EST With last week being the fall signing period for the class of 2021, we will continue to monitor some of the state’s top uncommitted player’s, but we…
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Continue ReadingClass of 2022 – Who’s Next?
By Michael Wholey 11/16/20 9:00 AM EST
With last week being the fall signing period for the class of 2021, we will continue to monitor some of the state’s top uncommitted player’s, but we will also begin focusing our attention the next year’s class. Several high-profile prospects in the 2022 class have already made their decision, who’s next?
2022 Addison Potts Addison Potts 6'0" | CG South Fort Myers | 2022 State FL (Millbrook Prep (NY) / Tampa Thunder) – Committed to Missouri
Potts was the classes first prospect to make her decision, having committed to the University of Missouri in 8th grade. The extremely skilled guard has exceptional height and basketball IQ that make her an elite level point guard who can be an impactful player in the SEC. She had a great showing this spring/summer for the Tampa Thunder consistently displaying her court vision, passing ability, basketball IQ, and scoring ability. Her work ethic is well documented on social media as she is a proven gym rat who is consistently reaping the rewards of the hard work, she puts in the gym alone and with her trainers. She recently transferred to Millbrook Prep in New York in an effort to continue to put herself in the best situation and consistently improve and be challenged.
2022 Jordana Codio Jordana Codio 6'1" | SF Montverde Academy | 2022 State FL (American Heritage Delray / Essence) – Committed to Wisconsin
Codio committed to Wisconsin in the summer of 2019 after taking a number of unofficial visits and attending several elite camps. Her length and athleticism is something that Wisconsin Head Coach Jonathan Tsipis and staff were looking to upgrade on their roster in an effort to play a more uptempo style of play in the Big 10. Codio’s potential is through the roof as she continues to improve each year. There is no arguing her physical attributes as she stands out in a gym full of players with her unique combination of height, wingspan and athleticism for a wing player. As her coordination and strength has increased, so has her productivity. She had an excellent showing this past spring/summer with Essence and with two more years of high school ball, the sky is the limit for Codio.
2022 Savannah Henderson Savannah Henderson 6'1" | SF Timber Creek | 2022 State #46 Nation FL (Timber Creek HS / Central Florida Elite) – Committed to Central Florida
It comes as no surprise that Henderson verbally committed to the University of Central Florida early this week as she is very familiar with the program since her mother is the program’s head coach. Henderson is a versatile perimeter player who is long, athletic, and skilled. Henderson’s recruitment has been extremely unique with her mom being a D1 Head Coach and attempting to go through a normal recruiting process. Despite long being considered a UCF lean, Henderson did take several unofficial visits, event picking up an offer from Duke last year on an unofficial visit, and has been taking phone calls from a number of schools since September 1 allowed communication with the class of 2022 prospects. But in the end it look likes the comfort level and familiarity with the UCF staff, players and campus as well as the unique opportunity to play for her Mom, resulted in Henderson verbally committing early to the Knights. The UCF program has steadily improved under Coach Abe Henderson having won 20 games or more each of the past four seasons and playing in two WNITs and the NCAA tournament in the 2018-19 season after going 26-7. The program has not been shy of playing an extremely tough non-conference schedule going up against several BCS schools including defeating Pitt each of the last two years and competing with the AAC’s top programs playing UConn close several times and battling with Temple, Cincinnati, and USF. With UConn moving out of the AAC and UCF continuing to add top talent such as Henderson, look for the Knights to compete for AAC Titles, national top 25 rankings, and appearances in the NCAA tournament consistently.
2022 6’2 Forward Nyla Harris Nyla Harris 6'2" | PF Lake Highland Prep | 2022 State #34 Nation FL (Lake Highland Prep / Central Florida Elite 2021)
Harris recently released a top 5 list of schools: Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina, NC State, and Georgia Tech. Harris and her Central Florida Elite squad were off the grid for most of the spring / summer travel season until recently playing in some scrimmages. She was an impact player on the Nike EYBL circuit with Central Florida Elite the last few years showcasing her athletic frame and elite level athleticism, versatility, and mobility as an inside/out 6’2 forward. She has a strong build and plays hard on both ends. Her length and athleticism make her an impactful defensive player as a shot blocker and rebounder. And her offensive skill often showcases her ability to score in the paint as well as stretch the floor from the high post and three-point line. Releasing a top five at the start of the High School season surely gives those five colleges a heads up that she is engaged in the recruiting process and ready to focus on a select number of schools to get to know them better and make a solid decision. Lake Highland Prep is the pre-season ranked # 1 school per MaxPreps, look for these five schools to be very active and in attendance as much as possible at games should the NCAA allow them to.
Harris is the only 2022 that I know of that has publicly released her top schools but the 2022 class is leaded and there are a number of players in the class that are being pursed heavily.
6’3 Janiah Barker Janiah Barker 6'2" | SF Montverde Academy | 2022 State #3 Nation FL (Tampa Bay Tech / Essence) can pick about any school she desires as the versatile forward is one of the country’s top prospects and a number of high level schools would love to see her suit up for their team in the future.
5’8 Guard Kailyn Gilbert Kailyn Gilbert 5'8" | CG IMG Academy | 2022 State FL (Seffner Christian / FGB) is one of the most athletic players in the entire country. Her recruitment has sky rocketed the past six months having an impressive showing this past spring/summer for FGB. Any projection on where Gilbert will land would be pure speculation as to my knowledge there are no leaders in the recruiting process but Gilbert is extremely active on social media, often engaging with college coaches after phone calls such as Louisville and Vanderbilt and has mentioned visiting in state University of Miami, Florida State, and USF campuses.
6’2 Forward Paris Gaines (West Orange HS / Hoop Dreams Elite 2022) in my opinion is one of the most talented and skilled post prospects in the country. She picked up an offer from Duke last year in addition to Savannah Henderson Savannah Henderson 6'1" | SF Timber Creek | 2022 State #46 Nation FL on an unofficial visit. The Duke staff has since changed as Kara Lawson is the program’s new head coach and Gaines has been off the radar, not playing with Hoop Dreams this spring/summer. I am not sure if she has made any progress in the recruiting process but will surely keep an eye on her as her skill is unquestioned.
5’8 Guard Sydney Shaw Sydney Shaw 5'9" | SG DME Academy | 2022 State FL (Miami Country Day / Miami Suns Team Fowles) has been on the exposure circuit since 8th grade playing 17U EYBL with the Miami Suns Team Fowles and a national high school schedule with Miami Country Day. She is a dynamic scoring guard who can play both the 1 and 2 positions. Her ability to her defender off the dribble 1on1 is elite with a number of deadly combination moves. She is a streaky scorer who is unstoppable when she gets it going! Her recruitment process has been relatively quiet as she has communicated with a number of schools including University of Miami, University of Florida, Ole Miss, and Georgia. We have no info as to any schools that she is leaning towards but as one of the state’s top prospects, we will surely keep an eye on her recruiting process.
5’10 Guard Tonie Morgan Tonie Morgan 5'9" | PG FSUHS | 2022 State #18 Nation FL (Florida State University HS / Central Florida Elite 2021) is an elite point guard who has excellent basketball IQ, great court vision, dangerous open moves in the open court, and great ability to get to the rim. She is a floor leader and extension of the coach on the floor with a good balance of running her team, getting the ball to open players in scoring position, attacking the basket in transition and the open court, and stretching the floor knocking down the 3. She is being pursued by a number of schools including heavily by local Florida State as she is right in their backyard in Tallahassee. Wherever she lands, Tonie skill and basketball IQ will allow her to have the rare opportunity to step in day 1 of a college program and run the point guard position. We will monitor her recruiting process and follow her play closely, as she is one of the state’s top prospects and one of my favorite players to watch.
The 2022 class is loaded with talent, having six players ranked in the top 60 nationally by ESPN. The class has 10+ players that could have the opportunity to play at the D1 BCS level and including foreign born sharpshooter Fernanda Ovalle Fernanda Ovalle 5'11" | SF Montverde Academy | 2022 State FL (Montverde Academy) and stock riser 6’2 Forward Amiya Evans Amiya Evans 6'2" | PF DME Academy | 2022 State FL (Tampa Bay Tech / Miami Suns) whose dad played in the NBA and is an Iowa alum. Wherever these players choose to attend, we will keep our ears to the ground on any recruiting news as well as track their progress and performance on the court. The entire 2022 class is one of the best classes I can remember in Florida and will be fun to see where they end up. The class of 2020 had 296 total signees when all was said and done, and I have the class of 2021 at 67 prospects that have made decision to verbally commit or sign. The class of 2022 on the outside looking in appears to be deeper and more talented then both classes but with the COVID-19 pandemic and the NCAA rules allowing for exceptions for current athletes getting additional years of eligibility, it is unknown how this will impact the class of 2022. It does appear to early on have impacted the 2021 class just on the uncertainty and the current climate. Only time will tell, and we will just have to wait and see.