Starting with the Man in the Middle - Top Post Players in 2020: The Biggest & Baddest in the Class

Basketball has always been a game played from the inside out—from the hoop outwards. A regulation court is 94 feet long and 50 feet wide, but it is within the narrow painted lane, known as the paint, where games are often won or lost. It is the space where centers traditionally dominate, as scorers on one end of the court and protectors on the other.  The youth game often does not possess clearly defined back to the basket players until the 7^th grade level and sometimes beyond.  Yet, the 2020 class has a group of players that few that maintain a very strong post presence.  

What do we look for in a center? An effective center should have the ability to deny the opposition any easy points in the paint, offensively a great center will have an arsenal of shots that make him impossible for one man to guard.  More than just putting up points, a traditional center employs the low-post technique—a physically demanding, back-to-the-basket set of offensive and defensive fundamentals. The low post—an imaginary region on both sides of the key—is one of the most important areas of the court, and one that a team's center must control.

 Basically, the center acts as his team's last line of defense, while also performing many of the unpleasant work that few others are willing to do. It entails highly desired, lowly recognized duties, everything from setting screens and posting up on offense, to jamming up the painted lane around the hoop and turning away shots in the defensive zone.  One of the toughest yet underappreciated positions in today game – but still one of the most important and coveted; every team WANTS a big no matter how good the team is.

With the end of season rankings soon approaching for all grades Prolific Performance Basketball (P2BBall.com) will be presenting a series of top positional groupings for all classes – these are not our formal rankings; rather an introduction to the top players in their respective classes at their positions.  They are not listed in a specific order and there is not a direct correlation to  national ranking position – P2BBall.com will release its formal national player ranking starting September 15, 2014 after the identification of the Reclassed student athletes. 

Below is a list of 10 of the Top Centers in the class of 2020:

1.      Jason Harris – West Coast All Stars

2.       Donavan Billings – Wisconsin United

3.      Isaiah Todd – Team 4-Real

4.      Montez McNeil – Banneker Kings

5.      Kendall Munson – Oakland Soldiers

6.      Marcus Dumervil – Ft. Lauderdale Lions

7.      Raymond Terry – Indiana MVP

8.      Tyjavious Bedgood – Dream Team Elite

9.      Josiah Hardy – Leesburg Basketball Club

10.  Visual Russell – Florida Force 

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