BY Zach Smart
Quietly and while unsung and unheralded, Class of 2025 6-foot-9 three-four Dylan Mann of S4G Academy (NC) has undergone a rapid transformation process over these last seven months.
An inside-outside scoring threat with a steadily evolving mid post game, Mann averaged 23 points and 13 boards while shooting 42 percent from 3-point range and 82 percent from the free throw line at Oak Forest near the Raleigh, NC area.
The team was comprised of home schooled and public/private school kids from the area.
At 6-9 and 210 pounds (Mann said adding bulk to a spindly frame has been a front burner priority this off-season) the post-graduate’s deft touch from 12-24 feet is suddenly one of the finer points of his hardwood trade. It’s an aspect of his repertoire, as Mann explained, that works daily to polish. Mann has also registered a floor stretching presence, with newfound NBA range being a sudden area of focus for the 19-year-old.
Life has moved fast for Mann. He’s gone from from a bone-thin, unassuming 6-foot freshman, to 6-foot-5 as a sophomore still understanding the niceties of his game and figuring out what role suits him best.
As a junior, Mann was suddenly 6-7. During the latter stages of his senior year, he sprouted up to 6-9 while emerging into a commanding offensive presence with a swagger and insatiable appetite for competition.
“As a player I’m willing to do the dirty work,” said Mann, who played the five under Thomas Jones with Strong Center AAU earlier in the summer.
“I’ll do any job they need me to do in order to give the team the best chance to win. If they need me to pop out and stick the 3-pointer, I’ll knock down the trey. If they need me to get into the trenches and rebound, I’ll do that. If they want me to set a pick, I’m going to set a good pick. Whatever is they need me to do, I’m ready for the task.”
The task of giving S4G some national credibility in a competitive and at times lawless North Carolina prep/post graduate landscape, more of an inevitable challenge.
He’s ramped up on the workload early, with rigorous multi-workout days alongside teammates (and former opponent) Grayson Cable and Zach Johnson.
Pushing all three and nurturing their day to day development has been Kyle Solomon, S4G Academy’s founder and national team head coach.
“I think we’ve got three guys who want that alpha role really bad, even at this early juncture before the season starts,” Solomon said. “I’ve got three Division-I players that nobody has really heard. They haven’t been seen on a big market yet. That adds to the toughness and will to prove themselves. They bring that to the lab everyday, that want and will to really be recognized and gain scholarships. This is one of the most impressive and gritty groups I’ve had during my time here. Dylan, he’s looking to be a Cooper Flagg type of player at this level. He shoots it as well as anyone.”
Cable, a high-rising 6-foot-4 combo guard, is a hard-attacker with the type of sneaky athleticism that impacts multiple categories of the stat sheet. Johnson, a pure shooter with a proficient mid-range pull-up and ambidextrous around the rim arsenal, is wired to score it an all phases.
The collective, unbridled hunger is what makes these daily grind sessions a hothouse, competitive atmosphere.
“The whole mentality is, we’re going at each other the whole time we’re in the gym,” Mann said. “We are not friends when we step on that floor. Of course, we are teammates, so you want to also build them up and push them to get better. At the same time, you have to always believe you are always the best player on the floor and try to outwork those guys in every drill or in-house competition we have.”
Mann realized his potential during a marquee and heated matchup against Chatham Thunder last winter. He was playing against his friend, Cable, and a coach who he never felt appreciated his multi-faceted game. And thus Mann was buoyed by some extra juice.
He wound up scoring a game-best 30 points in a five-point win. He put in a pair of exclamation points with a pair of highlight reel worthy dunks through traffic during a fourth quarter filled with hard fouls, trash talk, and stare downs.
“I really wanted to beat them,” Mann recalled. “It was personal. That was probably my favorite game and the best showing I had throughout the entire season. I went in there wanting to make a statement.”
Now, Mann wants to flee from wildnerness-like obscurity and prove he’s worthy of investing four years in at the collegiate level.
“The home school leagues, people don’t realize how competitive it is,” Mann said. “You have a lot of kids coming from public and private schools who end up playing but there’s also a lot of turnover, guys who come and go like in AAU. In recent years, however, it’s been really good. I just want to take this gap year and try and show who I am on a bigger stage.”
