Recruiting: 2017 Combo Guard Aljami Durham Boosts Indiana's Class

It may still be 2015, but Indiana is already working on its 2017 recruiting class. On Monday, Georgia native Aljami Durham announced his commitment to Tom Crean’s squad. The 6’4", 170 pound guard is currently ranked 138^th in his class, and is the No. 35 point guard.

While most Hoosiers fans are too excited for this season to give much thought to something two years down the road, it isn’t too early to start looking at the future. Let’s take a quick glance at Durham to see what type of player he projects to be in college.

Scouting Breakdown

Although he plays at the point some, Durham is more of a combo guard who projects to be more of a scorer than a distributor at the next level. When you watch him play, the first thing you notice is his quickness. Not only can this kid fly up and down the court, he has a strong first step, which makes him an above-average slasher who can get to the rim. His shooting is better than most kids his age too. Although he isn’t a classic three-point shooter, Durham has shown an ability to nail jumpers off the dribble, something that will prevent defenders from playing off him in an attempt to prevent a drive.

But he won’t just be a scorer either, which is something for Indiana fans to look forward to in the future. Durham is a solid passer who can use his driving ability to draw defenders to him before finding open teammates. It also helps that he’s already shown the ability to use both hands when handling the ball. That one is huge. Most kids his age can only drive one way, which makes it easy for defenders to force them to the side less comfortable for them. If Durham can do that at the next level, he could be a very dangerous playmaker.

Here’s a few of his highlights.

Finally, he already has good height at 6’4." He’ll have to get his weight up, but that’s common for almost every guard his age. But Durham is a confident guy who’s shown the early signs of being an impact player.

Areas for Improvement

Hey, the kid just started his junior year after all, it’s obvious that his game will need some fine-tuning over the next of years. As previously mentioned, Durham needs to bulk up. That shouldn’t be a major issue, but the Georgia native will have to put in some time in the weight room before he gets to Indiana. He also has plenty of things in his actual game to improve, though most of them are minor and should naturally improve as he gets older. Being just a junior, Durham doesn’t have the same court vision or basketball smarts as a college kid. That’s ok for now, but it’s an area he’ll need to work on both before and during his first few years at Indiana. He’ll also benefit by improving his 3-pointer, something that he’ll need to utilize more in college.

Player Outlook

Bottom line, it’s hard to tell how good a kid will be after just two high school seasons. Although Durham’s already shown plenty of skill, he’s hopefully only scratched the surface of the player he can be. Time will tell how he turns out. Nonetheless, he looks like a player that can make a pretty big impact in Bloomington.