Every year, there seems to be a similar blueprint for the Mass Rivals AAU Team. An “under the radar” player emerges onto the scene as an upperclassmen and leverages their strong junior and senior year performances into becoming a legitimate D1 college prospect. Think about Kyrell Luc, Dallion Johnson, Gianni Thompson, Wenyen Gabriel, etc. This year, that person appears to be shooting guard Andre Mills.
Mills has been somewhat in the shadows of his classmates that suit up alongside him for Mass Rivals, namely Kur Teng, George Turkson, and Bryce Dortch. He won’t be in the shadows for much longer after this high school season. The 6’3/6’4 shooting guard playing has been on a tear for Brimmer & May, and this has caught the attention of many college programs. Mass Rivals has churned out a multitude of high level, college ready D1 prospects, with Tom Nelson leading the charge.
Below, we breakdown the recruitment and game of Andre Mills and what he can add to a college program. He’s a true two way player that the Friars would be lucky to land.
Player Recruiting Profile
247 – https://247sports.com/player/andre-mills-46118351/
On3 – https://www.on3.com/db/andre-mills-152469/recruiting/
On3 Consensus – 3 Star, 166 Overall, #1 Player in Vermont
College Programs of Interest – Iowa, Providence, Rutgers, Texas A&M, UMass, with A&M receiving the most hype around this recruitment.
Evaluating the Game
Mills is a scorer. Plain and simple. The lefty finds unique ways to score at all levels. One of his best traits, in my opinion, is his ability to move without the ball. There are so many scorers who can score when the ball is in their hands, but have trouble cutting and getting themselves open. These are isolation type players.
Mills doesn’t have this issue. You see him finish at the rim so frequently because he gets separation from his defender with sharp, crisp cuts. As the college game transitions to position-less basketball, having a player who gets open for his teammates is so important. It’s also a sign of a hard worker and selfless player, which Mills appears to be.
Mills looks to have put on some muscle from last year to this year. He is able to finish through contact and at the rim. I imagine he’ll be a rocked up 2 guard as he enters into college, which will have him college ready Day 1. That normally is a calling card of the Mass Rivals players.
Mills also has the ability to stroke it from deep. One area I’d like to see him slightly improve is his release point on the three ball. It’s a lower release point that may cause him some issues at the college level. That’s a minor ask for improvement in the grand scheme of things, but I do think at his size he needs to get that release point a bit higher.
On the defensive end, Mills is incredibly active. He’s a twitchy player that can rise up, block shots, and defend. He’s a plus level athlete in my eyes and reminds me of a bigger version of Luc.
Program Fit – Providence Friars
Providence is really looking to stack the cupboard with backcourt and wing players in the 2023 and 2024 class. Think about Santoro and Dual in the 2023 class and Mulready in 2024. PC is also in the hunt for his AAU teammates George Turkson, Bryce Dortch, and Kur Teng.
Mills may not have the ranking accolades of some of the names above, but would be another great player and culture fit for PC. I also expect his ranking to change with him finishing as a consensus Top 100-Top 150 type player. Mills knows from past Mass Rivals players who went to PC what is expected when they get to Friartown, and that is a good thing. He can go in eyes wide open.
More broadly, I’ve been banging the table for PC to take a Mass Rivals player every year to keep the pipeline healthy. It is too close of a program in geographic proximity to not land recruits from there every year. It seems like these players enter into college and produce instantaneously. They play the right way and are hard workers. You can never have enough of those players on a team.
We’ll see what happens with the quartet of Mass Rivals players in the 2024 class. PC is interested in all of them. If I had to guess, I’d imagine PC lands 2 of the 4. It’s too early to say who is the favorite for each player, but PC has positioned itself well for all 4.
Andre Mills would be a fantastic recruiting win for Ed Cooley and thus keeps the Mass Rivals pipeline alive and well. Here’s to hoping Mills chooses the black and white!
Crier Recruiting Corner – Article Inventory
Junjie “Barry” Wang – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/01/24/crier-recruiting-corner-junjie-barry-wang/
Kur Teng – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/01/16/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-2024-guard-kur-teng/
Kany Tchanda – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2022/12/29/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-kany-tchanda/
Kayvaun Mulready – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/01/09/friars-land-24-worcester-academy-guard-kayvaun-mulready/#more-5741