We gave you an update on Shelton Mitchell earlier this week, and it seems that others are coming away impressed with the 2014 guard. ESPN recruiting analyst Dave Telep, who hails from North Carolina and will be hosting the Carolina Challenge, posted an update on players from the various NC State Championship games, and it seems like Wake Forest is going to be recruiting 6'5 Kinston freshman guard Brandon Ingram pretty hard.
Ingram and a lot of the other major players from North Carolina will be at the Challenge, and this is where guys like Marquis Rankin, J.T. Terrell and Tyler Lewis blew up in the past. Although the Deacs haven't been placing as much of an emphasis on recruiting its home state the last 18 months, there will be plenty of top talent on display.
More after the jump ...
Telep included this snippet about Mitchell:
Shelton Mitchell (Waxhaw, N.C./Cuthbertson) is growing into one of the top point guard prospects in his class. The 6-3 sophomore was the best player on the floor in the 2A state championship game. However, Cuthbertson suffered a tough loss to Kinston.
Less than 24 hours after the loss, Mitchell sent his coach the following message: "When can I get in the gym?"
"I get to school every day at 7 a.m. and he’s already there," Cuthbertson coach Mike Helms said. "He shows up every morning at 6:15 a.m. and the custodian lets him in. He does a shooting workout, jumps rope, and works on ballhandling. He works for an hour, grabs a shower and then goes to school. That’s what’s impressed me the most is he’s done this from day one. He wanted a key to the gym but they won’t let kids do that anymore."
Telep also mentions Kennedy Meeks, a guy Wake Forest was on early but who the team seems to have backed off of in recent days, as well as the New Hanover bunch (the same school as Ty Walker) that captured the 4A title.
I watched Kadeem Allen and Thomas Johnson play (as well as Nigel Holley) about 5-10 times, since I covered New Hanover a lot. Johnson played himself into a couple offers down the stretch, but isn't a HM talent or close to it.
Allen is a big-time player, but he doesn't have the grades. Wish he did, he's a big SG who can do a little bit of everything, plays terrific defense and finishes around the rim. He would fit in really well with the type of guy we're recruiting, but he won't even qualify at VCU or UNCW yet because he took freshman-junior years off academically. Allen will probably need a post-grad year or to spend time at a Junior College, but he will be a steal for someone as long as he qualifies.
Holley might be worth a look depending on how 2013 recruiting shapes up. He was expected to make a bigger jump this year than he did (he is still in that 3* level), but is still growing and has improved offensively. He has the length and athleticism to play at the major level, but doesn't get a lot of touches in the offense.