Independent Top 10 high school basketball team preview: No. 4 Prolific Prep Academy

Video: Prolific Prep Academy photo shoot
Program looking to establish tradition after winning 53 games in first two seasons.



Head coach: Billy McKnight (Second year)

2015-16 record: 27-8

Josh Jackson put Prolific Prep Academy on the map.

Now the third-year program wants to hang a national championship banner.

Jackson, now a freshman at Kansas, averaged 26.9 points and 13.1 rebounds per game in 2015-16. He was a first team MaxPreps All-American and McDonald's All-American.

Impossible star power and production to replace for most programs.

But Prolific Prep showed it will have some staying power over the summer with the additions of star guards Gary Trent Jr. and Paul Scruggs.

Trent Jr. is regarded as the No. 11 overall prospect in the Class of 2017 by 247Sports and committed to Duke on Thursday afternoon. He averaged 25.9 points per game as a junior at Apple Valley (Minn.), leading the Eagles to a 30-2 record.

Scruggs is also coming off a big junior season at a Midwest high school – Southport of Indianapolis. The 6-3 shooting guard is a Top 50 prospect according to 247Sports and is heading to Xavier next year.

Like many of the programs in the Independent Top 10, Prolific Prep's roster is a melting pot of basketball hopefuls from all over the world. Canada, Croatia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Nigeria are all represented on the 2016-17 team.

View gallery of Prolific Prep Academy preseason photo shoot

Prolific Prep's launch has been such a success, an associated program – Prolific Prep North – will take the floor this season in Ontario, Canada. The two Prolific Prep branches will participate in the same event several times this winter.

MORE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Pierre Crockrell Jr. (6-0, So., G) … Major contributor as a freshman

Brown Eyisi (6-9, Jr., F/C) … Native of Nigeria

Oton Jankovic (6-9, So., F) … Promising newcomer from Croatia

Abu Kigab (6-7, Sr., G/F) … Committed to Oregon

Nathan Mensah (6-10, Jr., F/C) … Native of Ghana

Amadou Sow (6-8, Jr., F) … Native of Mali

KEY DATES

Nov. 19 – vs. Victory Rock Prep (Sarasota, Fla.) @ Grind Session

Dec. 2 – vs. Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.) @ Marshall County Hoopfest

Dec. 11 – vs. Hillcrest Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.) @ Duel in the Desert

Jan. 15 – vs. Huntington St. Joseph Prep (Huntington, W.Va.) @ Flyin' to the Hoop

Jan. 16 – vs. Trotwood-Madison (Trotwood, Ohio) @ Flyin' to the Hoop

Jan. 27-28 – Crush in the Valley