Junior College/Prep School athletes to keep your eye on!

<strong>Overview:</strong> As a former Junior College athlete myself, I know there is a ton of talent in JUCOs and Prep Schools. Here are a few Maryland athletes using the path to showcase their talent and skills on the next level! <strong>Alijah Bivans, 5'11", 227, MLB, Coffeyville Community College Co. 2022 - Formerly: Parkside High school</strong> <img class=" wp-image-108741 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/02/Alijah-Bivans-209x300.jpeg" alt="" width="289" height="415" />The most impressive attribute of Alijah's is the physicality he brings to the game. Alijah is a tone-setter for your defense at the MLB position, bringing energy to the entire team with his play. He excels at defending the run by quickly filling holes and physically taking on and defeating blocks, using his strength to throw them away before making the tackle. As a blitzer, Alijah does a great job combining his explosiveness with his power to attack and blow through the shoulder of opposing offensive lineman to get into the backfield. After working his way into the backfield, he has demonstrated the ability to quickly find the ball carrier and redirect his body down the line of scrimmage to secure the possible TFL. On outside runs, Alijah does an excellent job keeping the ball carrier in front of him, forcing the play to stretch all the way to the sideline where he can make an easy tackle. Coffeyville Community College is one of the junior colleges known for producing high-level talent. There is no doubt in my mind that their staff will take full advantage of Alijah's talents and help develop him into an even better college prospect. <strong>Sidney Fugar, 6'7", 325, OL, Co. 2022 - Formerly: North Point High school</strong> Sidney is an offensive tackle that boasts a tremendous frame. What's most impressive about Sidney is how he can combine his size with athleticism and aggressiveness. As a pass protector, he has done an excellent job learning the technique of a vertical pass set where he exercises excellent footwork to quickly cut off the pass rushers line to the QB. By pairing this set with his frame and length, Sidney becomes more than a tall task for pass rushers to get by. He's the perfect example of "pass-pro is not passive," as he will go out of his way to physically dominate the defender once he's locked on to them. In the run game, he's able to pair his size with physicality and aggressiveness to dominate defensive ends, not only winning the line of scrimmage but also bullying them into either the second level or a knockdown block. Sidney has even displayed his athleticism by showing his ability to pull from the tackle position and smother second-level defenders. Sidney hasn't announced formally where he will be attending JUCO in the fall, but if he continues to develop his game, he will undoubtedly be an elite prospect in 2022. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="90470" first="Ian" last="Griffin"], 5’11", 185, RB, Valley State Prep Co. 2022 - Formerly: Northwest High School</strong> What impresses me most about Ian is the versatility he displays from the running back position. He combines speed, strength, and shiftiness to create chunk plays and yards after contact out of the backfield. Ian does a great job getting downhill in a hurry using his shiftiness to make the first defender miss if needed and exploding onto the second level where his speed makes him a big-play threat. He's also demonstrated the ability to power through the tackle attempts of smaller defenders on the defense's back end with either his tremendous leg drive or a physical stiff arm. Ian's versatility comes into play when he demonstrates his skill as a receiver. He has shown the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and spread out wide, where he can run a variety of routes. Not only can Ian run the same routes as receivers, but he also has reliable hands and does a great job navigating the field to gain yards after the catch. The staff at Valley State Prep has a tremendous weapon with Ian, and I have no doubt that he will be able to showcase his many talents and become an elite level prospect when his time there is done.