(Photo Credit: @mvaeagles)
For Harlond Beverly, his Montverde Academy website biography lists a simple statement about his objectives.
“Basketball Goals: To be a better defensive player.”
According to multiple reports, Archie Miller and the Indiana staff have extended an offer to 2019 guard Harlond Beverly. Beverly is a four star recruit according to the 247Sports composite rating. He is 80th overall in the nation and 11th for his position.
The 6’4″ combo guard Michigan native that plays for Montverde Academy in Florida has been a long time target for Archie Miller. Corey Evans of Rivals.com stated that Baylor and Xavier have the longest relationship with Beverly as those schools have been involved since his sophomore year. Miami, Utah, Iowa State, Virginia, and Tom Crean’s Georgia program are also involved alongside Indiana.
Indiana has watched Beverly on multiple occasions and have been impressed with his abilities as a two-way guard. Notably as mentioned, Harlond Beverly wants to improve as a defensive player, which is the reason he chose Montverde Academy over other programs. That’s simply music to Archie’s ears.
The worst kept secret is that basketball fans, players, recruits, etc. all love to play offense. They want buckets and more buckets. When a player comes along that specifically mentions defense as their primary goal, you hold on to them.
Beverly’s athleticism and length enables him to guard multiple positions and can be very effective in Archie’s packline system where help-side defense improves with bigger guards/wings. Harlond can step into passing lanes and disrupt the interior post feeds from outside, another core concept of Indiana’s flavor of the packline system. Beverly defends with eyes locked in and focused, but as with all high school players, he has a lot of potential to build his skills.
In addition to being a very solid all around defender, Beverly uses his athleticism to be equally effective on the offensive side of the ball. While not the quickest guard on the floor, Harlond Beverly is a relentless rim attacker and takes full advantage of his hang time to navigate the lanes. See the latest Indiana offer yourself.
