Basketball season ends for some players, who have some down time before they reconvene with their travel teams to display their skills before college coaches. This spring begins the new NCAA evaluation periods as coaches can attend events twice in April and twice in July.
For younger players, this spring is an additional opportunity to get noticed. Such is the case for 2014 prospect Shon Briggs. At 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, the athletic forward had a breakout year for the Heritage Patriots as the team went 17-11 in the Bay Valley Athletic League.
In the season ending postseason loss to De La Salle, Briggs scored 18 points and was effective on the boards. NorCalPreps.com analyst Douglas Benton had this assessment of Briggs at the game:
"One of the best 2014s in the area, Briggs is agile for his size in going up and under for a layup, showed a good drop step and a spin move into the paint in finishing with touch at the basket. He also had a move which started on the right block and he went into the paint over his right shoulder for an and one opportunity. He can still impact more areas of the game, but this was a good effort for Briggs."
Briggs played for Oakland Soldiers last season. Soldiers Coach Joe Griggs has this to say about the young forward, "Shon is powerful for his age, but the best thing about Shon's game is how great his hands are. He reminds me so much of Chris Webber. He does a great job of being able to control the ball around the basket and finish strongly."
Briggs' dominance on the court will translate onto the college level. But he needs to harness and maintain that intensity when he gets to that stage.
"To be quite frank, he is usually the most dominant big man on the court when playing at or around his age level," says Coach Griggs. "Early in the summer, we played a tournament in Oakland against other 15-year-old teams. In the entire tournament, it looked almost effortless for Shon to score inside. But while that is great for him, it also poses a problem. When playing up against bigger and stronger competition, Shon might have a harder time imposing his will on teams like he can at his own age level."
With his physical attributes and playing for a recognized club name, Briggs has garnered the attention from Arizona, Cal, San Jose State, Santa Clara, Seattle, Stanford, Washington, and Washington State.
Coach Griggs is quite bullish on Briggs' college prospects. "He for sure will have a career at the NCAA level. He will have to work on his athleticism, but his raw talent and skill is off the charts. Once he develops a knock down 15 foot jumper and a complete back to the basket game over the next three years, he will truly be unstoppable." Watch for this Patriot to begin his breakout in Brentwood, California.
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