Veteran Guard Kendall Flushed Into Prominent Role At SCS

Laced with a budding stepback jumper, crafty finishing ability on the drive, and a quick release beyond the arc, Scotland Campus Sports guard Justice Kendall offers a natural scoring mentality.

What the Class of 2018 6-foot guard may lack in size and essential eye test attributes, he recompenses for with playmaking ability and a deceptive offensive arsenal.

After attracting mid-major programs such as Old Dominion, Towson, Wagner, and Lehigh as a senior at Roselle Catholic (N.J.), Kendall will spend the post-graduate year refining his overall game and working to earn a qualifying SAT score.

Playing under Chris Chaney, who has made a living allowing under-recruited, relatively unknown guards flee from recruiting obscurity (see Dwight Hardy, Jeremy Hazell, Bobby Maze, Antonio Anderson for more information), Kendall will adapt. The transition entails patterning his game around a souped-up pace, spreading the floor out, and creating holes in the defense resulting in open looks.

Kendall’s potential as a scorer was initially recognized four years ago, as he played in a Hoop Group tournament which also included Melo Trimble and Bam Adebayo.


Kendall’s team wound up losing in a dizzying 61-60 nailbiter to cross-city rival D.C. Assault.

 Blowing by defenders and getting to the rim with relative ease, Kendall scored a team-best 22 points.


During his sophomore and junior campaigns at Mount St. Joseph’s (Md.), Kendall established a more instinctive skill-set as a point guard.


He soon became a prized figure of the youth movement at Mount St. Joes, as a young and inexperienced crop of talent earned credibility.

After acclimatizing to a brutal and unforgiving schedule a traditional New Jersey powerhouse Roselle Catholic his senior year, Kendall will expect much of the same.


As Grind Session has expanded its post-graduate field, SCS’ strength of schedule will test the program’s mettle against the country’s premiere programs.  

In prep school basketball, success is traditionally predicated on effective guard play. Look no further than the recent success of the nation's traditional heavy hitters.


Florida power IMG Academy flourished with Duke guard Trevon Duval orchestrating the show last season. Bolt-quick and freakishly explosive in the open court, Duval morphed into a veritable one-man band during critical moments of the 2017 Dick’s Sporting Goods national tournament.

Montverde Academy (FL) thrived on a national scale, with hotly-pursued guards such as Andrew Nembhard, all-world shooting guard R.J. Barrett, and Marcus Carr (now at PITT).


 No.1 seed La Lumiere of Indiana won the Dick's Sporting Goods High School national championship in 2017, sparked by stellar guard play with Michigan's Jordan Poole, Tyger Campbell, and electrifying guard/forward Brian Bowen (now at Louisville).


The truth of the matter is, guards have a tendency to develop at a jarringly quicker rate than big men.


In high school and in post-graduate hoops, many still-evolving bigs struggle with scoring between a defender and the basket.

SCS, a program spearheaded by underrated guards Jalen Jordan and Chris Parker in its inaugural campaign in 2016-17, will look to enhance the frontcourt with 7-foot-1 Aristide “Ari” Boya, who committed to Bradley this summer.


They also feature a skilled face-up four-man in Karim Coulibaly, who currently holds offers from St. John’s, Providence, and Rutgers to name few.

With Kendall displaying both scoring and creating aspects early on, expect a prominent role in a balanced offense triggered by the speedball concept.