BrandonClayScouting.com: Prospect Eval – D’Marcus Simonds – April 9, 2015

D’Marcus Simonds flew into the ELITE60 at the 2014 EBA All-American Camp.
Ty Freeman / @TyPhotoG

By: @JLHemingwayPSB & @BrandonClayPSB

D’Marcus Simonds – (Gainesville,  Ga.), Gainesville HS / Atlanta XPress – 2016
Height: 6’4″
Position: Shooting Guard
Committed College: Georgia State
Star Grade:

Date: March 15, 2015
Evaluator: Brandon Clay
Location: The Elite Preview (Norcross, Ga.)

Simonds is a tough matchup on the guard spot. He’s got good strength and the ability to get downhill. He’s most effective as a scorer midrange and in right now. Simonds continues to improve his outside range and has become a capable shooter in that regard.

Date: March 15, 2014
Evaluator: Brandon Clay
Location: The Elite Preview (Norcross, Ga.)

Simonds is great 15 feet and in. He can attack and smooth with the change of direction. He loves the mid range jump shot.

Date: February 5, 2014
Evaluator: Brandon Clay
Location: HS Season (Buford, Ga.)

Simonds gets to the rim as well as any guard in the state. Once he gets into the paint, he finished it with either hand scoring at the rim against four-star CJ Turman (Tennessee signee). Simonds finished through contact making him a tough matchup even without a consistent jump shot. He was the most impactful player in a game with five high major prospects and had 29 points here against Tookie Brown (GA-15).

Date: November 23, 2013
Evaluator: Jonathan Hemingway
Location: HS Season (Suwanee, Ga.)

Simonds is an intriguing prospect because of his combination of length, skill and athleticism. He appears to be most comfortable playing off the ball, but he showed glimpses of being a capable lead ball handler. Right now he is best at shooting the mid-range jumper. I would put him in the comparison of Brandon Paul, who played at the University of Illinois.

Date: November 20, 2013
Evaluator: Brandon Clay
Location: HS Season (Buford, Ga.)

Simonds is a tough cover in the open floor. His game at this stage is reminiscent of a young Jeremy Lamb. Simonds isn’t the perimeter shooter the Lamb was but can create and finish like he did. He’s a right-handed shooter who will have to work on that skill going forward. His athleticism is impressive and so is his competitive nature. That said he still has some maturing to do both on and off of the hardwood.

Highlights of Simonds courtesy of Kris Watkins/PSB:

Coverage – 

Brandon Clay is calculus help the Executive Camp Director of the Elite Basketball Academy and the owner of Brandon Clay Scouting. Clay is also the owner of Peach State Basketball, Inc., and serves on the Naismith Trophy Men’s / Women’s College Player of the Year Academy and the HS Boys / Girls All-American Team Board of Selectors. He is also the Director of Scouting for the OTRHoopsReport.com National Scouting Report. Clay has been involved in the community since 2001. You can reach him at [email protected]

Jonathan Hemingway is a National Evaluator for the OTRHoopsReport. Hemingway serves on the Board of Selectors for the Naismith Trophy. also He is also the publisher of CoachHemi.com. He has been involved in the community since 1996 as a coach, camp director and evaluator. You can reach him via email at [email protected] and follow him on  twitter @JLHemingwayPSB