Point Guard Kota Suttle Jr. Is A Name To Watch This Summer

Kota Suttle Jr. is a star for the perennial powerhouse Wheeler in Marietta and is a player to keep an eye on.

Wheeler has won nine state championships in its history and has won three in this decade already with the most recent coming in 2023. Wheeler made it to the Final Four in 2024 despite losing six of their seniors from a loaded class last season and losing one of their best players for the entire playoffs.

“Coming into this year, nobody expected us to do anything. We had six seniors leave. Five of them were huge contributors, so nobody expected us to do anything this year. We fell short this year,” said Suttle Jr. “For us to do that, I felt that was a big statement. Unfortunately, I was unable to play. I didn’t play in any of the playoff games. I was out the whole playoffs. I think if I had played, things would have gone a little differently. Everybody is ready to get back. We want to get to the ultimate goal which is a state championship.”

Suttle Jr. is an elite playmaker in Georgia and one of the best parts of his game is creating not only for himself but for others. He also has a great feel for the game and was named All-Region for Region 5-7A. He can push the pace in transition and get easy baskets, or he can slow it down and run the offense at a smooth pace. Suttle is always cool, calm, and collected and never rattled as a point guard. He got to study and learn from one of the greatest high school players in Georgia as a freshman and battled the No.1 player in the country every day at practice.

“I say that is something I learned from watching Isaiah Collier play and going against him. Watching his change of pace and no matter how hard you are trying to guard him and how hard you are pressing up, you can’t speed him up. That is one thing I learned from him and I am still learning from him till this day,” said Suttle. “I credit him for that. Day 1 I came in, and I made that my personal task. I am going to guard him every day. You are going up against the No.1 player in the country as a true freshman. You have no choice but to get better. That was a great experience for me. Outside of practice, playing 1 on 1 against him every day, he probably won’t tell you but I definitely won some games. He definitely beat up on me for sure and I appreciate that. That is what he is supposed to do because that is going to make me better in the long run.”

“One of the best parts of my game is playmaking. Whether it’s me getting a bucket or making a play for somebody else, I think I do well in that area,” he said.

@RMTheSniper5 @Joshhill022 @kotasuttlejr @LaLewis_3 good work fellas! But there’s still #MoreWorkToDo @WheelerHoops @MEdwardsBball @Relentless_Hoop @OntheRadarHoops @SUVtv @atlgreenlight @_joshtec @BTS_Report @Mr_McCray @mayelloyd1 pic.twitter.com/Q2D3z9AKDD

— Coach Darnell “Shep” Shepherd (@_CoachShep_) February 12, 2024

Suttle comes from a great family of athletes who have all played at a high-end level. His sister Brooke Suttle was named Region 2-7A player of the year for the second consecutive season in 2024 for the Campbell Spartans. Kota said he loved the battle with his siblings and that it made him who he is today.

“That’s my dawg, Brooke. I love her to death. Seeing her journey of having to leave Holy Innocents her sophomore year and coming into a new environment, but still being able to do her thing averaging 20 and 10, I am really proud of her. I know she is going to do great things at UPenn. I am really excited for her and what is to come in her life.”

“All of my older siblings played Division 1 sports. So far, everybody who has had a chance has won a state championship. There have been great battles,” said Suttle. “Like I said, I want to be able to play with the best people available. At that time, that is who they were for me so I was trying to play my older sister Kennedy in 1 on 1 all the time. She wasn’t always trying to play me, but I told her nah we have to play. It was always heated for sure.”

Congratulations @brookesuttle_ for being named Region Player of the Year for the 2nd year in a row! @KyleSandy355 @PGH_Georgia @mdjonline @ATLTipoffClub pic.twitter.com/xY2EM2IH0D

— Campbell GBB (@GBBCampbell) February 13, 2024

Currently, he is still weighing his options about who he will play for this summer, but last summer he played with the Atlanta Celtics on the Adidas AAU Circuit.

“Last year we had a good summer. We finished third in 3SSB. I love my guys: Coach Pat, Coach Randy, Coach Greg, and Coach Willy. They are a really great group of coaches. I really think they helped me be more confident and more willing to make plays. I liked the guys on our team Manny Green, Lamarion Lewis, and Gregory Dunson to name a few. I really liked playing with those guys,” said Suttle Jr.

Suttle Jr. is currently ranked by ON3 Sports as a three-star player. As far as his recruiting goes, there have been several teams in contact with him. He currently holds six offers from Cincinnati, Georgia, Howard, Ole Miss, Radford, and George Mason. As we have seen with great players like Tylis Jordan (Shiloh) it only takes one summer to get your name out there on the national stage

“Cincinnati, UGA, Ole Miss, George Mason,” he explained. “I’ve taken a few visits to Auburn and took a visit to Clemson. I was on campus at Vanderbilt. I was talking to the previous USC staff. I know coach Enfield just made the move to SMU. Georgia Tech is another and those have been some of the teams reaching out.”

So far, Georgia leads the race for Suttle’s recruitment but it is still very early in the process.

“I like Georgia a lot. They were my first Power Five offer. My sister used to play soccer there. As a kid, everybody wanted to play for the Dawgs. They’ve been on the complete up and up this year. They’ve been making good strides and had a big win against Ohio State in the NIT. They are doing big things,” said Suttle Jr.

In terms of what he wants to accomplish in 2024, Suttle Jr. has big expectations. Not only does he want to be the best all-around player he can be, but he is also looking to have more posters. Suttle Jr. enjoys going up against some of the best talent in the country and relishes the big stage.

“One thing I think separates people is the ability to finish in traffic and play above the rim. I have been explosive with that my whole life, but now transitioning to dunking on people. I still want to stay locked in on my shot. Of course, you can tighten everything up like ball handling, passing, mid-range, finishing just like I said earlier trying to have a complete game,” said Suttle Jr. “You can expect me to continue to be a killer and a winner. A true leader on and off the court and a leader by example. That is what you can expect me to do. I am always going to work hard and always do the little things. “

“Team wise, I want to win two more championships. Isaiah challenged me last year and said I got three you have to at least go do that. That is a major goal for me and winning the region,” said Suttle Jr. “I want to see everybody on the team getting better and everybody being able to prosper, you know feel like they have progressed. Individually, I want to solidify myself as more of a national name. Not necessarily super worried about it but it matters. Rising in the rankings of course and picking up more opportunities whether that is offers, NIL or whatever that entails.”

Suttle Jr. is a name to watch this summer as the AAU circuit heats up, and could be a marquee name nationally.