Eli Jolin Scouting Deepdive
Canadian wing Eli Jolin has flown under the radar throughout his high school career, despite his emergence as one of the most athletic and versatile wings in the 2026 class
Very few mid-major programs have produced NBA talent at the same rate as Santa Clara, especially as of late. In the 1980s, their league representative was Kurt Rambis, who played an important role for the showtime Lakers. Two-time MVP Steve Nash is the program’s most prominent alumnus. He was drafted in 1996, and it would be nearly three decades until another Bronco was selected in the draft. That was until Jalen Williams was drafted in the lottery in 2022, and Brandin Podziemski was taken in the first round in 2023. Williams went on to be named an NBA All-Star and take home the Larry O’Brien in 2025. Podziemski is now a multi-year starter for the Golden State Warriors. Today, Santa Clara’s current roster features several potential pros, including Christian Hammond, Elijah Maji, and Allen Graves. Well, do I have some not-so-surprising news for you; head coach Herb Sendek has added another potential pro to their 2026 recruiting class: Canadian wing Eli Jolin.
Player Profile:
Eli Jolin is a 6’7” shooting guard/wing from Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec who currently plays for Fort Erie International Academy. He’s an unranked prospect according to all major recruiting outlets, but he’s one of the better scorers on the Grind Session circuit, one of the best high school circuits in the country. He played AAU ball for Lu Dort Brookwood Elite on the Adidas 3SSB circuit, where he turned heads and began to garner attention from prominent collegiate programs. He committed to Santa Clara in June, ahead of his senior season. In May, he also received an offer from Arizona State. Now he’s helping lead Fort Erie to a strong Grind Session record alongside fellow notable 2026 prospects Deng Ngor and Promis N’landu, a George Washington commit.
Interior Scoring:
It’s difficult to pin down a description of Jolin’s interior scoring game, as he’s very proficient in certain areas while seriously struggling in others. He’s a big-time athlete who plays with a ton of energy, so his at-the-rim transition scoring is naturally effective. On the other hand, he has a loose handle without a ton of advantage creating dribble moves, which handicaps his downhill scoring in the half-court. At times, his gravity from the mid-range and beyond the arc allows for easy interior offense, but for the most part he struggles to find strong interior position. That said, he is a solid finisher once he reaches the paint.
Although he isn’t an incredibly talented ball handler, he is a creative interior scorer when he reaches the paint. Pump fakes are an important element to his overall scoring arsenal, but they’re especially vital to his interior scoring. Once he finds good court position, he’s effective, it’s just that he struggles to utilize his handle to find that position. This is why I wish Fort Erie would put him in more off-ball actions inside the arc rather than simply rotating him around the perimeter. He’s a solid off-angle finisher, has strong footwork, and is able to rely on his length and athleticism when necessary. Considering the success Santa Clara has found in developing off-ball wings, I expect Jolin’s strengths in this area to be amplified next season.
The fast break is where he truly shines, as he’s a ruthless above the rim athlete who moves very well in the open court. In addition to having long arms, which bolsters his above-the-rim scoring, he also moves with long strides, allowing him to outrun otherwise quicker opponents in transition. When I watched him play in person during his junior season, he was significantly shorter and unable to fully tap into his athleticism. He has since had a growth spurt, something else to monitor if that trend continues throughout this season and into the next. If he continues to grow while adding more weight to his frame, he could become a big-time lob threat for the Broncos and throughout his collegiate career. If a future coaching staff can figure out how to utilize his athleticism in the half court and take self-creation responsibilities off his shoulders, his overall interior scoring game could improve drastically.
Mid-Range Scoring:
As far as self-creation scoring is concerned, Jolin is at his best from the mid-range. In fact, he’s such a confident mid-range shooter that he has self-handicapped his at-the-rim scoring, as he often stops his own downhill drives for ill-advised pull-up jumpers. That said, he makes a ton of these shots, and I expect this part of his game to serve as a foundational skill as his all-around game further develops. This is where he finds the most rhythm, where his mechanics are the most fluid, and where his off-the-dribble shot creation ceiling is most evident.
Unlike his occasional inability to penetrate the paint, Jolin is able to find his way to the elbows whenever he’d like. Once he gets there, he’s excellent at stopping on a dime, or even coasting into pull-up jumpers. If a defender sticks with him, he’s capable of putting his back to the basket before attempting and knocking down a turnaround or fadeaway jump shot. As he gets closer to the basket, we see him become less effective as a mid-range operative, but he has shown flashes of incorporating floaters and push shots into his arsenal. That said, for the most part, his mid-range game is founded on his jump shooting from the elbows and along the baseline.
Moving forward, I hope a coaching staff doesn’t encourage him to stop taking these shots, as they’re incredibly important for his overall scoring output. Instead, I want to see him utilize his gravity from this range to force defenders to guard him more closely, resulting in more paint touches and trips to the charity stripe. His mechanics on these looks are more fluid than they are on his long-range attempts, so I hope to see him replicate his mid-range approach to other areas of his game as well.
Outside Shooting:
When considering what his immediate impact may look like for Santa Clara, I’d point to his outside shooting. While I don’t think his three-point shooting suggests the same high-end offensive ceiling that his athleticism and mid-range shooting do, it does provide a high floor skill that I’m sure will be tapped into relatively early on in his career. He’s a legitimate movement shooter off the catch, and he’s flashed some real off-the-dribble shooting touch. I expect him to continue developing in this area as his career progresses, but he does need to address some mechanical issues before I’ll buy into his long-term upside from deep.
For a player who doesn’t have a consistent role for his current team, as he’s sometimes asked to be a lead ball handler and sometimes spends entire games coasting away from the ball; his outside shooting is relatively uniform. Almost all of his threes come off-the-catch, whether they’re standstill or moving is another story. Despite an obvious hitch in his shooting motion, he gets the ball off quick enough and gets adequate height on his release to beat closeouts. This hitch isn’t as evident on his (limited) off-the-dribble attempts, which suggests he could also remove it from his catch-and-shoot looks. If he can polish his mechanics and harness the same fluidity that we see from his mid-range pull-up shooting, I think he’ll end up being a very good outside shooting wing at the collegiate level. Even if that hitch persists, I expect off-ball shooting to be his primary offensive skill throughout his first year at Santa Clara.
Passing & Playmaking:
As a passer, Jolin is very hit-or-miss. At times, he’s a heads-up connective passer who swings the ball along and out to the perimeter with pace. He’s also capable of making quick decisions when moving downhill, finding teammates at the rim or beyond the arc for good looks. However, he’s often very lazy, lobbing slow passes to his teammates which regularly get picked off or deflected. In the games of his I watched; he was taken off the court for this on several occasions. I’m not sure why his effort as a ball mover fluctuates so greatly, but it’s something he’ll need to work on moving forward, as fixable flaws such as this could lose games for his team.
As I said, I think his weaknesses as a passer are easily fixable and are mostly a mental issue. When he’s at his best, it’s clear that he’s an intelligent player with legitimate basketball IQ and a feel for the game. The only real problem I could see him running into once he overcomes his inconsistent motor is his inability to consistently create paint touches. This is such an important skill for a passer to have, as it allows you to collapse the defense and find teammates who are left open following that collapse. If he doesn’t improve as a ball handler and downhill driver, he’ll probably be limited to connective passing along the perimeter and as an off-ball middleman.
Rebounding:
Jolin is a very good positional rebounder, especially on the offensive end. It’s strange that a player who deals with energy issues in certain situations is such an avid fighter on the offensive glass. He’s excellent at spying lazy boxouts and weaseling his way under the basket. His athleticism is a major advantage in this area, as he has an impressive reel of putbacks and tip-ins to his name. I doubt he’ll make as big of a difference in this area at the collegiate level, as he’ll be forced to beat out bigger and stronger opponents, but I think he’ll continue to outperform his positional contemporaries. Whether or not he continues to make a major impact in this area at the next level, his willingness to do the dirty work is a positive indicator of his overall motor.
As I mentioned earlier; I think there’s a chance that Jolin continues to grow, adding weight to his frame in the process. He’s already 6’7”, so if he adds a couple more inches then he very well may end up being the rebounder he tries to be despite matching up against stiffer competition. His length and athleticism will remain factors no matter what, and I assume he’ll maintain the level of effort he’s shown as an offensive rebounder moving forward. These are the types of skills that separate players during draft cycles and move guys from mid- to high majors. I think Jolin has high major and professional potential, making his rebounding abilities all the more interesting when it comes to long-term projection.
Defense:
Jolin is not a lockdown defender and has a lot of growth ahead of him on this end of the floor, but it’s worth noting that he still makes an impact in certain areas. For one, he’s a solid recovery defender, in both the half and full court. He’s a savvy off-ball defender who occasionally gets his hand in driving lanes and pokes balls loose. Because he is such a fantastic transition scorer, forcing turnovers is more important for his (and his team’s) success than it is for other off-ball defenders. His on-ball defense is questionable, as he’s a somewhat awkward lateral mover, but he doesn’t see a ton of on-ball reps.
Because he isn’t a great lateral mover, Jolin tends to get beaten off-the-dribble by competent downhill drivers. Because he’s such an impressive athlete with strong timing, he often recovers for blocks after being beaten. His athleticism and length also support his transition defense, specifically his ability to chase down streaking opponents for come-from-behind blocks. While you’d prefer him to be a better on-ball defender and not be forced to resort to recovery defense, it is nice to know that he’s not a lost cause.
As previously mentioned, he spends most of his half-court defensive reps off the ball. Because his lateral movement isn’t tested as frequently in these situations, he’s considerably better as an off-ball defender than he is at the point of attack. That said, he’s still occasionally targeted by opposing ball handlers, so it’s in his best interest to avoid switches and remain away from the ball. When he achieves this goal, he sees more opportunities to force turnovers and get out in the fast break. His length and timing support him in this area. This skill is made even more valuable by his elite transition scoring, as he’s able to artificially create his own fast break opportunities out of these situations. While I hope he improves as an on-ball defender before he reaches the college level, I think he’ll continue to prove himself valuable as an off-ball agent.
Summary:
Before I summarize Jolin’s game, I want to list any and all of his weaknesses and flaws in order for you to gain a better understanding of his game in its entirety. It’s important to remember that every player has weaknesses, but what makes the great players great is their ability to improve upon their weaknesses over the course of their careers. It’s also important to remember that Jolin is a late bloomer and a totally different player than he was a year ago. He’s still actively developing and is nowhere near his ceiling in any area of the game.
He struggles to reach the rim as a ball handler in the half court due to a myriad of flaws. His handle leaves quite a bit to be desired, his stance is somewhat vertical and stiff, and he resorts to back-to-the-basket offense instead of downhill driving too often.
He hasn’t totally proved himself as an off-ball slasher, but this could be a system issue. The Fort Erie staff does not utilize him this way at the rate they probably should considering his lob potential and willingness to move.
As a driver, he shies away from contact despite being an impressive vertical athlete likely capable of finishing through and above defenders. This isn’t always the case, as he’s good at absorbing contact when fighting for rebounds, but struggles to maintain that mentality as an on-ball operative.
While he is an impressive mid-range jump shooter, he needs to polish his shot diet from this level. Instead of taking a ton of turnaround attempts, he should focus on pull-up jumpers in order to further strengthen his downhill gravity and open up the paint.
Despite having real finishing touch, he doesn’t attempt enough floaters or push shots. Especially for the time being, as he clearly isn’t a fan of drawing contact around the rim, a more consistent floater would support his current approach to the game.
He has a long way to go before he’ll be a competent off-the-dribble outside shooter. He struggles to find his shooting rhythm on these attempts and subsequently converts significantly less of them than he does catch-and-shoot looks.
His catch-and-shoot mechanics from long-range could use some work, which I think would further strengthen his efficiency on these looks. He has a hitch in his shot motion, which allows defenders to better contests his shots and limits his shooting momentum.
His inconsistent passing makes me want to pull my hair out. When he’s locked into the rhythm of the game, he’s a fine connective passer, but he often plays lackadaisical as a connector, throws weak passes, and turns the ball over.
His stiffness and inability to maintain a strong defensive stance get him targeted as an on-ball defender. Yes, he’s a very good recovery defender, but that won’t carry him at higher levels of the sport. He must improve as a lateral mover and on-ball defender.
Adding healthy weight to his thin frame would go a long way on both ends of the floor. It would allow him to feel more comfortable absorbing contact on his drives and would make up for some of his defensive flaws. That said, he should probably wait to focus on weight gain until he’s certain that his growth spurt is over.
Eli Jolin’s game is somewhat easy to summarize, as his strengths are obvious while his weaknesses are easily diagnosable. He’s an athletic wing with on-ball ability who is still growing in virtually every area. When playing alongside a lead guard, he turns into a knock down catch-and-shoot movement shooter capable of slashing to the hoop both as a play finisher and defense manipulator. He’s one of the best fast break operatives in his graduating class, as he’s rather quick in the open court and is able to take full advantage of his elite vertical athleticism. We rarely see his impressive above-the-rim acumen in the half court, as he struggles to create downhill opportunities, but that’s not the case in transition. Other ancillary skills, such as aggressive rebounding and connective passing (when he’s playing focused) further support his ability to play within a system. I expect him to play a limited role next season at Santa Clara, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he emerged as a legitimate contributor for one of the better mid-major programs in the country. I view him as a very real professional prospect, and if he continues to grow and develop, I expect him to either make the professional leap before graduation or finish out his college career at a high major program.
This is great!