Donnie Jones officially announced three new signees last week for UCF Basketball to begin the 2016 early signing period. While not a knock-your-socks-off class like last year, Jones used this class to fill come shooting holes, particularly in the backcourt.
That's great and all but it's my job to dig up YouTube clips with bad generic soundtracks to show you what these guys look like on a basketball floor when they are at their best. So here you go:
Brachen Hazen
Position: Forward
Height: 6' 8"
Hometown: Fort Wayne, Indiana
That's pronounced "BRACK-en HAYZ-en."
Hazen is well-sized for a small forward at the college level, but I would not call him a physical presence. He's a shooter, plain and simple. He can get out on the break, but he's not what you would call a lane-filler.
He plays smaller than his 6-8 frame, so that's why I'd view him more as a shooter. He chose UCF over Maryland, who was hard after him, so that's a good thing.
Hazen told UCFSports.com that Coach Jones compared him to Chandler Parsons, so make of that what you will:
Clayton Hughes
Height: 6' 5"
Position: Guard
Hometown: Jackson, Tennessee
Hughes is a lefty shooter who should prove valuable, like Hazen, to the Knights down the road.
You can see here that Jones' plan is to surround rim-protectors like Tacko Fall with shooting all over the place. Hughes fits the mold - a 2-guard who averaged a 16-5-2 as a junior, at 39% from the arc.
Jeremy Sheppard
Height: 6-1
Position: Guard
Hometown: Richmond, Virginia
Sheppard is the most interesting so far from what I've seen. He's 6-1, but super quick, with an excellent handle. Most impressive to me is his quick-release jump shot, which again fits Jones' M.O. in this class of getting some shooting to go around his bigs.
After averaging a 19-2-2 in his sophomore year, Sheppard focused more on his facilitation as a junior, posting a 14-3-4 with two steals a game.
Look at this kid's quick release. It's Marino-esque:
That clip doesn't do his passing as much justice as this one does:
So there it is: Three kids who can hit from the outside to compliment Donnie Jones' glut of bigs. Let's hope they all stay healthy and get to UCF in a position to cause havoc from the outside, and wherever else they see fit to shoot from.