Freddy Johnson's Greensboro Day Teams Keep Producing Talent
Freddy Johnson is the winningest coach in North Carolina high school basketball history, and eighth all-time nationally, as he enters this season with 1,105 career wins. The North Carolina Athletic Hall of Famer enters the 2021-22 season only losing one starter – Tyler Lundblade (SMU) – off a team that finished 24-6 (10-0).
Every year, when pre-season practices start, Greensboro Day is a must-see team. Even with this being my third stop of the day, walking into the gym for their first practice, I had a sense of excitement. This was the day before D1 schools could be on the road, so I was joined on the sideline by a coach from Guilford College, a D3 school in Greensboro.
The majority of the beginning of practice was drills, mostly defensive, as they were teaching their players “up the line and to the ball”. You immediately saw newcomer 6-foot-5 2023 Graham Worland getting the brunt of the teachings, as Greensboro Day is very specific about how they defend. As the practice wore on, they got into more live action situations, moving to two-on-two and then controlled three-on-three.
You immediately see that 6-foot-1 senior Nik Graves will be the central piece for this year’s team. Like last year this team was as good as Graves. After winning their first two games in the Beach Ball Classic, thought of as the nation’s top high school basketball tournaments, Graves was hurt to start the second half of their third game. Despite being up at the time, Graves going out allowed the Orlando (Fla.) Oak Ridge High back into the game, and to eventually finish with a one-point victory.
Graves, a lefty, is a paint touch point guard. He is quick going to his left hand and has vision once he is in the paint. Coming into this season, Graves looks a little stronger, and he is jumping with a little more burst. In talking with Graves after the practice he is in no rush to make a college decision, as he wants to feel everything out. He just got back from an official visit to Charlotte last weekend and has upcoming official visits to Austin Peay and Boston University set. South Florida and High Point are two schools, who have yet to offer, that are talking with Graves regularly.
Michael Zanoni could be the team’s leading scorer. The 6-5 sharpshooter is entering his senior season as one of the most feared shooters in North Carolina, and a known commodity. Zanoni has an official visit set up for Mercer later this month and is working on setting a date to get back out to Utah State for an official visit.
We mentioned Graham Worland earlier, the 6-foot-5 wing/forward transferred to Greensboro Day and re-classified back into the 2023 class after averaging 17.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game for Cornelius (N.C.) Hough High last season. He will be one to watch as he can toggle between the three and four positions as the Greensboro Day offense allows four guards to be on the floor at one time.
Perhaps the highest level prospect on the team is 6-foot-3 junior Jaydon Young. Young missed the better part of the last year with a lower body injury. In talking with Young after the practice he emphatically states that he is over the mental hurdle of the injury and able to trust his movements. Young is a smooth shooting off-guard who has good vision and can act as a secondary ball handler. Young tells me he currently has offers from Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, ODU, Winthrop, Western Carolina, NC A&M. He went further to say Cincinnati, NC State, Pittsburgh, and Virginia have not offered, but are keeping close tabs on him.
This Greensboro Day team will have solid depth and will be able to shoot from multiple positions on the floor. While they may lack top end athleticism and pop, they will play fundamental defense and they will move the ball around the perimeter to three or four guys, at a time, who can all make a three. Heading into the season, Greensboro Day should be squarely in the mix to win the NCISAA 4A state title giving Freddy Johnson his 12th state title.