According to his Twitter and the NewEnglandRecruitingReport, Indiana is the latest to offer a fast-rising three-star wing from the East Coast 2020 SF Jordan Geronimo. Despite being underrated in current recruiting services, the Hoosiers join a group of over ten high-major schools that have extended an offer to Geronimo. Those schools include Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, Penn State, Utah, VCU, Providence, Illinois State, Penn, Yale, and Charlotte.
That breakout of Jordan Geronimo? Nowhere near complete. Outside of the blue bloods, wouldn’t be surprised if anyone else became involved. Athletic, can shoot, defend and added length. Has the chance to be very good
Jordan Geronimo’s rise has been attributed to his spectacular play to close out his junior season of high school at St. Paul’s, but more importantly to his recent performances on the AAU circuit for MassRivals. That is the same team that former Indiana Hoosier Noah Vonleh played on.
With the one and only AAU evaluation period in front of college coaches taking place in mid-July Geronimo took advantage of that opportunity. The athletic wing had two breakout games against Exum Elite and Young & Reckless DeNard where he shot a combined 18 of 22, including drilling 5 of 8 from behind the arc. He averaged 22 points and 2 blocks across the two contests.
Jordan Geronimo incredible this afternoon with 26 points scoring at all three level as the Mass Rivals 17u team defeats Exum Elite 64 – 44 to win pool (2-0) in adidas Summer Championships in Birmingham Alabama. pic.twitter.com/kfQNhCbDlj
As it stands, Jordan Geronimo has not seen his actual abilities be reflected in the latest recruiting rankings, which serves as a reminder that while those services are very useful, there will always be players that slip through the cracks or players that have unexpected breakout performances. The latter is the case here.
That breakout of Jordan Geronimo? Nowhere near complete. Outside of the blue bloods, wouldn’t be surprised if anyone else became involved. Athletic, can shoot, defend and added length. Has the chance to be very good
Jordan Geronimo is a tremendously athletic wing that has played in the shooting guard role for his high school team at St. Paul’s. He currently measures at 6-foot-5 in his size, which makes him a bit of a tweener as he would be a larger guard, but he won’t be the tallest forward on the floor at the collegiate level.
Off the bat, Geronimo has impressive ball control as a wing, and his explosiveness off of the ball is attention-grabbing. Geronimo is most effective receiving passes from his teammate, while he himself makes an athletic slash to the rim. If needed, he can put the ball on the deck for one or two additional dribbles with control.
His length and athleticism to grab the ball out of a wide radius in the air have been very forgiving to his guard teammates. In that way, his large hands and wide-receiver-like abilities make him a nice teammate to have.
Since he has played in the guard position himself, Geronimo can bring up the rock as needed and he is completely serviceable to run the point. He can reach the basket with a minimal number of steps with his size and ability to stretch. Less dribbles for anyone other than a point guard will make the coaches happy.
The one knock on Geronimo is that he tends to dribble a bit higher, peaking above his waist.
As a guard, Geronimo’s passing also making the cut on his scouting films, primarily for two reasons. First he has great court vision. He is an effective penetrator, but keeps his head up in the process. Second, his passes carry some heat. LeBron James had a similar skill in high school, but his passes were not only on target, but they zipped through the lane like a rocket.
One of the key pieces of his game is his comfort to shoot threes. In the adidas Gauntlet Birmingham finals, Geronimo shot an impressive 40% on 8 of 20 shooting from the distance. Since Jordan can also dribble-penetrate without hesitation, he often gets the luxury of having more space as defenders have played off of him in preparation for his drives.
He will need to work on the release of his three point shot. Prior to any threes, Geronimo squares up his body, which adds to his accuracy, but the entire motion can be lengthy and give enough time for defenders to close the gap. He does have a higher release (above his head) which helps offset some of the concern. Jordan also has a wider left elbow within his shooting motion – something that a college assistant may try to keep tighter for improved consistency.
Defensively, if Geronimo is stationed in passing lanes, his wing span gives him enough flexibility to create trouble. Despite being 6-foot-5 and growing, Geronimo is known for his interior coverage and his highlight blocks. There are players that have a knack to know and predict where the ball will when an opposing player takes a shot, and others that do not necessarily have the same level of basketball IQ. Jordan certainly falls in the first category.
He has quickness to disrupt passes and he can flash down the court in the blink of an eye for the transition bucket – likely an important criteria for the Indiana staff as transition offense is an area of emphasis for the Hoosiers. If Jordan gets one or two steps on the defender in transition, get your camera phones out because it will most likely end up on as a poster.
Also noteworthy is his hand-size. While we do not have an official measurement, Jordan Geronimo has an arsenal of one-handed windmills and dunks. Hand-size is a critical factor that NBA scouts look for and overall there is correlation between success on the floor and hand-size.
