Top 20 Boys Point Guards Entering 2022 High School Basketball Season

High school basketball season is here.

As states open competition over the next month, SBLive Sports will be highlighting some of the top players at their position entering the new year.

We’ll start out with the ones who bring the ball up the court and run the offense.

Here are 20 point guards in high school boys basketball with sky-high expectations for the 2022-23 season.

TOP 20 BOYS POINT GUARDS IN THE COUNTRY

(The list is in alphabetical order.)

Layden Blocker, Senior, Sunrise Christian (Kansas)

Blocker burst onto the national scene after averaging 20 pints per game as a sophomore at Little Rock Christian. The 6-foot-2 Arkansas commit transferred to Sunrise Christian prior to his junior year, and he’ll run point for the No. 4 team in the preseason SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 national rankings.

Elliot Cadeau, Junior, Link Academy (Missouri)

247Sports’ No. 1 overall player in the class of 2024, Cadeau transferred to Link Academy from Bergen Catholic (New Jersey) after missing his sophomore year with an injury. The 6-foot-1 junior impressed over the summer at the Nike Peach Jam, averaging 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds per game.

David Castillo, Junior, Bartlesville (Oklahoma)

Castillo will be a name to watch for the next two years and beyond. The five-star junior surpassed 1,000 career points in just 41 games, and he already holds offers from Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas and more of the nation’s top college programs.

Isaiah Collier, Senior, Wheeler (Georgia)

The No. 1 overall player in the nation, according to 247Sports, Collier is an electric playmaker for the No. 19 team in the nation entering the 2022-23 season. SBLive’s director of recruiting Andrew Nemec recently predicted the 6-foot-3 senior will choose the USC Trojans over other finalists UCLA, Michigan and Cincinnati.

Silas Demary Jr., Senior, Combine Academy (North Carolina)

Demary made the move from Liberty Heights (North Carolina) to Combine Academy for his senior year. The 6-foot-4 combo guard recently became the USC Trojans’ first commitment for the 2023 class.

READ THE FULL STORY ON SBLIVE SPORTS

6 Jun 24 Jimm Sallivan

Former Burbank Burroughs High School Boys Basketball Coach Charged With Theft

Former Burbank John Burroughs high school boys basketball coach, Austin Pope, has been charged with theft in connection with his official capacity, according to a press release from the Burbank Police Department.

“In December of 2023, the Burbank Police Department was contacted by the Burbank Unified School District about possible theft of funds by Mr. Austin Pope. Mr. Pope was employed by the district but has since been terminated,” the release reads. “The months-long police investigation included obtaining witness and victim statements and the review of financial records. The investigation has revealed that Mr. Pope misappropriated funds he was entrusted with in his official capacity as a coach. The case was reviewed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, who referred it to the Burbank City Attorney’s Office.

“The Burbank City Attorney’s Office has since reviewed the case and filed one count of Theft by False Pretenses Exceeding $950, in violation of California Penal Code Section 532(a), against Mr. Pope.”

Pope is due to appear in Los Angeles Superior Court on June 28 for arraignment.

Pope, a former standout basketball player himself at Burbank High from 2009–13, was hired to be Burroughs’s varsity coach in May 2023.

OFFICIAL: Burroughs High has hired Austin Pope (@AustinPope_) as its new boys basketball coach. Pope was a standout at Burbank High from 2009-13 before playing collegiately and professionally.
He will be a first-time head varsity coach after serving as an assistant at Viewpoint. pic.twitter.com/PLkrKFWmGr
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) May 3, 2023

In his debut season as a head coach this past winter, he led Burroughs to a 6–1 start before being officially released from the position on Dec. 1.

A statement from Burbank Unified School District Supt. John Paramo was sent to basketball families that day.

“Mr. Pope has been permanently released from his coaching duties at John Burroughs High School,” Paramo’s statement read. “I am disappointed that our multiple efforts to hold a productive meeting with Mr. Pope did not occur over the past several days. While I know many desire to know the specific details of the allegations that led to this decision, I am sorry to repeat that I am limited in what I can share, as Mr. Pope has legal privacy rights. I understand how unsatisfying it is to not receive these answers, but given the seriousness of the allegations and the on-going investigation I ask you to respect these legal limitations.”

There was a documentary-style video with the caption “The Firing: The Call that Exposed Burroughs & Fired Up its Players, Parents & Community” released Dec. 2 on Instagram (VIDEO) that shows Pope coaching his final game.

After losing to Harvard-Westlake, Pope addresses the team in the locker room after the game and tells the players he’s “been let go from the Burroughs program.”

The decision created an uproar within the program. Players and parents began to protest in efforts to get Pope reinstated. During that time, Burroughs players refused to play a game against Village Christian, resulting in a forfeit loss.

Eventually, Malique Johnson took over as interim coach and the Bears finished the season 15–14 overall.

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