I made the trip to the DMV area two weekends ago to get a detailed look at 2020 commit Isaiah Todd. Suiting up for Word of God Christian Academy (NC) at the National High School Hoops Festival, this was a great opportunity to see how Todd stacked up versus some of the best high school competition in the country.

On Saturday, Word of God took on a Bishop Walsh (MD) team featuring 2020 Seton Hall commit Dimingus Stevens in addition to several prospects with low-mid major offers in Churchill Bounds (2020/6’9/C), Jordan Rayford (2021/6’5/SG) and Jalen Miller (2021/6’2/PG).

Sunday featured a much anticipated matchup between Word of God and the eighth-ranked team in the country, Paul VI Catholic out of Virginia. The Panthers have a loaded squad with the likes of 2020 Duke commit Jeremy Roach, 2021 offer and top-50 prospect Trevor Keels, top-40 sophomore guard Knasir “Dug” McDaniel, 2020 3-star Buffalo signee Josiah Freeman and two prospects with low-mid major offers in Luke Triggs (2021/6’7/F) and Tyler Coleman (2021/6’7/F).

Pull-Up Jumper

Let’s start off with the facet of Todd’s game that makes him most dangerous, the pull-up jumper. At a legit 6’10, I was absolutely shocked at just how easy Isaiah gets to his jumper off the bounce.

The first shot of the embedded clip below is simply absurd for any basketball player of that size, let alone a high school senior. Changing direction with the ball twice on fluid crossovers before a through-the-legs stepback and raising up with good elevation and balance is the type of thing typically reserved for elite NBA players that shall not be named.

While the remainder of the pull-ups weren’t quite as spectacular, there was a lot to like.

In terms of general shot mechanics, Todd gets really good lift along with a high release point on his pull-up. Those attributes coupled with his size/length, make the shot nearly uncontestable at any level of competition.

His lower body balance needs a bit of work, particularly when going right. Todd tends to utilize his left leg as the primary source of elevation, which creates an imbalance on his jump. On most of his pull-ups, you can clearly see his right leg extend outward, in a kick-like motion. This habit is more pronounced when his body is going right (or gathering the ball with his right hand) before getting into his shot motion.

Looking at the first two shots of the clip below where Todd’s body is either going left or stationary, the balance is good and the shot quality is high.

As he continues to develop core strength Isaiah will likely improve his balance, and ultimately, his ability to knock down pull-up jumpers. That potential is a scary proposition given his size and ballhandling.

[Hit THE JUMP for the full breakdown and a rant from yours truly.]

Catch and Shoot Jumper

It’s a real shame that Word of God didn’t optimize Todd as a catch and shoot option against the zone defenses that were often deployed. He only took three (!) catch and shoot jumpshots over the weekend.

The first shot in the clip below is certainly next level stuff. Isaiah looks off his teammate to give himself a bit more space/time before draining an NBA range three with textbook form, good arch and nice rotation on the ball. That type of spatial awareness isn’t teachable and is part of the overall package that makes Todd such a touted prospect.

The remaining shots on the clip definitely display better lower body balance in relation to the pull-ups, as the right leg kick is more subtle. The second shot in particular is encouraging. NBA skill development coaches like to emphasize the two-leg hop step before shooting to ensure balance as opposed to the left-right step-up approach (from right-hand shooters anyway). Todd executes this really well and ends up with a quality shot.

While three shots is an extremely small sample, the consistency is something that I believe projects well. All three attempts were directly on line with good balance and elevation. He simply released the ball a fraction of a second too late on the latter two, which resulted in back-iron misses. Those are “good misses” when evaluating shooting. You generally don’t want to see shots miss wide right or left, which typically indicates flawed mechanics and unnecessary motion.

There’s no doubt that Isaiah has a ton of potential next year as jumbo wing that buries perimeter shots as DeJulius and company collapse the defense before finding him on kickouts for catch and shoot opportunities.

Mid-Post Offense

This is perhaps the most intriguing part of Todd’s game at the college level. He once again displayed advanced instincts on the first possession of the clip below. Getting the ball near the top of the key, in one motion he proceeds to reverse pivot, rip through and get into his shooting motion before knocking down the 18 footer as Trevor Keels is only able to get in a flat-footed contest that is moot. This move was largely introduced by Kobe Bryant and utilized heavily by Kevin Durant.

I was also impressed with his passing from this area of the court, as his sheer size allowed him to see over the top of the opposition before turning and dropping precision passes to cutting teammates in stride once the defense collapsed around him.

Todd did settle a bit too much for turnaround jumpers that were poor-quality shots with little chance of going in. There are much better options than a fadeaway baseline shot for an enormous player with athleticism and skill.

Still, I really like his potential in that area. A 6’10 prospect with a 7+ wingspan facing-up with the option to dribble/pass/shoot seems like an absolute nightmare for opposing coaches. If you stick a smaller defender on him, Todd can simply bully-ball to the rim or rise up and shoot over him. Want to go with a more traditional big? Isaiah will blow-by in one dribble before rising up and finishing with authority. Just not a lot you can do to slow him down in that area of the court if properly utilized.

Transition

Isaiah is absolutely lethal in transition. The grab-and-go ability he displayed was off the charts. The first possession below properly contextualizes this. He grabs a defensive rebound, dribbles only twice to outrace defenders to half-court before the hockey assist to his teammate that set up a highlight-reel lob. Covering that amount of ground, at that speed, with that level of ballhandling and spatial awareness just isn’t fair. Todd covered more than thirty feet with two dribbles.

While his ability to lead the break as the handler making decisions or running the wing as a finisher is intoxicating, his passing in space was outstanding. He consistently dished out accurate passes that put his teammates in advantageous positions.

The second possession of the clip below is something that will go widely unappreciated by most, but I found it very noteworthy. First, he launches a 50-foot outlet pass that hits his teammate in stride for a one-on-one situation in space. Then, he outraces three defenders to put himself in position for a putback.

Isaiah also proved adept at dishing out bounce-passes in tight quarters in addition to kick-outs when the defense surrounded him as a rim-running finisher.

The best quality for Todd in transition is that he can be utilized anywhere on the court. He can navigate fast-break opportunities as the decision maker, finish as a trailer or be the shooter on hit-aheads and kickouts. With Juwan Howard’s emphasis on pace, Isaiah in space is something we should all look forward to.

Creating

Not that it’s expected at the high school level for a 6’10 kid, but it would’ve been nice to see Todd get some duty as the ballhandler in pick and roll situations. To the extent that didn’t occur, some of this will overlap with the aforementioned scouting, but nevertheless worth a deep-dive.

The first thing that stuck out to me is that Isaiah was a much more willing, and more proficient, shot-creator for others in the middle of the court. On the vast majority of his possessions from the top of the key, Todd was more inclined to pass as a first option whether the defense was man or zone. Off the dribble he would force helpside defense before finding open shooters and made quick, decisive swing passes against zone.

From the corners or on the wing, he mostly attacked in a straight line after jab-stepping or took a pull-up jumper. Isaiah gets past his initial defender with ease on most occasions, but the opposition was ready for this, having help defenders step-in for charges on a few occasions.

Both Bishop Walsh and Paul VI played a ton of zone, so its somewhat difficult to project based on this limited sample. However, I did catch a reasonable amount of Todd last Summer on the EYBL circuit, so that provides additional reps.

While I don’t think Todd is going to be a primary playmaker for others at Michigan, he does possess some facilitation qualities. But frankly, I think he’s better served as a 1^st for 2^nd option scorer.

I don’t know if there are five current college basketball players that can defend his combination of size/stride-length/ballhandling/athleticism/shooting from a physical standpoint. In a single dribble, he literally gets from corner-to-rim in a manner that seems all too easy. Assuming Juwan is able to hammer out the fadeway jumpers, good luck trying to stop that specimen by yourself without fouling.

Finishing

You don’t need me to tell you that Isaiah is an electric finisher in space, that much is obvious.

What I’ve been impressed with in both AAU and my most recent viewing is the body control he displays against a set defense in tight spaces. He squeezes through help defense with eurosteps that don’t seem possible for someone that size. He also muscles his way through contact to finish at the rim.

Not much to say here, I fully expect Todd to be a high-level finisher in both half-court and transition settings. His size, length, athleticism and touch around the rim appears to be a sure thing.

Low-Post Offense

Not a huge sample here, but he seems to have some potential on the block.

There is some footwork/pivoting to like, as the first possession of the clip below displays a fluid dropstep and jumphook over the right shoulder after a hard dribble right to get space.

While I don’t necessarily think the occasional post-iso is bad for Todd, I like the utilization in the second possession a bit more. Here, Isaiah has a much smaller defender sealed on the block. The guard hits him with an entry pass and there’s simply nothing the defender can do to stop Isaiah from throwing one down.

When matched up with more size, he does show the willingness to be physical (picks up offensive foul on third possession), which is a good thing provided he remains under control.

Overall though, I believe the best utilization of Todd is when a smaller guard gets switched on him, presumably after setting a screen for DeJulius/Brooks/Zeb. This leads into the next section (better known as my rant) below.

Roll/Pop Man in Pick and Roll

I charted over 15 possessions where Isaiah set a screen for the primary ballhandler. Not one of those possessions ended up with the guard hitting him as the roll-man or the pop-man for a triple.

Word of God has several other Division I level prospects (albeit low-mid major), so talent/ability isn’t an issue. To say that I was a bit frustrated with the Word of God gameplan in that regard would be an understatement.

Based on his catch and shoot ability above, it would seem rather natural to use Todd as a pop-man to stretch the floor on low volume at minimum.

Even more irritating was the total lack of touches as a roll-man. I mean, you have a 6’10 dude with explosion and body control just waiting to unleash fury after getting the ball on the move as a lob threat or beating up smaller defenders after switches. Perplexing to say the least.

I’m not mean enough to embed over a minute worth of Todd setting screens, only to look like a guy stood up at the alter in the aftermath. So you’ll have to take my word for it.

Defense

In both games, Todd picked up his second foul early in the second quarter, so it would be a disservice to dissect his defense on a possessional basis as there was some clear tentativeness for obvious reasons.

As such, I’m simply going to provide a glimpse of his capabilities and general upside.

Isaiah definitely has an impact as someone that blocks and alter shots. In the first possession of the clip below, it appears that Duke commit Jeremy Roach catches him flat-footed before Todd quickly recovers and blocks the shot. At the college level this will likely be his biggest impact, as he probably projects to defend power forwards.

The next two possessions demonstrate just how disruptive his length can be. On both occasions Todd appears out of position and to be candid, moving at half speed. Within 1-2 steps he recovers and blocks/alters both shots with ease just by fully extending his arms.

The final possession of the clip below is probably the most encouraging. Isaiah is applying full court ball-pressure on 2021 Jalen Miller (D1 prospect), beats him to the spot, funnels him back to his teammate and eventually forces a turnover.

Todd moving his feet that well bodes well in situations where he’s forced to defend guards on the perimeter after switches or perhaps hedge + recover scenarios.

The versatility to defend both forward spots, while occasionally switching on to guards and manning the 5 spot is unique and extremely valuable.

Rebounding

Once again, caveats apply based on the early foul trouble in both games, so I can’t be overly critical given the circumstances.

When the miss came in his general area, Todd was pretty solid as a rebounder. He came up with boards in traffic and was very strong with the ball in scrums afterward. Displayed a willingness to box out and made multiple jumps on a few possessions. Isaiah also has a Tyson Chandler-esque quality where he tips the ball out on possessions where he doesn’t have inside position to get a clean rebound.

I thought he could’ve done a better job rebounding outside of his frame. A few possessions saw him stand on the perimeter rather than crashing down and swallowing the glass. Again though, the foul situation may have precluded this.

Todd is a good, not great, rebounder if EYBL play is a better indicator. He pulled down 8.3 rebounds per contest over the Summer and that seems about right based on what I viewed live.

Based on sheer size, length and athleticism, he’s going to be a plus rebounder. Just how good will be determined by his motor and perhaps the ability to avoid silly fouls.

Summary/Role/Projection

Isaiah Todd has incredible natural talent. His combination of size, length, athleticism, perimeter shotmaking and ballhandling place him in the top 20-25 prospects I’ve viewed over the last five years. Guys like this are typically on NBA radars in high school, and I’d venture to say Todd is certainly in that conversation.

That said, in order for Isaiah to maximize his natural ability he needs to ramp up his assertiveness and play with a consistent motor. The game is extremely easy for him right now, and while that may be his greatest asset when making long-term projections, its likely his biggest obstacle in terms of production. There is nobody at the high school level that can stop Isaiah Todd from dominating. Frankly, very few players at the college level have the physical profile to adequately deal with him. He simply needs to be consistently activated.

Isaiah projects as a combo-forward that does a bit of everything for Michigan. Under Juwan Howard, the double-stagger set is becoming a staple of Michigan’s offense in the half-court along with pick and roll action. Todd has the ability to be a pop-man or the roll-man in either action.

With elbow sets being utilized as well, expect a solid amount of Todd iso possessions from the FT line are as well, as he can be deadly from that area.

Finally, pushing pace is now the identify of the new-look Wolverines, and this is a perfect match for Isaiah’s skillset. A 6’10 ballhandler/finisher/shooter wreaking havoc in the open court is something I’m anticipating with joy.

In terms of output, I think a baseline should be around 10-12 points and 5-rebounds per game as Coach Howard works out the kinks of Todd settling for fadeaways and too many perimeter shots in general. But, make no mistake about it, he has the potential to be one of the best players in the conference toward the end of the year when he’s adjusted to the college game and settled into his role.