Best Bigs from the Assumption Christmas Tournament
I read somewhere once that people 6 foot 5 or taller made up 1% of all people in the world. That includes men and women, the elderly, the middle-aged, people that play football, hockey, baseball, soccer, tennis, volleyball, or no…
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Continue ReadingI read somewhere once that people 6 foot 5 or taller made up 1% of all people in the world. That includes men and women, the elderly, the middle-aged, people that play football, hockey, baseball, soccer, tennis, volleyball, or no sports at all.
The point was that finding someone to play Center for your College Basketball team was no easy task. Let alone to finding someone that was very athletic or skilled or both with a desire to even play basketball anywhere let alone for your program.
Of course, that height was meant to be used as a measurement for Men’s Basketball but the same rule applies to Women’s Basketball just at a slightly shorter height. I don’t know where that line is drawn but it surely exists and Volleyball has to steal more Center and Power Forwards away from the game than Football and Hockey do.
This is why I try to find the players that will be your answers at the most difficult to find positions in the game every week. There are some good options here.
Savannah Parker – ’22 6’0″/C – Montgomery Co
Parker had a big night for 20 points and 19 rebounds and averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds for the duration of the tournament. She goes to the floor for the ball and kept pushing despite dealing with some pain that she grimaced through to keep going. She is very strongly built giving her the ability to play taller than she is and she is tall enough.
What impressed me the most were her post moves. Early in the game she had sealed her defender deep in the paint and made a move over her right shoulder that was shut down by the defender and immediately went to another move over the left shoulder which was also shut down. But not because of anything being with Parkers post moves in was just very impressive defense also. Most defenders could not have stopped the 1st more and almost none could have stopped the 2nd one as easily as she flowed into it after the 1st.
This is a next-level player. I am too new to this to know if she is Division 1 material she may be a bit too short for that. But any Division 2 team looking for a strong post player with a lot of grit and fire with a mature post-up game should be taking a look and making an offer.
Leighan Jackson – ’25 5’10″/C – Pikeville
Jackson is the player I spoke about above that made an excellent defensive stop against two great post-up moves. It isn’t often you can be impressed by both players at the same time in the same moment but this was one of them. Jackson’s positioning is excellent. She doesn’t seem to be very quick but maybe that is a result of putting herself into the place she needs to be to hold down the Center position on both sides of the ball. If you already hold the best place on the position on the floor you don’t need to relocate quickly.
She averaged 9.7 points and made 75% of her foul shots. She scored off of a cross-post pass in the paint and made a reverse layup. She played an important role for her team in their run to the tournament championship.
Rylee Theiss – ’24 5’5″/SF – Pikeville
Theiss averaged a double-double during the tournament 16 points and 10 rebounds, made 75% of her free throws, and scored 15 points, and grabbed 15 rebounds while I was there on opening night. She runs the floor and is often rewarded with layups from a push-ahead pass over the defense.
She scored off of a dive cut on an inbound pass, a blow-by drive for a layup, a post catch, 1 dribble 2-foot jumper, and made a cross-post pass for an assist. This is a versatile player that plays well above her height and makes an impact in the paint.
Raegan Barret – ’23 6’0″/PF – Great Crossing
Barett averaged 10 points, 9 rebounds and made 86% of her free throws during the tournament. She has the instincts to find spacing in the lane to receive the ball on the dish-off pass. She scores through contact with the layup and short jumper.
Cecilia Shick – ’22 5’10″/C – Highlands
Shick averaged 9 points and 7 rebounds during the tournament and has the ability to penetrate from beyond the three-point arc and score on short jumpers.