Season Four of the Hoops Prospects Podcast Premieres on July 24
LOS ANGELES, July 16, 2024 — When Richard Harris came up with the idea of creating HoopsProspects.com (HP) during the summer of 2017, he had no idea that he’d be regularly interviewing top pro prospects from around the world, such as lottery picks Jalen Williams (Thunder) and Deni Avdija (Trail Blazers). “Starting in 2020, we began interviewing players, and the opportunities steadily increased over time. Midway through the 2022 season, it became obvious that we needed a regular media platform for our interviews, so the Hoops Prospects Podcast was born,” the HP Managing Director told me. Now, the Hoops Prospects Podcast (HPP) is embarking on its fourth season with plans to talk with even more of tomorrow’s hoops stars.
Starting midseason, in February of 2022, was a trial by fire for Harris and his HPP co-hosts, but from the start, there was little doubt that the show was a great outlet for under-the-radar prospects and college programs. “We have had our share of trials and errors. I look back to our first-ever player interview on the pod, and we were so nervous and inexperienced,” Harris laughed. “That first interview kinda says it all. We talked with Baylor Scheierman, who was a junior at South Dakota State at the time. Not many knew about Baylor, but I was so impressed with his game and pro potential,” Harris proudly said.
Scheierman would move on to Creighton the following season, where his game fit perfectly with the Bluejays’ free-flowing offense. This past season, he was an All-Big East first-team selection, averaging 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. Following March Madness, Scheierman was a standout at the NBA Combine and ultimately, a first-round pick of the reigning NBA Champions, the Boston Celtics.
Scheierman is just one of many whose successful journeys included an appearance on HPP. “We look for hidden talent, and I don’t think we’ve ever interviewed a player who didn’t go on to play pro ball,” Harris stated. HPP guest alumni were certainly well represented in the 2024 NBA draft class, including four first-rounders (Scheierman, Tristan Da Silva, DaRon Holmes, and Dillon Jones). Other players interviewed by Harris over the past four years have included Avidija, Williams, Ochai Agbaji (Raptors), Hunter Dickinson (Kansas), Tyon Grant-Foster (Grand Canyon), Sam Hauser (Celtics), Coleman Hawkins (Kansas State), EJ Liddell (Hawks), Jonathan Mogbo (Raptors), Jabari Walker (Trail Blazers), and Aaron Wiggins (Thunder).
With 108 episodes under its belt, HPP is gearing up for Season 4, with Episode 1 set to be released on July 24 via all major podcast outlets. Harris says that the show will still passionately cover college basketball and the NBA Draft, but with an emphasis on the guests, including coaches and TV personalities, from both a basketball and a personal perspective. “We’ve been working on finding a balance between the pod, the site, and now the consulting business. This season, HPP episodes will be more streamlined, while our more detailed content will be published as articles on the site. On the show, we want to be entertaining and informative, and instead of routine interviews, we want to bring out the fun and relaxed side when we talk with these talented kids,” Harris said.
Hoops Prospects was created in 2017 with the goal of providing quality and in-depth basketball content, specifically focusing on potential pro prospects. The staff researches and analyzes basketball prospects from all over the world on a year-round basis. The HP approach to player evaluation combines hours of old-school, eye-test scouting and a unique form of analytics, and the company prides itself in providing detailed, professional, original and unbiased rankings and scouting reports of the top prospects eligible for the NBA Draft.
###
Zach Wilhelm, Hoops Prospects Communications
