Incoming freshman Jaylen Hoard Performs Well at Nike Hoop Summit

Incoming Wake Forest freshman Jaylen Hoard dominated on the boards to help Team World defeat Team USA 89-76 last night in the 2018 Nike Hoop Summit. In what is hopefully a sign of things to come for the extremely talented young man, Hoard racked up 15 rebounds and 11 points in 26 minutes of game play, drawing a lot of praise on social media for his ability.

The 6-8, 207 pound rising freshman shows why he is so highly valued by head coach Danny Manning. He is ranked in the top 30 of the 2018 class pretty much across the board, and is as high as 20th in the class by ESPN.

In a game that was dominated by players going to Duke, Kentucky, and the other blue-bloods in the country, Hoard was able to differentiate himself and stick out to a lot of folks.

There were official measurements done on April 12th before the game, and Hoard came in with a 7-1 wingspan:

His style should translate well into Wake Forest’s up-tempo offense that likes to run the court. He will slot in well at the “4” position and will almost assuredly start from day one in the Old Gold and Black.

While he went 0-2 from behind the arc last night, he possesses the all important jump shot that can stretch the defense from the four spot. He also has a high motor as far as getting up and down the court, which will allow him to get a lot of junk rebounds (7 offensive boards last night) and easy baskets.

I am very excited about what Hoard can bring to Wake next year, and believe that he will be instrumental in getting the program back to where it needs to be.