In-depth look at Mark Mitchell

BCH sat down with Mark Mitchell's former coach Rick Zych to talk about his game, and what makes him standout among other prospects.

Mark Mitchell official visit photo.

Mark Mitchell remains Duke’s top remaining target in the 2022 class, and the Blue Devils coaching staff is pushing hard to add the talented five-star wing to the current haul of recruits. 

Bull City Hoops recently sat down with Rick Zych, Mitchell’s former coach at Bishop Miege, to learn more about the 6-foot-8 wing. 

The first time you ever got the chance to watch Mark play or practice for you, did you know he had the potential then that he does now?

“Well, absolutely. You know, you look at his body. He's long and, you know, I mostly saw him in grade school to start with, but he was a dominant player back then. But, you know, number one, you see that he hustles. And he plays hard. Sometimes you get really, really good players that just kind of walk up and down. It's rather obvious with Mark that he was always going to play hard. He's very coachable. And he absolutely loves the game. I mean, he's a gym rat. He could sit around the gym all day and shoot. So he really works at his game and his dad's instilled that in him - hard work and there's always somebody better than you.”

I think that's kind of cool that his mindset is - I’m going to take that constructive criticism, I'm going to go out there and be better the next game. So that's what I really like about Mark’s play. 

“Oh, yeah. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl did not go to KU — I know, I went to practice at KU about two weeks after that and Self said, ‘The guy you got right now, Mark Mitchell's gonna be the best player who would ever go to your school.’ And I kind of giggled and laughed. And, you know, that could be true. I mean, you could argue that that certainly is a true statement. So Coach Self saw it. I mean, he saw it, and he was coming in as a freshman. He's one of those kids that had high exposure and lot of expectations, and he came through for it.”

For the people who haven't seen much of Mark just due to very little highlights and no chance to showcase his skills this summer due to injury, how would you describe him as a player?

“Well, I think he's about 6-7 right now, maybe even 6-8. He's going to probably be a three, he’s an athletic track runner, track star, who could run long, likes to play defense, shot blocker, but like more than anything else, he's a slasher. He's a slasher, that really worked on his outside shot. So I think he could score at different levels. And we played a lot at the posts, because he's simply skilled with both hands around the goal. He can just do a lot of things offensively. And then he's the type of guy that he can get a rebound and lead the break. His ability to pass, I think, is something that college coaches will really enjoy because he's very unselfish. He's very unselfish. If you want to see a slam driving down the middle of the lane, he can do that. But he could dish it off and find a shooter behind the three point line.”

I've been fortunate enough to be able to watch Mark for a couple years now and each time I watch him I've seen him improve in all areas of his game. You've been able to see that up close, what do you think has been his biggest area of improvement?

“I think it's his outside shot. He's really worked on it, because he could give you a ball right now and with his length and his athleticism - one dribble, he can get it at the rim. At that level he's going to need that but I think his biggest improvement has been his outside shot and his ability to move his feet. I think his body's changed. He's put on a little muscle because he was a skinny kid when we got him. But he's growing up. He's a man now. I mean, he's a man. He’s developing and he's lifted a little bit and whatever he does, he tries to be the best. I’ll give him that.” 

That's a good mentality to have. And I know that there's been a few of those players that do like Justise Winslow, RJ Barrett, you know, they kind of had that dog mentality, that killer mentality of I'm going to be the best, I'm going to be better than you. I want to make sure you know it. And that's great that Mark has that.

“Yeah, we were denied one state championship, but we won his junior year. And he was hurt and with with what kind of kid that Mark is, the kind of player he is, Mark didn't really have to come back and play the last two weeks. That wasn't gonna help his recruiting. And in that, really, I'll always remember him coming back and he said, “Coach, I'm gonna play, I'm gonna help. You're gonna jump on my back, we’re going to win a state championship.” 

“And not only did we do that, but we didn't even have a close game. I mean, he just came on, and he was probably 80%. We'd laugh all the time and say, “Hey, this gives you time to work on your right hand.” He can always play defense and guard the goal. And again, I think especially at the college level and some of the guys we've had would rather be Jeremiah (Earl-Robinson) and (Bol) Bol. When you have the ability to get a rebound, put it on the floor and lead the break, and make good decisions you're gonna be pretty good offensive team, and I think that's what he's gonna do for a team in college.”

Mark Mitchell official visit photo.

What are some areas he needs to improve on before he heads to college next year?

“Well, I think he's gonna have to continue to get bigger and stronger. The physical part of it, and I think he’ll do that. He's always going to work hard. But again, I think his success is going to have a lot to do with that three point shot.”

Mark is one of my favorite prospects in the entire 2022 class. His defensive potential is through the roof and his ability to impact the game in several ways sticks out to me the most. Even when he's not scoring he's making sure he's passing to the open look, crashing the boards and leading the break. Can you talk about that a little?

“Yeah, and he's got a great feel for the game. A lot of kids just don't have a real feel for it. He really has a feel for the lane. I would talk to him a lot about Magic Johnson. Magic would have the ability to say do I need to be a rebounder? Do I need to be a scorer? Do I need to be a defender? Matter of fact, a couple games I’d say, ‘time to take over.’ We're gonna run this play. You need to take over. You need to leave no doubt who the best player on the floor is, and he'd giggle after the game and go, “I think everybody knows who the best player was.” And then move on. Blue Valley Northwest, he didn't play well. That's his first game back and we struggled and they kicked our butt. He went by me and he said, “Coach, I wasn't the best player on the floor.” And I think that's what really motivated him the rest of the year. Sometimes, you learn more by maybe a loss rather than all your wins.”

The Duke staff has compared him to the likes of Justise Winslow, RJ Barrett, and a few other great wings at Duke - showing him a video of how they used those players to showcase how they would use him. Are those good comparisons or is there a certain player he's always reminded you of?

“No, I think Barrett would be a good comparison. I think he might be a better shooter than him. But, the thing about Mark, he wants to be competitive. These kids these days, they could careless about college, they go right to the pros. They want to compare themselves, you know, to LeBron or all these other guys, but I think he's still going to be a three that could seal that lane. And scores around. With a lot of qualities on defense.”

You've had a lot of great players come through Miege and play under you, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Bol Bol, and now Mark to just name a few. Not every coach gets to say they've coached high ranked kids now turned NBA players with another waiting in the wings. What makes them so special as players and really separates them from the other top players in their class? What separates Mark in his class alone?

“I think their skill levels are above the competition and their size. But I think it's their willingness to be part of a team. The willingness to work hard. The Mark’s and the Jeremiah's of the world are all about team. They're all about winning. And I think that makes a difference. And they're willing to do anything rather than be a post player, go post up. There's some guys for Mark, we'd say you got the point guard. I think his ability to cover a one through five. Yeah, at least in high school. And he could do it now. With his size and his length. And his mentality is a great advantage. And Jeremiah had the same thing.”

Mark decided to head to Sunrise for his last year of high school ball, were you part of that decision making process? If so, what went into it and what are your thoughts on him heading to Sunrise?

“No, I wasn't part of it. I think the family knew that all along. I think his mom really wanted Miege. And we've had a handful of guys in the last five, six years to leave our place. It always comes down to practice. Who am I going to practice against to make me better? We’re just a small school and some guys don't go out for basketball and JV is kind of a half football, half soccer group and how am I going to get better? And they don't need the exposure. They don't need the recruiting exposure. But the lure of playing against the best guys is how we lose them. And I think if you'd ask them, they'd like to stay and have a chance to win championships. Yeah, I think we can offer that at Miege. I know it came down to the last minute because I know his mom was wanting Miege. When he told me he just said it was a tough decision. I'm gonna go to Sunrise and I can understand that.”

Do you think that Mark needed to make the move to Sunrise to better him as a basketball player? Or do you think he would have been fine at Miege with his exposure?

“I think when he's looking down the road, I think Mark’s looking at the big picture. I think we all understand. If he's looking at the big picture I’m supporting him, we’d certainly like to keep him. We thought it had a lot to do with us maybe winning the state championship, and I really believe that he really wanted to stay and do that. But when he looks at the big picture, and that's a family decision. That's not my decision, and I support him and we all wish him the best of luck. They'll always be a Stag for life.”