The Professor
Who is he: The Professor (Grayson Boucher) is a former minor pro basketball player who is best known for rising to fame through the AND1 Mix Tape Tour. He is also known for his youtube channel where travels the world and takes on all street ballers. But who is he really? Simply put he the most innovative ball handlers of our day. He is the player that modern ball handling should be credited too.
Body type Rating 2 stars: The Professor is small and slight. He is about 5’8 (173cm) and 145lbs (65kg). This slight frame and height is exactly what gives him the ability to have some of the quickest feet you will ever see. It also allows him to get really low to the ground when breaking down defenders.
Smoothness Rating 5 (6 if possible) stars: He is the most exciting ball handler outside of Uncle Drew in the world. His movements are so precise, pure, and graceful. Watching him is like watching the most beautiful figure skater in an Olympic program. His head and shoulder fakes combined with his dance like moves from feet are so graceful.
Technique Rating 5 stars: Analyzing The Professor is like analyzing Stephan Curry’s shooting, he has all the moves to breakdown a defender. Inside out dribble, crossover, behind the back crossover, through the opponents leg, jab step, and it goes on. But it all starts with his feet, his footwork is so precise. He uses textbook pivots and jabs to pen up a defender so he can attack. Combine that with his high IQ and it is impossible to guard him, he is always 3 moves ahead of the defender. But what really sets him apart is his shoulder fakes. When he plants his front foot he will shoulder fake the off shoulder right before he extends the non ball hand. This forces the defender to react, at which point he will take what is available with either a simple crossover or an inside out dribble.
Effectiveness 5 stars: While he doesn’t always use modern side jump step dribbles (he has them) he basically created created it. His effectiveness is based off of the fact that he is an innovator. Players (including NBA players) over the last 20 years have been trying emulate his moves and adding them to their game. In game he is unguardable as he can not only break down the primary defender he also works magic in traffic. He has jump steps, euro steps, and even a floater to finish a play in traffic. In addition, his slight frame allows him to jump in and out of tight spaces.
Overall 17/20 stars: The Professor in my opinion is a ball handling God. There is no one else better. While not being a NBA player may have hurt his notoriety, he in fact is what modern ball handling is based off of. Through hard work and talent he innovated ball handling a tried moves years before other players started to use his moves in game. He truly transcended the art of ball handling.
