#AtlantaInvitational – Kyle Sturdivant has next – June 12, 2015
Stackhouse Elite guard Kyle Sturdivant was one of the most talked about players at the Atlanta Invitational. Photo Cred: Willie Evans
I don’t watch much middle school basketball for evaluation purposes, maybe once or twice a year when there is a collection of players that are supposed to be heads above the rest usually in a camp setting. This weekends action at the On the Radar Hoops Atlanta Invitational was well worth my time. It’s tough evaluating young talent due to the fact that its hard to predict where a player will be two or three years down the road when they are in middle school, time has a way of weeding players out. Physical make up, early athleticism, and a refined skill set are what I typically look for in a middle school standout. 8th grader Kyle Sturdivant of Stackhouse Elite 14U proved to be that player that kept my attention over the weekend.
Sturdivant should be a name to remember in the upcoming years barring he stays on the right path on and off the court. Standing around 6’1 with a very impressive body, Sturdivant was a mismatch problem for teams all weekend. On his team he lines up at the small forward position, but he’s a combo guard that showed enough poise that it might be safe to say he could take over the point position down the line. A natural scorer, it wasn’t so much the fact that he could basically score the ball when he wanted to, but it was the way he scored. The young kid has an offensive arsenal that coaches would kill for their rising seniors to have. He was efficient using an array of floaters, stop and pops, and a ton of finishes with his offhand kept defenders guessing.
Sturdivant understands how to take advantage of the strength he has over his opponents, but it wasn’t all bully ball for him. He possess a good feel out on the floor as he would calmly rise up over the defense for short jumpers in the lane, or use a quick catch and rip through to get to the rim. Just the way he carried himself and his footwork tells me that he’s had some good coaching thus far. On the defensive side of things he made it so tough for guards to penetrate against him. Good lateral movement made him capable of cutting off driving lanes, and his strength allowed him to rip rebounds out of players grasp. Sturdivant went for 24 points in a Saturday morning win where his game looked so much more mature than everyone on the floor. He didn’t force to much, but rather created based upon what the defense was giving him while managing to keep his head up looking for open teammates. As of now he’s still up in the air as to what high school he will be attending. Wherever he lands that lucky coach will have a prospect to mold and lead his team for years to come.
Kerry Willis is the Director of Scouting for Courtcred.com and is a contributor to On the Radar Hoops. You can reach him via email at Kwillis@courtcred.com
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