talking with Kowacie

Middle-Georgia Boy’s High School Basketball Roundtable

“Fabulous Freshmen”

 

By John Kosater koknowsportsblog.com

By Kowacie Reeves hypesouth.com

• Who has been the most important Middle-GA freshman for his respective team in this season?

For me, it is between Jaden Harris (Stratford Academy) and Jordan Jones (FPD). However, if I were forced to choose, my pick would be Jordan Jones. He has been the lead man for the Vikings in 2017-18. The talented floor general has been a perfect pick-me-up for proven senior Maurice Gordon who is having a bit of a down final campaign. Through fourteen games, the 6-0 point guard led the team in scoring at 12.9-points per game and three-pointers made (34). If Jones can carry his school ball production over into the upcoming travel season, he could easily begin his story on the recruiting trail.   –KOWACIE REEVES

 

I honestly feel like the two freshmen from Westside, Javian Mosely and Kowacie Reeves Jr have saved Westside’s season . I talked to Josh Grube a few days after he lost Khavon Moore, arguably the best player to come out of Macon in 25 years, and Coach Grube was confident that his team would be fine. I feel like a lot of that is because he knew he had these two freshmen who could really play. Sure no fill- in is possible for a player of Moore’s ability, but they have held it together. – John Kosater

• Who has been the most surprising Middle-GA freshman this season?

I would have to go with Westside-Macon guard Javian Mosley here. The 6-3 combo guard started out the year very slow, but has picked up the pace after being inserted into the starting lineup following Khavon Moore’s injury. He’s been a pleasant surprise for the Noles the last six games averaging 14.5-points, 2.6-assists, and 2.9-rebounds per game. With a couple inches left in him to grow, Mosley could become a very intriguing prospect in the Middle-Georgia area moving forward. –KOWACIE REEVES

 

While Mosely is a surprise, I would have to go with Jordan Jones. This guy had to come in to a senior laden team and he has probably been the  Vikings most consistent player on the year. He has handled point guard responsibilities and kept FPD in the playoff hunt. Kowacie Reeves Jr probably didn't even think he would get varsity time this year but he has hit over 30 3-pointers. Yeah that's a surprise to me.- John Kosater

• Which Middle-GA freshman has the most high-major collegiate potential?

Wow, am I only allowed to pick one? Well, I’m going to bend the rules a little bit here. With that said, I’m going with Jaden Harris (Stratford Academy), BJ Wright (Perry), and Jordan Brown (Northside-WR). At 6-foot-3, Harris is a ready-made combo guard that already possesses the physical attributes needed to survive the grind at the next level. Further, running with the 2021 Georgia Stars on the travel circuit will expose him to a broader audience and will better prepare him as he’ll be facing top-level competition year in and year out. At 6-foot-6, Wright definitely has the measurables and skill set to catch the eye of Power Five programs. I’ve only had a chance to watch him play twice and left the gym blown away with his potential. Right now, he is still raw, but there is no doubt in my mind that he has all the tools to play at a high level. 6-foot-7 Jordan Brown is another true freshman that could turn out to be a big-time player if he continues to develop. The south-paw forward from Warner Robins, GA is averaging 6.1-rebounds and 4-blocks per game this year. At the time being, he is hanging around in the paint a lot, but if he can expand his game on out to the perimeter in the next couple years, watch out!  –KOWACIE REEVES

 

Kowacie I am just not sold on Jaden Harris so I will be the bad guy here. First of all Jaden is a tremendous athlete with great physical tools, but he has to learn to play within the team, especially as a freshman on a team with loads of talent. He still takes too many bad shots but well he is 14 or 15 years old. I have no doubt his future is bright.

With that being said, I like BJ Wright. He already had 210 pounds on his frame and he is scary talented. Let’s remember you cannot coach height and he is already a big kids and I love his game.

I have not seen Jordan Brown play a game yet but he is another 6’7 kid and from people I talked to today he is already a defensive presence. He was also described as a very smart kid and that never ever hurts.

Don’t go too far on the Westside kids either. I had another coach telling me he already had to game plan for those kids in a game and he said if you didn’t know how old they were, you would never know it by the way they play.  I look forward to seeing them for years to come.

- John Kosater

 

• What are the advantages for Middle-GA freshmen playing in the GHSA Private classification versus Public classification?

 

This is a popular topic of discussion among hoopheads around the state. The answer for me is simple, there are advantages and disadvantages to playing in the GHSA Private class. However, I’ll just focus on the advantages right now. Basically, there will almost always be an opportunity to play more and have inflated statistics where you have smaller school populations and lesser competition, and this is especially true for Middle-Georgia area private schools. Now, does this determine how good or bad a player is? Not in all cases, so let’s not get all out-of-whack at my response here. –KOWACIE REEVES

I think the obvious advantage is it is probably much easier to get playing time at a smaller school. I think all of these guys would be getting major minutes at any class A school but how much playing time would Jordan Jones get at Northside or Westside ? I guess that is a question that will go unanswered but he would not be playing as big a role as he does at FPD. I will say that class A plays pretty good basketball. - John Kosater

• Which Middle-GA freshman will make his mark in the postseason playoffs?

Jaden Harris will be the freshman to make a big-time splash this postseason. He’ll probably play the most minutes and have the opportunity to make more plays than any first year player in the area, and as mentioned earlier, his physicality and raw ability will more than likely take over in the A-Private classification. –KOWACIE REEVES

I would have to agree with putting the playoff pressure on Jaden Harris. He will see the ball much more than these other guys and he is the number two option on this Stratford team. If he plays well the Eagles could make a decent run, but if he and the rest of the team play like they did Tuesday night at Wilkinson County, Stratford will be a quick exit.

My gut feeling says Jaden shows up. - John Kosater

 

So that’s it for episode number one lol. Feel free to throw us topics that you would like us to talk about . Don’t get upset at our views. We are just trying to cover some basketball as well as we can .