High School Notebook: Combine Academy vs. Lincoln Charter
As the 2022-23 high school basketball season is slowly starting to pick up, it’s time to open up the scouting notebook and evaluate the early season performances of some of the top prospects in the high school ranks. This week we take a look at a trio of highly touted players from Combine Academy in their 69-65 win against Lincoln Charter.
Trentyn Flowers
Junior | 6’9” Forward | Combine Academy (NC)
Flowers stood out immediately due to his combination of size and perimeter skillset. Listed at 6-foot-9, Flowers is able to space the floor with a compact and repeatable shooting stroke and also put the ball on the floor with impressive fluidity for his size. Where he really shines is in transition, as his combination of size and handling ability makes him hard to stop for opposing teams. Flowers also showed interesting moments as a passer, as he brought the ball up on a few occasions and was able to make the right decisions in transition with the ball in his hands.
Overall, it was an auspicious first game for Flowers at Combine Academy. With nearly three full seasons ahead of him before being eligible for the NBA Draft under current rules, Flowers already shows a combination of optimal size and versatile perimeter skillset which makes him an early name to watch for the 2025 NBA Draft.
Silas Demary Jr.
Senior | 6’5” Guard | Combine Academy (NC) | Committed to USC
Demary has excellent size for a lead guard, standing at 6-foot-5, and he was able to utilize his size difference in this game to impose himself and be physical against smaller guard defenders. Showing impressive speed and the ability to change directions with the ball in his hands, Demary was especially effective in this game at attacking off the dribble and getting to the rim.
Demary ran the show for Combine Academy and was effective in his role as a scoring guard, it will be interesting to see how much value Demary is able to add offensively as a jump shooter, which is a key for any lead guard. He wasn’t able to make much of an impact as a floor spacer in this game and according to Cerebro Sports, he has made just 16.7% of his 3 point attempts across 15 games in their database.
Rakease Passmore
Junior | 6’5” Wing | Combine Academy (NC)
The other highly touted prospect from Combine Academy, Passmore had an interesting game as a do-it-all type of wing. Standing at 6-foot-5 with long arms and a strong frame for his age, Passmore has all the physical tools you would look for in a wing. When it comes to his skillset, Passmore was especially effective in transition, using his combination of size and handling ability to get to the rim. In the half-court, he uses his strength really well to create space against opponents who are just unable to keep up with him physically.
Passmore shows a level of touch both as a finisher at the rim against contact and as a shooter from the perimeter which are good indicators for him potentially becoming a scorer both on and off the ball at the next level. Defensively, he was tasked with defending the best perimeter players in Lincoln Charter, and while on occasions some of the quicker guards were able to get by him, he does a good job of using his size to create defensive plays. It’s still early, but Passmore shows a lot of promise and will be able to provide immediate impact for any college program.
Honorable Mentions
• A trio of guards kept Lincoln Charter in the game until the very end. Senior Elijah Burnett is a speedy guard who creates advantages with his dribble and is able to hit jumpers both off the catch and off the dribble. Junior Kelan Flowers is a strong guard who is able to get to the rim and finish with an impressive level of versatility. Senior Xavier Crawford is not as physically gifted as his other two teammates, but he compensates with quick decision making as a passer on the move and a smooth, repeatable jumper off the catch. All three could become contributors to multiple college programs in the future.
• Kendall Campbell (6-foot-8 Senior, Combine Academy) showed an impressive combination of size, length and strength, which he was able to utilize for defensive rebounding, rim protection and catch-and-finish scoring on the interior. Holding multiple D1 offers, he will be able to make an impact from day one at the college level due to his sheer size.
• Joseph Bruce (5-foot-10 Sophomore, Lincoln Charter) played mostly off the ball, but was able to make an impact by hitting a couple of 3 pointers with impressive range. It will be interesting to see how much he’s able to grow physically and if he takes more of an on-ball role in future years.
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