End Of July Wrap-Up: Part-2

With many of the Indiana teams traveling cross-country for different events during July's second "live" period, I remained in the Midwest and attended USJN's Midwest Summer Showcase in Westfield July 21st & 22nd, and then went to Cincinnati for Certified Basketball's The Finale on July 23rd and 24th.  I saw several teams from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois, but below is a look at the first eight of sixteen  2021 prospects specifically from Indiana who had nice performances when I was able to watch them.   Gracie Adams, 5-9 F, Lanesville H.S., Indiana Flight Grey/South 16U I have seen Gracie play a number of times over the last couple of grassroots seasons, and the show she put on last Monday was impressive.  Gracie scored 29 points in a number of different ways, to help her Flight team blow past a very solid Truth team from the Chicagoland area.  Gracie is a fairly strong, physical, and quietly tough forward who can play in the mid-post or around the perimeter.  In this game, she did a lot of damage inside of 15-feet, attacking the defense off the dribble, and finishing around the basket or at the free throw line.  She plays with a great motor, and she should be a dominant force in the South the next two high school seasons.   Genesis Castro, 5-3 PG, Avon H.S., Nike Lady Gym Rats Bronze 17U Genesis made her first appearance of the 2019 grassroots season in early July down in Louisville, and she followed that up with great play last week at the USJN event.  She is a quick/fast, strong guard, who has really good ball skill and can run the point guard position about as efficiently as anyone.  She has a natural feel for the position, a good basketball IQ, and she can knock down open jumpers when people sag off of her.  She's also a hard-working defender who gets her share of deflections.  She is primed for a really nice Junior season, especially with the quality of "bigs" she has to throw the ball to at Avon.   Taylor Cooney, 5-8 PG, Greensburg H.S., Indiana Flight Green 17U I have expressed time and time again how much I enjoy watching Taylor play, and she continues to be a solid, efficient, and skillful true point guard with good natural instincts for the position.  She takes care of the basketball, she delivers it on-time/on-target, and she uses her length and quickness to effectively defend multiple positions.  Considering her growth and strength-gain over the last year, I see her starting to score the ball with more confidence/aggressiveness.  While she's always possessed the skill to do so, if she can continue to score it consistently, I think she'll be that much more difficult to defend.   Courtney Fields, 5-7 G, Cathedral H.S., Indiana Flight Pearl White 17U Courtney is another player who didn't begin the grassroots season on a travel team.  She is a long, wiry strong, quick/fast, and athletic combo guard who does a lot of everything fairly well.  She can handle it and really push the ball in transition, she can create for herself or others in the half-court, and she's capable of knocking down a perimeter jumper when in rhythm.  I like how she attacks the basket with determination the most, though, and she's finishing through contact much better than a year ago.  As she continues to get stronger and tighten her skillset, look for her to draw a variety of college interest.   Adison Homan, 5-7 W, Plainfield H.S., Indiana Flight Red 16U I have seen Adison a number of times between this Spring and Summer, and while she's had some solid performances, I think what she did at The Finale stood out to me the most.  She is a fairly strong, somewhat fluid athlete on the wing, and she has a well-balanced skillset.  But when her Flight Red team matched up with a very long and athletic group of talented youngsters from Cincinnati, they saw a ton of full-court pressure, and Adison handled herself well against their traps and aggressive defense, helping them compete with a team who might have been more talented on paper.  Adison should provide good wing depth on a potentially sneaky-good Plainfield team in 2019-2020.   Sydnee Hughes, 5-10 F, Lawrence North H.S., Sky Digg Elite-Grennes 17U Lawrence North is hoping that injured forward Lauren Gunn (2020) and injured 6-1 post Justis Odom (2020) return to form this coming season, but they added depth to their frontline, as Sydnee transferred in this Summer from the nearby Horizon Christian School, just one mile from Geist Reservoir.  Sydnee is a strong, physical, and very athletic power forward who plays with a really good motor.  She hustles up and down the floor, and she can make plays in the mid-post.  I had not heard of Sydnee until last week, so I was excited to see such a talented new-to-me prospect.  She'll need to continue working on enhancing her all-around skillset, but she definitely has some tools to help a college program down the road.   Danielle Jenkins, 5-6 G, Wawasee H.S., Hoosier Elite 17U Danielle flashes really good potential and physical talent.  She is fairly quick/fast, somewhat bouncy even, and she runs hard in transition.  She has a nice handle and good all-around ball skills to where she is primarily a point guard, but she can also play off the ball, attack the basket for scores, or knock down an open rhythm jumper with some range.  In a pair of close games at the USJN event, she made big shots and big stops late in each game, helping her team to near wins in each...one ended up being a sudden death, double-overtime loss.  I enjoy her motor and passion for the game, and I think as she continues to develop her skillset, more schools will take notice.   Chloe Jolloff, 5'8 PG, Lakewood Park Christian Academy, Always 100-Wright 16U & 17U Chloe has pulled double-duty in July, helping out the 17U team when they're short-handed.  She is an extremely long, fluid, and smooth guard who has a natural feel and understanding of the point guard position.  She is still somewhat thin, but possibly still growing, and as she continues to gain strength, I think her game will evolve even more.  She tries to play the right way, she just struggles to absorb contact still, but once she gets there, watch out.  She is just so good in the open floor at seeing things before they happen.  I would like to see her become a more consistent perimeter shooter, but I think some of that will come with added strength as well.  She's a really nice wait-and-see type of talent.