One of the advantages of not only working with Rivals but also being a subscriber is the advantage of the network. Although the pandemic has slowed down our live coverage somewhat, we have been able to lean on others who have covered events in other regions of the country.
Last weekend, Big Shots hosted the Beach Bash in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The event hosted some of the top players in the Mid Atlantic area. Vanderbilt recruits were on hand with players such as Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, B.J. Edwards, and Q'ante Berry of the Bobby Maze Elite squad.
But two others of note were center stage as well. D'Marco Dunn and
Lucas Taylor of Garner Road both hold Commodore offers, and are big priorities for Jerry Stackhouse in the Class of 2021.
That's where Jacob Turner of Tar Heel Illustrated comes in. Carolina is recruiting both players as well, and he made the trip to get a first hand look at the duo. He joined us Friday morning to share scouting reports and recruiting information.
D'Marco Dunn
One of the hot names of the summer of 2020. He no longer is flying under the recruiting radar. He is now ranked No. 76 nationally in the 2021 rankings, and recently Dan McDonald called him the one player in the country he would love to watch play live right now.
"Dunn out of North Carolina was one I was really curious to see play with Garner Road. His recruitment really blew up with offers from several high-majors towards the end of the season, but eventually netted offers from Arizona and North Carolina."
Vanderbilt was Dunn's first high major offer back in early February. He now has fifteen offers since then that include North Carolina, Louisville, Arizona, Maryland, Texas, Marquette, Xavier, Wake Forest, Clemson, and Georgia.
Turner gave us scouting reports on both players. Here is what he had to say about Dunn.
"D'Marco is a really good player. I saw two of his games last weekend in Myrtle Beach. You could definitely feel with him that he was the best player on the floor. Body wise he looked like a guy who is ready to play at the next level. If I had to compare him to a Carolina player of recent memory, I would say Theo Pinson. Not only does he have that type of body type, but the way he plays. He's a better shooter than Theo, and his shot looks better form wise.
He's long, he's athletic, he's quick, and when I say quick, he's sneaky quick. He's not a guy who is going to be the fastest guy out there. In the second game he had three or four steals where he was just quicker than the other guy, and the other guy never saw it coming.
The biggest thing that stands out for him is body wise. He looks like he is ready to play at the next level, and he still has another year to go before he gets there. He was really impression in transition. He had some steals, some nice passes, and some transition buckets as well.
He plays with a little bit of a poker face as well. He doesn't show a lot of emotion. He's laid back on and off the court, but he's good. He's got all of the tools to play at the next level. You can also tell he's got a high basketball IQ.
If I have I gave him a rating and ten was a five-star, I would probably give him a solid 8.5. I would not be surprised if he wasn't a five-star with Rivals by this time next year when he gets a little more exposure. I think he is a guy that is definitely built for the next level. He's a fun player to watch, and will be a good player wherever he decides to go. I think he will get a lot of attention by his sophomore or junior year. He's got a high upside."
Lucas Taylor
You can pretty well take what we said about Dunn's patterns of offers and copy and paste it in the
Lucas Taylor section. The wing out of Wake Forest, North Carolina was an unknown when Vanderbilt became his first high major offer in late April. Since then he has gone off the charts.
The 6-foot-6 wing now has thirty offers, and since Vanderbilt came knocking he now has new offers from the likes of Ohio State, Ole Miss, Marquette, Arizona State, Miami, Cincinnati, Creighton, Clemson, UCONN, Virginia Tech, Xavier, Providence, Wake Forest, and others. He also has cracked rivals 2021 rankings at No. 128.
Just as McDonald was intrigued with Dunn, Eric Bossi feels the same way about Taylor.
"He’s a big two guard with improving athleticism and a great looking jump shot. Everything I hear on him says he’s in love with getting better and he’s in that late-bloomer category."
Turner also gave us his opinion on Taylor based on what he saw in Myrtle Beach.
"I'll be the first to tell you that wasn't as good as D'Marco. This is not a knock on Taylor because I don't think he is as naturally talented. But Lucas will be a late bloomer. He has actually come on the scene pretty late. He didn't start getting offers until this past spring. I live about fifteen minutes from his high school, and you don't really see a lot of D1 basketball recruits come out of the Wake Forest area, so that may have hurt just a little bit initially.
I like his game. The biggest thing that stood out to me was his leadership. He's a really good teammate. He's always telling his guys where to be, and I think he is the kind of player you would want to play with. He is really good at running the floor, and he did some good things defensively. His shot still needs some work. He did make some shots, but his form still needs some work. When you see D'Marco shoot you say that's a nice jump shot. Lucas's is not a pretty mechanically. He's got the body. He's tall enough and big enough to play at the next level.
I'm interested to see what happens with him the next year, because he has really kind of burst onto the scene. I don't know if he is Carolina level, although they have been talking to him a little bit. If he can continue to get better and get more exposure I could definitely see him rise to a four-star guy. ACC-wise, I think he could play at Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, maybe even a Notre Dame and North Carolina State. I think he could end up being a steal for whoever gets him.
I also think he will be a late bloomer in college. I don't think he will come in and play a lot as a freshman. After that he could do some nice things and be a consistent scorer."
Last weekend, Big Shots hosted the Beach Bash in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The event hosted some of the top players in the Mid Atlantic area. Vanderbilt recruits were on hand with players such as Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, B.J. Edwards, and Q'ante Berry of the Bobby Maze Elite squad.
But two others of note were center stage as well. D'Marco Dunn and
Lucas Taylor of Garner Road both hold Commodore offers, and are big priorities for Jerry Stackhouse in the Class of 2021.
That's where Jacob Turner of Tar Heel Illustrated comes in. Carolina is recruiting both players as well, and he made the trip to get a first hand look at the duo. He joined us Friday morning to share scouting reports and recruiting information.
D'Marco Dunn
One of the hot names of the summer of 2020. He no longer is flying under the recruiting radar. He is now ranked No. 76 nationally in the 2021 rankings, and recently Dan McDonald called him the one player in the country he would love to watch play live right now.
"Dunn out of North Carolina was one I was really curious to see play with Garner Road. His recruitment really blew up with offers from several high-majors towards the end of the season, but eventually netted offers from Arizona and North Carolina."
Vanderbilt was Dunn's first high major offer back in early February. He now has fifteen offers since then that include North Carolina, Louisville, Arizona, Maryland, Texas, Marquette, Xavier, Wake Forest, Clemson, and Georgia.
Turner gave us scouting reports on both players. Here is what he had to say about Dunn.
"D'Marco is a really good player. I saw two of his games last weekend in Myrtle Beach. You could definitely feel with him that he was the best player on the floor. Body wise he looked like a guy who is ready to play at the next level. If I had to compare him to a Carolina player of recent memory, I would say Theo Pinson. Not only does he have that type of body type, but the way he plays. He's a better shooter than Theo, and his shot looks better form wise.
He's long, he's athletic, he's quick, and when I say quick, he's sneaky quick. He's not a guy who is going to be the fastest guy out there. In the second game he had three or four steals where he was just quicker than the other guy, and the other guy never saw it coming.
The biggest thing that stands out for him is body wise. He looks like he is ready to play at the next level, and he still has another year to go before he gets there. He was really impression in transition. He had some steals, some nice passes, and some transition buckets as well.
He plays with a little bit of a poker face as well. He doesn't show a lot of emotion. He's laid back on and off the court, but he's good. He's got all of the tools to play at the next level. You can also tell he's got a high basketball IQ.
If I have I gave him a rating and ten was a five-star, I would probably give him a solid 8.5. I would not be surprised if he wasn't a five-star with Rivals by this time next year when he gets a little more exposure. I think he is a guy that is definitely built for the next level. He's a fun player to watch, and will be a good player wherever he decides to go. I think he will get a lot of attention by his sophomore or junior year. He's got a high upside."
Lucas Taylor
You can pretty well take what we said about Dunn's patterns of offers and copy and paste it in the
Lucas Taylor section. The wing out of Wake Forest, North Carolina was an unknown when Vanderbilt became his first high major offer in late April. Since then he has gone off the charts.
The 6-foot-6 wing now has thirty offers, and since Vanderbilt came knocking he now has new offers from the likes of Ohio State, Ole Miss, Marquette, Arizona State, Miami, Cincinnati, Creighton, Clemson, UCONN, Virginia Tech, Xavier, Providence, Wake Forest, and others. He also has cracked rivals 2021 rankings at No. 128.
Just as McDonald was intrigued with Dunn, Eric Bossi feels the same way about Taylor.
"He’s a big two guard with improving athleticism and a great looking jump shot. Everything I hear on him says he’s in love with getting better and he’s in that late-bloomer category."
Turner also gave us his opinion on Taylor based on what he saw in Myrtle Beach.
"I'll be the first to tell you that wasn't as good as D'Marco. This is not a knock on Taylor because I don't think he is as naturally talented. But Lucas will be a late bloomer. He has actually come on the scene pretty late. He didn't start getting offers until this past spring. I live about fifteen minutes from his high school, and you don't really see a lot of D1 basketball recruits come out of the Wake Forest area, so that may have hurt just a little bit initially.
I like his game. The biggest thing that stood out to me was his leadership. He's a really good teammate. He's always telling his guys where to be, and I think he is the kind of player you would want to play with. He is really good at running the floor, and he did some good things defensively. His shot still needs some work. He did make some shots, but his form still needs some work. When you see D'Marco shoot you say that's a nice jump shot. Lucas's is not a pretty mechanically. He's got the body. He's tall enough and big enough to play at the next level.
I'm interested to see what happens with him the next year, because he has really kind of burst onto the scene. I don't know if he is Carolina level, although they have been talking to him a little bit. If he can continue to get better and get more exposure I could definitely see him rise to a four-star guy. ACC-wise, I think he could play at Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, maybe even a Notre Dame and North Carolina State. I think he could end up being a steal for whoever gets him.
I also think he will be a late bloomer in college. I don't think he will come in and play a lot as a freshman. After that he could do some nice things and be a consistent scorer."
