Jaylen Hands has picked up offers from numerous Wes Coast schools. (Photo by Kelly Kline/Under Armour)
By SEAN MORAN
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Jaylen Hands is known as one of the best rising junior point guards on the West Coast, but now he is looking to establish his national presence.
With a strong start at the NBPA Top 100 camp, Hands is doing just that. In two games on Thursday Hands put together an 11-point, four-assist performance on 4-for-7 shooting and then followed that up with 14-point, four-rebound effort in the night session going 6-for-9 from the floor.
The No. 4 point guard in the Class of 2017 according to 247Sports.com, Hands was a popular player on June 15th when college head coaches were first allowed to call players from the Class of 2017.
“California, UCLA, USC, Florida, Louisville, Arizona, and Arizona State, sounds about right” said Hands when talking about the schools that were interested him.
While Hands is putting together a strong outing on the East Coast, he is only a few weeks removed from being cut during the USA U16 tryouts.
“I thought I played very well and did a lot of good things,” said Hands. “I had some bad moments also, but as a player it still urks me to this day and I don’t know if it will never not urk me, but just to have that chip on your shoulder to motivate me is good.”
When it comes to describing his game, the 6-foot-2 Hands is extremely confident.
“I think I can do anything offensively,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of games in AAU, high school, where I don’t take shots at times and get teammates involved. I think I’m very versatile. I can get 30 points or I can show up and get five points and 10 assists.”
So far Hands has shown everyone his scoring ability. Along with his double digit point totals, he also went 5-for-6 from behind the three-point line and penetrated at will showing off a nice floater when he got into the lane. Sporting a sinewy figure, Hands’ athleticism will often catch defenders by surprise with a quick first step and explosive vertical off two feet.
After spending his first two seasons playing for California powerhouse Mater Dei, Hands will begin his junior season at Foothills Christian Academy where he will play with Arizona bound forward T.J. Leaf.
