Prospect Spotlight: Tara Gugliuzza (2021)

One of the top players in the 2021 class in Illinois hails from Lincoln Way West HS. <strong>Tara Gugliuzza</strong>, a 5'6 point guard, is our twelfth ranked player in the state and is a very dynamic player. She is a small but quick lead guard who can lock up her man on defense and is very good at getting her hands on the ball. Gugliuzza can really get hot from behind the arc and score the ball. She is one of the best players in the state in transition and will only get better as she develops. She holds one offer from Lewis University and has taken a visit to the school. Gugliuzza's recruiting will be seeing an uptick as we near the end of the season and through the start of the AAU season in the spring. Gugliuzza tells me that she really enjoyed the visit to Lewis University and that she liked the visit. One of the best parts of her game is her ability to shoot the ball. She is able to get her shot off without much space. She is a really good shooter off the catch but she is also able to pull up in transition and knock down the shot. Gugliuzza is able to get to the rim pretty well and has the ability to score at the rim or pass off of the drive. Lincoln Way West is 12-3 on the year and are having a superb year that should prepare them for the postseason. Gugliuzza thinks that she is having a pretty solid year but also thinks that she could do a bit better. "Individually, I think it’s been going pretty good," Gugliuzza said. "I have been driving more and going to the free throw line a lot, but I’m trying to get more steals per game. Team wise it has also been pretty good. We have had three tough losses already but we have been practicing hard and working a lot on trying to get better at defense as a team." Gugliuzza has the special circumstance of playing with her sister Taylor, the first ranked player in our 2020 rankings. This is something that she really appreciates and something that she says is a lot of fun. "It is really fun," Gugliuzza said. "We have been playing together for so long so now I am kind of used to it. But we always try to make each other better and everything is always a competition between us so I really like playing with her." With how well that she is playing so far this season, and with the exposure that she will be getting this summer on the Illinois Elite squad, Gugliuzza's recruiting should take off soon. She is a very quick lead guard and has the ability to get hot scoring the ball. Good motor and basketball IQ. Coaches throughout the state will want to keep an eye on this 2021 product.