The Long Way Home: Rav Randhawa Finds His Landing Spot at Hampton

I have a file on Rav Randhawa that goes back further than almost any prospect on The Maple Minute's board. January 2023. He was a 6'3 combo guard out of J. Addison, buried in a spreadsheet of a hundred names I was still learning how to rank. Two months later I wrote four sentences on him after an Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association Final 8 weekend that I still stand behind word for word: one of the top shooters in the country, quick and consistent release, footwork and body control that let him get his shot off even when he was covered up. That was March 2023. I've been on this kid for almost 5 years now, and I've never once had to talk myself into the shot.

That's the thing I keep coming back to. Scouts talk themselves into players all the time — you watch enough tape, you want to see the thing you already decided was there. I never had to do that with Randhawa. The release is just different. Quick, high, repeatable from a dozen different footwork patterns, the kind of shooting bed where the ball comes off clean no matter how much traffic is closing in on him. I've watched a lot of releases with my own two eyes over the years, amateur and pro. His is top five. Not top five "for a Canadian kid." Top five, period.

But the road here wasn't a straight line, and that's exactly why this commitment means something. From J. Addison, Randhawa moved out to Great Futures Prep for the 2024 National Prep School Invitational cycle, still holding down the point guard spot on a loaded roster of Canadian names. From there it was Ellsworth Community College — the junior college grind, the kind of stop that either sharpens a player's edge or quietly ends a career nobody was watching closely enough to save. Randhawa sharpened. Somewhere in there he briefly committed to Ontario Tech, a U SPORTS program, which for a lot of shooters with his résumé would have been the final answer. It wasn't. Hampton called at the eleventh hour, and a kid who spent parts of four years bouncing between three countries' worth of gyms finally has his Division I home.

I asked him three questions. Here's what he had to say.

What does committing to Hampton mean to you?

"Committing to Hampton to me is something I am forever going to be grateful for. I want to thank Coach Thomas and the rest of the coaches at Hampton for believing in me to come in and help impact winning. Forever grateful for this opportunity, but now it's time to get to work!"

What can the Pirates fan base expect from you next season?

"The Pirates fan base can expect someone who is going to do whatever it takes to win. Winning is above all else, and that is what my goal will be. To do whatever it takes to win, whether that's knocking down shots, getting others involved, leading or anything else. Expect a fun and winning season!"

Let's be honest, you don't meet the typical DI stereotype — what kind of advice would you want to give to a kid in a similar situation to you trying to follow in your footsteps?

"I think the biggest thing I could say is never stop believing in yourself. There will be highs and there will be lows, but the work won't be put in the shade. Keep storing actions so that one day when it is your turn, you're ready for the opportunity that you have been working for all your life. Ignore the outside noise and control what you can, which is showing up and working! Lastly have fun while doing it, this sport is a privilege for us to play in and take part of, never take it for granted because one day the ball will stop bouncing and you don't want any regrets when that time comes. Enjoy basketball and work relentlessly towards your goals and watch them come to light."

That last answer is the one that sticks with me. Randhawa isn't walking into Hampton as a five-star, isn't walking in with a shoe deal or a highlight reel with nine figures of views. He's walking in as a shooter who never stopped believing the gravity he creates off the catch and off the bounce was worth building a career around — and he was right. There aren't many guards walking around with a release this pure, this repeatable under duress. That's a small-world skill, and it just found a Division I home.

Almost 5 years of coverage, three schools, one junior college detour, and one almost-commitment later, this is the one that sticks. Welcome to Hampton, Rav.

— Josh Millican, The Maple Minute