NBPA Top 100: Players with Potential

Over the past week, there were numerous reports coming from the NBPA Top 100 camp in Charlottesville, VA on the top performers and their college suitors. The three players discussed below did not make it onto any of these lists and were relatively quite from a scoring standpoint; however they all showed signs of future potential. 

Brandon Ingram, 6’6”, 2015

Brandon Ingram is an upcoming junior wing out of Kingston, NC that is rated the number 12 prospect in the class of 2015 by ESPN. A late addition to the NBPA Camp, Ingram was added to a team featuring Joel Berry and Stephen Zimmerman and primarily floated around the perimeter during his time on the court. Standing at 6’6”, Ingram already has the height to be a high major player, however he is physically well behind his peers which led to long disappearing stretches throughout the camp. Ingram did turn in his finest performance of the week during a semi-final loss in which he scored seven points on 3-3 shooting. In this game, Ingram started off with a deep three, added in a fast-break lay-up, and then hit a pull-up jump shot over Justin Jackson. Ingram’s height and shooting ability are tantalizing, but his lack of strength and quite demeanor make it a challenge for him to have much of an impact on a consistent basis. Right now his ESPN ranking is based more on potential, but the lanky wing could blossom in the near future with further physical development and turn into a very productive player.

Rickey Doyle, 6’9”, 2014

Saying that Doyle was over shadowed by his teammates at the NBPA camp would be an understatement. Playing with names such as Kevon Looney, Tyler Dorsey, Thon Maker, and Quentin Snider the opportunities were few and far between for Doyle to make a major impact on games. While he did not draw raves with his play, Doyle was a solid contributor throughout the week and averaged 3.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in five games. He used his physicality to body up defenders forcing them out of their preferred post position and good lateral quickness in keeping them away from the basket. On his limited offensive touches, Doyle showed off a solid jump shot out to 12 feet along with a knack for grabbing offensive rebounds. With the pick and roll heavily emphasized during the camp, Doyle was probably one of the best at setting strong screens to free his guards for open shots or drives to the basket. During his junior year, Doyle averaged 21.7 points and 6.9 rebounds for Bishop Verot High in Ft. Myers, Florida despite missing a majority of the season with a stress fracture in his foot. He committed to John Beilein and Michigan in the spring and could be next in the line of unheralded Wolverine recruits to outperform expectations.

Connor Ferrell, 6’1”, 2015

Another late addition to the NBPA camp roster was the Georgia native who teamed up with guards Quentin Snider, Dominique Collier, Tadrick Jackson, and Tyler Dorsey. While these alpha dogs controlled the ball, Ferrell was aggressive whenever he received it. He only managed to score a total of six points throughout his first four games and his initial viewing took place on Friday evening when he missed all three shots and played limited minutes. Despite not making it into the score book, Ferrell impressed with his quickness and ability to separate from defenders when hunting a jump shot in one of the most competitive games of the camp. In a first round playoff defeat, Ferrell was the only player on his star studded team to finish in double figures with 16 points to go along with 5 assists and 2 rebounds. While Ferrell is only ranked as a top 35 player in the state of Georgia (allmetrohoops.com) his time spent in Charlottesville, VA could ready him for an interesting summer with his Stackhouse Elite AAU squad.