Badger Midseason Report: Best Uncommitted Backcourt Players

Checking in on both divisions of the Badger Conference midway through the season and these five upper-class guards are still on the open market for colleges to recruit. Some highly touted, some under-the-radar, but nonetheless, these backcourt players deserve recognition for their contributions and skills that should translate to the next level. Here we go: player_tooltip player_id="356447" first="Saige" last="Radke"] | Milton | Pure Point Guard | Class of 2022 Radke’s ability to consistently push pace and get good looks for Milton in transition is the engine behind their offense. Every team is more efficient in transition and Radke’s playstyle embodies this, finding driving lines and attacking the rim knowing that applying this pressure will force the defense to react and set up advantage scenarios. And in half-court sets, she’s adept at probing the defense and finding pockets of space for her drivers and shooters. But her passing is at its best off high pick-and-roll actions, where the combination of touch and accuracy on her passes shines through. The same kind of energy she plays with on the offensive end translates to the defense, where Radke creates a lot of her own transition opportunities. Her point of attack defense and ability to beat drivers to the spot stunts has stunted offenses and her aggressiveness in the passing lane complements her offensive skill set. Radke currently holds no offers. [player_tooltip player_id="156052" first="Taylor" last="Pfaff"] | Baraboo | Combo Guard | Class of 2023 Pfaff is one of the best guards in the conference at using her off-ball movement to get to her favorite spots on the courts. She v-cuts aggressively and adds an extra shoulder fake or jab to accentuate the sharpness of her actions, creating more space and an easier catch. And off the catch, Pfaff is a simple and effective creator. With her length, crossovers cover a lot of space and create driving lanes. Once she’s past the first level of defense, she consistently makes the right read off of the baseline help defender/rim protector. Whether she chooses to dish it off to the open low-post player or take out her DIY kit and attack the rim herself, she puts a ton of pressure on the defense whenever she’s on the ball. On the other end of the court, I’ve been most impressed with her help side instincts. The same length that acts as an important factor in her offensive creation contributes to her upside as a defender. She can act cheat off of her main assignments harder than other guards because her length makes recovering that much more seamless. And when she sniffs out the opportunity to double the ball, she does so aggressively and with bad intentions. [player_tooltip player_id="206580" first="Taylor" last="Jacobson"] | Monroe | Slashing Two-Guard | Class of 2023 Jacobson can get to the rim whenever she wants. She’s a very fluid driver with a ton of shimmy (I know it sounds unprofessional, but there really is no other way to describe that extra half-movement she adds right before driving off the catch routinely puts defenders off balance and is a key aspect to her game). At her best when making quick decisions, Jacobson’s combination of handle and athleticism in tight spaces sees her break through the first line of defense with regularity. And as her touch on floaters and intermediate-distance layups improve, she’ll become that much tougher to guard. At 5’10", Jacobson is a walking mismatch for other Badger conference guards. As a defender, when Jacobson decides to tun on the kill-switch, she has the capacity to shut down her opposition. Her lateral quickness and length put ball handlers out of their comfort zones and have the potential to distort offenses. Jacobson has one of the highest ceilings in the class, the progression of her processing speed and outside shooting will be key to her development. She currently has no official offers but has interest from a handful of D2 schools and D1 Alabama A&M. [player_tooltip player_id="156054" first="Jaelyn" last="Derlein"] | Deforest | Scoring Two-Guard | Class of 2023 Despite not playing since December 21st, Derlein still ranks eighth in the Badger-East in total points scored. Her ability to put the ball in the bucket in a variety of ways makes her one of the most dangerous guards in the conference when healthy. Though with all her skill, her most dynamic attribute as a scorer is her attacking rhythm. She plays at a different cadence than most guards and catches defenders by pulling up for mid-range jumpers off one dribble, springing up seemingly at random and using impressive core strength to stabilize her shot off of this explosion. And when attacking the rim, Derlein’s length and ability to round her drives open lanes and angles that she routinely takes advantage of. The same kind of frenetic energy she implements offensively is contagious on the defensive end. When she’s on the court, the entire Deforest roster plays with a little extra pep in their step, fighting harder to get over screens and playing more aggressive help side defense. Like Pfaff, Derlein’s length is extremely advantageous on this end of the court. Derlein can back off of explosive guards and use her reach to contest shots and beat drivers to the spot. Grace Vesperman | Mount Horeb | High Energy Point Guard | Class of 2022 At 5’6", Vesperman plays with the aggressiveness and attitude of a player a foot taller. She fights on every defensive possession, using her lateral quickness and fast hands to disturb both guards and forwards. Her knack for disrupting the post is also noteworthy. She beats bigs to where they want to go and plays with just enough physicality where she can bother their air space without being called for a foul. And Vesperman is no slouch offensively. She has great shot mechanics which enable her to be a threat on both catch-and-shoot and pull-up opportunities. She sells jab-fakes and pass-fakes very well, opening up space for stand-still jumpers or driving lanes. Her aggression attacking the basket is also commendable, as she initiates her own contact and attacks the body of shot blockers, forcing officials into making difficult calls and applying pressure on rim protectors not to foul.