As expected, Desi Sills committed to the Razorbacks today, making him the 4th Arkansas Hawks starter (and 3rd from the Class of 2018) to do so since March ... if Ethan Henderson pulls the trigger soon for the Hogs, it might be an unprecedented haul to have 5 starters from the same AAU grassroots team all commit to the same high-major program. Also, a Henderson commitment means the Hogs would be the ONE and ONLY college basketball team with at least 2 Top 100 players committed in each of the 2017 and 2018 classes.
Sills, a 6-1 combo guard out of Jonesboro, was consistently good throughout the spring/summer playing for the Hawks 16U team in national events of the Addias Gauntlet, but he exploded onto the national scene in July after taking his game to a level of a do-everything guard. During the 3 July live periods, Sills often led the Hawks in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals ... pretty hefty stuff considering the Hawks are loaded with at least 6 D-1 prospects, and 3 Top 100-caliber players at that.
As the July periods were winding down and the grassroots circuits were concluding their 2016 season, Sills started picking up offers and interest from some big-time programs: first offer was UAB, then UALR, Missouri, and SMU followed suit ... meanwhile, programs like Virginia, OU, Gonzaga, Illinois, Purdue, Utah, Tennessee, Iowa State, Ole Miss, Gonzaga, and Stanford have all shown interest. Right now, I would say that Desi is comparable to a Top 150-to-250 high-level-3-star prospect.
So, what does this mean for the Hogs in terms of fit? I think he's a great fit because of how hard he plays at both ends as though his hair is on fire ... we need more like him to help make the various scramble defensive sets more effective. Offensively, he's skilled enough that he can effectively play the 1 or the 2. Good slashing ability, still needs work on the perimeter shot, but he is good at finishing or finding others in the halfcourt motion offense and in transition.
I've seen a comparison to Anton Beard, but Sills (also a lefty) has better length, is more fluid and smoother with the handle, is a better on-ball defender, and he's a more verstaile player overall than Beard ... Sills to me is more reminiscent of former Hogs combo guard Sergerio "Teddy" Gipson in style of play.
The addition of Sills also means the Hogs project to have at least 5 guards heading into 2018-19 -- CJ Jones (would be a junior), RJ Glasper (would be a junior walk-on), Khalil Garland (would be a sophomore), Isaiah Joe (freshman), and Sills (freshman). I look for the Hogs to add at least 1 more guard, either to wrap up the 2017 class or in 2018, even though 2019 star PG Justice Hill is already committed.
Sills, a 6-1 combo guard out of Jonesboro, was consistently good throughout the spring/summer playing for the Hawks 16U team in national events of the Addias Gauntlet, but he exploded onto the national scene in July after taking his game to a level of a do-everything guard. During the 3 July live periods, Sills often led the Hawks in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals ... pretty hefty stuff considering the Hawks are loaded with at least 6 D-1 prospects, and 3 Top 100-caliber players at that.
As the July periods were winding down and the grassroots circuits were concluding their 2016 season, Sills started picking up offers and interest from some big-time programs: first offer was UAB, then UALR, Missouri, and SMU followed suit ... meanwhile, programs like Virginia, OU, Gonzaga, Illinois, Purdue, Utah, Tennessee, Iowa State, Ole Miss, Gonzaga, and Stanford have all shown interest. Right now, I would say that Desi is comparable to a Top 150-to-250 high-level-3-star prospect.
So, what does this mean for the Hogs in terms of fit? I think he's a great fit because of how hard he plays at both ends as though his hair is on fire ... we need more like him to help make the various scramble defensive sets more effective. Offensively, he's skilled enough that he can effectively play the 1 or the 2. Good slashing ability, still needs work on the perimeter shot, but he is good at finishing or finding others in the halfcourt motion offense and in transition.
I've seen a comparison to Anton Beard, but Sills (also a lefty) has better length, is more fluid and smoother with the handle, is a better on-ball defender, and he's a more verstaile player overall than Beard ... Sills to me is more reminiscent of former Hogs combo guard Sergerio "Teddy" Gipson in style of play.
The addition of Sills also means the Hogs project to have at least 5 guards heading into 2018-19 -- CJ Jones (would be a junior), RJ Glasper (would be a junior walk-on), Khalil Garland (would be a sophomore), Isaiah Joe (freshman), and Sills (freshman). I look for the Hogs to add at least 1 more guard, either to wrap up the 2017 class or in 2018, even though 2019 star PG Justice Hill is already committed.
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