Derek Piper:
Future150 Midwest Analyst Covering high & middle school basketball. IL, IN, KY, OH, MI, MO & WI
Indianapolis, IN (Future150) -- Mokan Elite (KS) combo guard Shake Milton has seen his recruitment blow up since the beginning of EYBL play this spring, and he's ready to take to the court this week in Las Vegas at the LeBron James Skills Academy.
At 6’4”, Milton has good length and a solid outside stroke—but what makes him unique is his ability to play the point. He has the ball handling skills necessary to get the job done, and he uses his high basketball IQ to his advantage.
“I see myself being a point guard mainly, and I can slide to the two if needed. I’m long, I can handle it, I like to come off screens and make decisions—whether it’s scoring or passing to my teammates,” Milton said.
The Owasso (OK) native averaged more than 11 points per game on the EYBL circuit this spring, while shooting 50 percent from the field. Milton also averaged more than five rebounds and four assists per contest. He can affect the game in a variety of ways, and his play has sparked the interest of many high-major programs over the last few months.
Milton is mostly focused on making noise in the Peach Jam later this month, but he’s had some time to take in the recruiting process.
“It’s going pretty well,” he said. “There’s been a couple schools that have really come on.”
One of those schools has been the Indiana Hoosiers, and Milton took an unofficial visit to Bloomington in June.
“Indiana was really cool. I’m really good with Coach (Tom) Crean and Coach (Steve) McClain. They showed us around—they showed us the facilities, the Assembly Hall and all that. So it was really cool,” he said.
Indiana offered Milton a scholarship on June 2nd, and they have remained in hot pursuit ever since.
“Our relationship is really good and they just said that I can come in and try to make an impact right away,” Milton said. “The way that they’d use me—being a point guard and how I could slide over to the two if I need to, and just how we could do big things in the Big Ten.”
Another Big Ten squad that has made a strong impression is Illinois. Milton headed to Champaign on June 17th—after his Indiana visit—and he received an offer before leaving campus. Milton said that he has been in constant contact with head coach John Groce and assistant Jamall Walker.
“The visit went really good. I met all the coaches—we talked and we have a good relationship,” Milton said. “It went really well and I like the way things are going with that program, and I like the way that they’re moving towards the top.”
Milton got a chance to get a close look at the new practice court at Ubben, and said that he likes that it has transformed into a “top-notch facility.” He added that he likes the way he could potentially fit into Groce’s system.
“Just the fact that I can be a bigger point guard, and come in and they can use me off the ball screens a lot. They like the way I make decisions coming of ball screens,” Milton said.
Later in the month, Milton played at the Kansas team camp in Lawrence. The Jayhawks have yet to offer the four-star guard, but he is definitely on their radar.
“It went really well, and I played pretty well,” Milton said. “Me and Coach (Bill) Self have a good relationship, and so do me and Coach (Norm) Roberts. So it’s really good.”
Kansas is still evaluating the situation to see if they want to offer, but they have assured Milton that his game has caught their eye.
“They said that they really do like me—they like me a lot—they just wanted to see how their guys would do during the summer and who they thought would actually, maybe, leave for the NBA. So they didn’t want to do anything.”
Milton mentioned Baylor, Oklahoma, SMU, Texas, Wake Forest and Wichita State as other schools that he is high on to this point. He added that Baylor, Indiana and Oklahoma are recruiting him the hardest right now. Milton said there are a few things that he will be looking for in his collegiate destination.
“The relationship that the coaches have with their players, the academics, and most of all, the player development and how they develop guys to get ready for the next level,” he said.
Milton said that he expects to cut his list down after the July evaluation period, and then he will set up some official visits. He plans to sign his letter of intent in November. For now, there is more work to be done, and Milton said that he is looking forward to the opportunity to play in front of college coaches for the first time since early May.
“It’s definitely exciting because you put a bunch of hard work in and now it’s time to just go show what you can do,” Milton said.
It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
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