Appears UM is expressing interest in 6’7 2015 Brent Hibbits (Hudsonville) visited UM yesterday for the game. Appears he has a connection with the 2 ball boys that suited up yesterday - played on the same AAU team, Grand Rapids Storm. Looks like Hibbits has some mid major offers from CMU, Toledo, Youngstown State, etc.
Prelim Opinion - very hard to take anything from the film below, because the competition level is just flat out horrible. I’ll give it a shot anyway though…Hibbits appears to have good courtvision/passing, ballhandling is a bit loose but displays decent change of direction relative to expectations for an unranked kid, appears to be decent catch and shoot or off the bounce type kid, not athletic in terms of verticality, speed, or lateral agility.
I have to wonder, what is the staff’s obsession with finding a guy to fit the 6’6 - 6’8 shooter role, with little else, when we already have multiple guys on the roster that do that? If we end up taking Wagner and Hibbitts…I just wouldn’t know what to think at that point.
In any event, I think Hibbitts is a bit more skilled than Wagner, but caveats apply because the comp. level in this film is just awful. Would need to see more film against better competition.
Was able to get full game film from AAU on Hibbits (#4 on film below) from July 2014. Once again, the comp. level isn’t very good, but certainly an upgrade from the clips above. I’ve only been able to go through half of it, but if I’m being honest, I just don’t think Hibbitts can play high major D1 ball with his lack of athleticism…he’s very challenged in terms of lateral movement and speed. Caveats apply because the film is 8-9 months old, but unless he made some SERIOUS strides in terms of athleticism, I just don’t think he has been naturally blessed with the tools to play high major basketball.
Notable first half plays:
1:40 mark – displays decent change of direction on the crossover from the right wing, but is a bit too upright, misses the layup
5:18 mark – able to get a step on his man going left, but then throws a wild off balance, cross court pass
5:35 mark – gets switched onto a guard at the top of the key, guard easily beats him off the bounce, defensive stance is much too high, needs to get lower and move feet laterally
7:01 mark – receives entry pass in the post (scramble ensues because the entry pass was poor and Hibbitts fails to meet the ball); Hibbits can’t get a step on the hesitation move and is almost forced out of bounds before throwing another off balance, one leg pass, at which point his teammate bails him out by hitting a FT line jumper
7:45 mark – offensive player easily gets a step on Hibbitts going left (the offensive player is very slow/laterally challenged himself) then puts a spin move on him to create a good look (but misses). Hibbitts is simply much too high in his defensive stance, simply can’t do that when you are laterally challenged in the first place
15:55 mark – receives post entry pass; takes a power drop step dribble over his left shoulder, has very little elevation on the shot attempt but is fouled. Knocks down both FT with good form
16:28 mark – gets the ball on the right wing; takes 2 dribbles left and can’t get a step on the defender despite the defender having to recover from the screen set on him to give Hibbitts some space
17:20 mark – receives the ball on the right wing after setting the pick; takes 1 dribble going right and attempts the jumpstop layup and might have been 4-5 inches off the ground. Missed the layup and looked very off balance and uncoordinated
Don’t know. Seems like it’s just preliminary interest at this point. It’s pretty obvious the staff is going to take a 6’6 - 6’8 ’ just shooter’ for 15 at this point. I would assume Hibbits is a backup plan for Wagner. Really have no idea why the staff is targeting a ‘just shooter’ at this point when we have an overload of those types while being short handed on ball handling and speed in the backcourt
As far as I know he was just brought in for an unofficial for the game. That’s very preliminary as all sorts of prospects are brought in for games, especially local. No harm in bringing in an in-state kid that has played really well this season.
Viewed the second half…I have to believe this has to be one of Higgitt’s worst outings…it was a pretty brutal game for him. I just don’t think he’s high major material and I’ll leave it at that
18:30 mark - misses catch and shoot 3 short
19:05 mark - poor close out, fails to get low enough to shift hips, offensive player hits stepback jumpshot from left baseline
22:55 mark - gets ball on left wing and attempts to go right, takes 3 dribbles and can’t get a step on the defender, attempts to try behind the back dribble and the ball is nearly stolen
29:05 mark - defending the baseline inbounds pass; lets the inbounder get inside position at which point he gets an offensive rebound and Hibbitts is forced to foul
29:50 mark - receives kick out pass from the big on the left wing, shot fakes and goes left when the defender is out of control closing out, makes poor pass when defense collapses on him baseline, resulting in TO
32:45 mark - opposing player gets defensive rebound (this is the opposing team’s center, who is not the fastest guy in the world), takes the ball up the court and puts a hesitation move on Hibbitts at the top of the key and gets just enough separation to get a clean look after lowering the shoulder…this was pretty bad. No way you ever want to get beat by an offensive player that athletically challenged
38:10 mark - hits cutter with nice pass for dunk
I don’t have time to watch the second film, but the first film looked like a medium level IM game. Yeah, that was some brutal competition. I’m not even sure I would feel completely out of place against some of those guards. If we could get this guy as some type of preferred walk on - like the Lonergan role - that would be fine. Otherwise, I agree. Can’t see it. Seems like a dude who would be a good fit at Hope College.
Well, I would say he’s no Sean Lonergan. I can’t see this kid being anything more than a preferred walk on. I’m more than willing to be proven wrong. Good luck kid
Wagner from Germany on the other hand; yes do want. That kid would be a great fit for M. I like his skill level for his size and age. He’s what 17?