Examining Impressive Underclassmen Coming to Elite Camp

While much of the buzz heading into this weekend’s elite camp on Providence’s campus is justifiably on the four rising seniors (Abdul Malik Abu, Pascal Chukwu, Kaleb Joseph, Jared Terrell) with the potential to make the 2014 recruiting haul the best of Ed Cooley’s tenure, Kevin McNamara shared a list of expected underclassmen that is impressive in its own right.

What stands out most? There will be a lot of quality length.

Both 6’11 Josh Sharma (Northfield Mount Hermon) and 6’9 Jeremy Miller (New Hampton) are slated to return to the camp for the second straight season. Sharma is particularly intriguing. There aren’t many near seven footers his age blessed with his shooting touch, athletic ability and shot blocking potential. While many young big men with range to the three point line prefer to hover out by the arc, Sharma finishes off of lobs with authority and isn’t afraid to mix it up in the paint on the other end. If he improves as I suspect, this will be one of the most highly sought after big men in the class of 2015.

Sharma was absolutely eye-popping at the National Prep School Invitational and was one of the keys to NMH’s national championship run in only his sophomore season. Craig wrote a Closer Look feature on him in February.

6’8 Jarred Reuter is a different type of big man than others attending the camp. While not overly-athletic, he’s strong enough to overpower defenders, and skilled enough to score with his back to the basket. What stands out most about Reuter is his passing ability. He’s passes out of the post with ease, finds open men from the top of the key, and is a bit of a throwback in that he’s very comfortable throwing 35-40 foot outlet passes.

How good can Reuter be? He outplayed Abu when I saw the two go head to head last December, with Reuter’s Tabor club pulling a big upset. He ended with 20 points and 12 rebounds, completing taking over the game in the second half in front of the likes of Cooley, Kevin Ollie, Mike Brey, Steve Donahue and Mark Turgeon.

Craig took a Closer Look at him in June. Both Reuter and Sharma are 2015 targets and both attended Late Night Madness last October.

6’6 freshman-to-be Thomas Murphy, the younger brother of Alex (Duke) and Erik (Florida/Chicago Bulls), is said to have incredible potential. This will be my first look at him.

A pair of big men to watch from outside of New England include Tyler Lydon and Myles Carter. Lydon is a 6’8 shooter from New York who will head to New Hampton Prep next season. He projects to be a top 100 big man in the class of 2015. He’s recently picked up offers from the likes of Florida and Clemson. The Friars offered earlier this spring after very solid showings for the Albany City Rocks.

Carter was not listed in McNamara’s article, but there are rumblings that the 6’8 power forward out of Chicago could make an appearance. The Friars offered the St. Rita’s prospect a scholarship in the spring. He’s also a 2015 recruit. Carter visited Xavier earlier this summer and received an offer from Memphis in July.

Another notable attendee is 6’3 Donovan Mitchell from New York City. Mitchell stole the show at the elite camp prior to his sophomore year last summer, and followed that up with a terrific season at Canterbury in Connecticut before being injured in the spring. Mitchell has the potential to be a star at the next level.

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