Four-star Jayden Epps focusing on six
Jayden Epps came in at No. 106 in the latest 2022 Rivals150 rankings, making him the No. 30 point guard in his class. He announced a final six in December.
“I dropped my top six recently: Florida, Virginia Tech, NC State, Providence, Texas A&M and Arkansas. Those are pretty much the schools I am in contact with most. You got other schools who are not in my top six, like Maryland, Wake Forest and Michigan who are still in contact with me though.”
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2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2022 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2023 Rankings: Top 30
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IN HIS OWN WORDS
Florida: “All the coaches from Florida are recruiting me hard. They have a great program; I love the commitment they have to me and I know I’d fit in well there.”
Virginia Tech: “Coach (Chester) Frazier, he always hits me up, we have a pretty close relationship. We are just always talking, and he is giving me pointers in trying to get my game better.”
NC State: “Coach (Kevin) Keatts and coach (Roy) Robeson have both told me they want me to come in and be 'the guy.' I have built a great relationship with them also”
Providence: “Ed Cooley and Ivan (Thomas) have each been recruiting me very hard. They love my game and have a clear plan for me in their system.”
Texas A&M: “They have been recruiting me for a while. I like the plan they have for me, in helping develop me and get me to the next level.”
Arkansas: “They’ve recruited me for a while. Coach (Eric) Musselman is there, he’s been in the NBA, and overall, it’s just a very good program.”
EPPS' RECRUITMENT CONTINUED
With already having narrowed down his list, Epps has not given much thought about a time frame to make the ultimate choice.
Epps does know what he will be looking for as he continues to develop his relationship with these schools.
“I am going to look at who I have the best relationship with. Which school has the best plan for me, and my development and helping me get to the next level, because that’s the most important thing for me. And I want to be in a family environment, where I choose, I want it to feel like family.”
EPPS ON THE FLOOR
Last week, Epps led all players in scoring at the St James NIBC invitational, when he averaged 26.5 points per game.
“I feel like nationally, I’m pretty much an underdog. So I wanted to go into the St James event and make a name for myself. People still don’t know who I am, so I want to go out and just do what I do.” Epps continued, “I’ve heard that I play like Damian Lillard a lot, maybe Kyrie Irving some. Those are also two of the players that I look at, I want to play very similarly to them, being a 3-level scorer, things like that.”
Moving forward, Epps’s district is not allowing his high school to compete in games this year
“Our season was canceled, so we are just out here trying to play as much as we can. We are all trying to get better, get to the next level, and that is the biggest goal. We can’t win a state championship this year, so we are all just trying to play as much as possible and get better.”
RIVALS' REACTION
Where Epps really excels is his feel for the game. His handle gets him to his spots, and his skill allows him to make a play when he gets there. He can score the ball at each level and is very confident in his ability against all comers. Last season, as a sophomore, Epps’ 26 points per game led his team to a 24-3 record and a VHSL Class 4 Co-State Championship.