GARDEN CITY: Draft League Players to Watch

By Anthony Leo | Garden City Co-Coordinator

 Returning Players

 Rob Sargeant: Sargeant returns for the fall draft league after skipping the summer draft to play in the competitive summer Syosset open league. Sargeant played on a very good Reloaded team in the summer and put up monster numbers. He is coming off a summer season where he averaged 26 points and 15 rebounds per game. If Sargeant has good players around him who can set him up and get him in the right spots he is a handful to deal with because of his size and ability to dominate a game in the post.

 Richie Byrd: Byrd returns to the draft league after also taking the summer season off to play in the Syosset open league and the NYC National Tournament. Byrd is coming off an excellent tournament where he averaged 17 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists against some of the best competition around the country. He makes his return to the draft to pair up with Sky Khaleel who Byrd played college ball with. Byrd is always one of the league’s top scorers and he should be ready to put up big numbers again this season.

 Players to Watch

Jon Ager: Ager will be a rookie in the league this season, but he should quickly show that he is going to be one of the league’s best players. Ager is a former college player who played point guard and in this league the point guard position is loaded with talent. Ager could surprise people who haven’t seen him play before. We’ll see how Ager handles the other top guards in the league and how he compares to the likes of Donte Howell and others.

 Matt Mehler: Matt Mehler missed last season with an injury, but he’s back and ready to go for the fall season. When healthy Mehler is one the best players in the league who can put up big numbers. Mehler’s draft league career averages are 21 points and 14 rebounds per game. If he can continue to put up big numbers he can lead his team to a solid season.

 Rookie Spotlight

Sky Khaleel: The rookie spotlight every season is hit or miss, but this season the clear rookie to watch is Khaleel who is a former DII college player and teammate of Richie Byrd. Khaleel is a big man who has a crafty post game and should be able to compete with some of the best big men in the league. Khaleel will look to show he’s one of the best players in the league who can compete with some of the guys who have been around for so long. The real test will come when he plays against some of the other big men like Mastro and Rob Sargeant. We’ll see how Khaleel stacks up to the others.