These Carolina Waves Athletes are Making a Splash
The Carolina Waves organization is stacked with players who have already caught the eyes of many college coaches. Most of these players are transitioning to their senior season, but they still have a lot of basketball to show off. College…
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Continue ReadingThe Carolina Waves organization is stacked with players who have already caught the eyes of many college coaches. Most of these players are transitioning to their senior season, but they still have a lot of basketball to show off. College coaches need to keep their eyes on these athletes.
Taylor Haynes | Northern Guilford | G | 2021
Taylor has tremendous vision of the court. She makes passes that even spectators probably weren’t aware that it was a possible option. She knows how to move around on the court with the ball looking to get her teammates involved. Taylor knows how to create plays for herself, too, driving into the basket and showing no fear of the contact underneath. She also knows how to move without the ball finding open areas to show off her shot. She is very quick on her feet, too, making it hard for guards to get by her or to make a pass with her arms blocking the passing lanes. Additionally, she is strong enough to box out any post player she goes up against to help with rebounding for her team. She has an offer from North Greenville University, but that is certainly just the beginning of the offers she will be seeing.
Alexis Kiser | Floyd County | PG/SG | 2021
Alexis has great awareness on the court. She knows when to make a move and drive around her defender. She is also very capable of passing and moving into an open area to then score from her new position. She is nearly impossible to stop in the paint with her quick moves with the ball and finds ways to make the shot despite who is in front of her. She also has a great shot from behind the arc. Additionally, Alexis shows great patience waiting for a play to develop or to make the best decision to help her team achieve victory. She keeps her head up on fast breaks making sure to help her team score in transition. She also isn’t afraid of being inside to collect rebounds to end the possession for other teams or to put up another chance off of an offensive rebound. It is no surprise that she passed the 1,000 point mark in her junior year, and she was chosen as the Region 2C player of the year in 2019. She has interests from Eastern Mennonite University and Guilford College.
Jaydn Hoover | East Forsyth | G | 2021
Jaydn is a quick guard who seems to get even faster when she has the ball. She makes decisive moves to trip up defenders. Her speed helps to keep guards in front of her making it easy for her to pick pocket them and turn that steal into fast break points. In addition to her speed, she has a great shot from all over the court. She has great vision on the court knowing where her teammates are and how they can contribute to the score. She knows where to move herself with the ball to get the pass to her teammate just right. She has a long list of accolades behind her in her high school career: two-time All Conference, All Forsyth County Team, and EFHS Women’s Basketball MVP. With that, she has interests from Barton College, Wilson College, and Bluefield College.
Monay Galloway | East Forsyth | G | 2021
Monay is a speedy and versatile guard who does a brilliant job of pulling defenders toward her to open up a teammate. She makes the perfect dish to her teammates to make the basket. She uses her speed, too, to create steals for her team and turn those into fast break points. She shows off her strong arm as well when she makes the long passes up the court perfectly to her teammates. Monay does an exceptional job of reading the defense as well to move into their passing lanes. When she is scoring on her own, she is driving hard to the basket not letting anyone in front of her stop her, or she is pulling up for the jumper, especially showing off her three point shot. She has earned All Conference twice and the EFHS MVP award as well as All Northwest Top 15. She has already received an offer from Meredith College, and she has interest from Fitchburg State University.
Tanaesha Ellison | Asheboro | G | 2021
When you hear that a young player has received an offensive player of the year award as well as a defensive player of the year award, you know that you need to keep your eyes on her, and that player is Tanaesha. It seems that some of her signature moves on defense are taking charges and jumping into passing lanes creating steals to get the ball back. She even contributes to blocks on defense. It seems to be a split second after she gets a steal that she has already created too much space between her and the other team making it seem simple when she completes the fast break bucket. She shows off a great jump shot from all over the court including midrange and behind the three point line. She knows how to dish the ball to her teammates as well. Additional accolades that she has include two-time All Conference, two-time All District, two-time All County, and two-time All Tournament.
Sierra Hubbard | Patrick County | C | 2021
Sierra is the post player college coaches need to keep an eye on. She has superb post moves and fights through contact. She shows patience when she gets the ball reading the defender and deciding which move would help her be successful at scoring. It is no surprise that she has passed the 1,000 point mark in her high school career already. She also runs the floor very well helping to complete fast break points for her team. She has even shown that she can jump into passing lanes and take the ball herself to the other end of the court for an easy layup in transition. Some of her high school accolades include first team All-Piedmont district, first team All Regional 3D, first team all region 2C, and All State. Colleges like UNC Pembroke, Randolph University, Emory and Henry, and Ferrum College have already shown interest in her, and I have a feeling that list will continue to grow.
Ayanna Griggs | Burlington School | SF | 2021
Ayanna is a strong post player who can move people out of her way in order to make a basket. She uses this strength to make post moves in order to score for her team, and she muscles people out of the way when going up for a rebound. She can also make some midrange jump shots from anywhere on the court and shows that she is an asset far beyond staying below the basket. She does a great job of moving without the ball finding the weak spots on defense to get the ball and using her post moves to do the rest of the work. She has already earned All Tournament accolades, and they will continue coming in during her senior year.
Taylor Comer | Wheatmore | G | 2021
Taylor’s accolades explain what a talented player she is. She has received All Conference all three years in high school so far. Her freshman and junior seasons, she was awarded the Most Valuable Player honor. During her sophomore season, she was awarded the most improved player. She was a top scorer in Randolph County averaging over 21 points a game last season. She is a great ball handler that knows how to read the defense and let a play develop. She has great vision on the floor knowing how to get all of her teammates involved or create space for herself to get some points. Her leadership abilities will be on full display during her senior season.
Morgan Carter | Wesleyan Christian | G | 2021
Morgan is a dynamic guard who can dribble and control the tempo of each game. Her dribbling skills are not the only thing she is capable of, and defenses quickly learn that they need to protect the three point line when she has the ball. She is a great shooter from all over the court, and she knows when it is best to drive around her opponent, too. She moves really well without the ball making sure to relocate and find the openings in the defense to make more contributions for her team. She is a ball hawk on defense as well finding ways to deflect the ball and create steals. These steals quickly turn into fast break opportunities for her. Some colleges that are already interested in her include N.C. Wesleyan, Roanoke College, Regis College, Lenior Rhyne, and Bluefield College.
Emily Hege | North Davidson | PG/SG | 2022
Emily is a quick guard who can change directions in a split second helping her move by defenders or step back to show off her shot. She is decisive in her moves making it nearly impossible to guard her. It isn’t a surprise that she has already hit 1,000 points in her short high school career up to this point seeing as she is an excellent three point shooter. She uses the speed on defense to jump into passing lanes and take the ball all the way to the other end of the court. Her freshman and sophomore year, she was North Davidson’s Most Valuable Player as well as earning All County and All Conference honors. Last season, she was Davidson County’s player of the year, and these accolades are just part of the list. Schools interested in bringing her talents to their campuses include Western Carolina, Radford, Coastal Carolina, UNC Asheville, Wofford, Furman, Georgia Southern, Boston College, Campbell, Charleston Southern, Creighton, Davidson, East Carolina, Elon, High Point, Georgia Tech, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, Upstate, Wake Forest, Winthrop, and Virginia Tech. These next couple of years will certainly be ones to watch as Emily continues to get faster and stronger to prepare her for the next level.
Kennedy Powell | High Point Christian Academy | W/SF | 2022
Kennedy has some great height on her and knows how to use that inside. She has long strides to easily get up and down the court, and she knows how to use her length to post up under the basket. She is also a great outside shooter knowing when to stay and shoot or drive to the basket. She is aggressive when it comes to grabbing rebounds, too, so players going up against her should be prepared to fight for the ball. Kennedy also contributes several blocks each game that typically turn into steals for her team. Her accolades like All-Conference and All-State have gotten her interests from schools like Eastern Kentucky, Wagner College, Mercer, and Queens University.
Ta’Nashia Hairston | Magna Vista | PG | 2022
Ta’Nashia is a speedy guard whose talent driving to the basket is constantly on display. She is a great ball handler who sees the floor well to know when to drive it all the way herself, dish it to her teammates, or take a step back for her own shot. She has a great shot from all over the court. She is a great defender, too, as well making it difficult for opponents to complete passes or dribble by her. She even contributes rebounds for her team and knows how to go from one end to the other making some fast break points. She has been the player of the year both her freshman and sophomore seasons and was 1st All Region. College coaches will enjoy watching Ta’Nashia play over the next few years.
Gracyn Hall | Randleman | W/SF | 2023
Gracyn makes sure her presence is felt in the post position. She knows how to position herself to make a move and score. She is an asset all over the offensive side of the ball as well being able to set up plays for her to pick and roll or have her pop out to show off her three point shot. She runs the floor well and makes herself present in fast break situations where she can finish the transition with a layup easily. Don’t be surprised to see her make a steal and take it to the other end of the court for her own fast break points. As a freshman, she was All Conference and made the Courier Tribune Christmas All-Tournament Team. She will continue to make a splash throughout her high school career.