Indiana Top 250 Notes: 2023-2025
This Fall, we at Prep Girls Hoops are hosting our inaugural Top-250 Expos in Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. This past Sunday it was Indiana’s turn to be in the spotlight, as close to 120 college prospects from Indiana, Kentucky,…
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Continue ReadingThis Fall, we at Prep Girls Hoops are hosting our inaugural Top-250 Expos in Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. This past Sunday it was Indiana’s turn to be in the spotlight, as close to 120 college prospects from Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan took the floor at the Noblesville Boys & Girls Club, with several small colleges in attendance to evaluate them. This week you have seen articles from Mason Asher, Blake Isaacs, and myself, and since I am the Senior Writer in Indiana and write about many of these girls on a fairly regular basis, I wanted to let Mason & Blake write about the more common prospects, while I turn my attention to several girls I was less-familiar with entering the event. While that was easy to do with the older girls, a lot of these younger girls I saw for just the first or second time, so there might be a little overlap. Between the three of us, though, we wanted to make sure we covered as many participants as possible. Below is a look at ten members of the classes of 2023 through 2025 who I wanted to comment on.
Lydia Betz, 2023, 5-9 W, Forest Park H.S.
This was my second opportunity to see Lydia in the last couple of months, and I think she is a very nice basketball player with some upside for the future. She has good length, broad shoulders, and the potential to eventually add more strength…but I think she still might grow another inch or two first. She has a quiet toughness to her game and doesn’t mind physicality, but she’s skilled around the perimeter, she can handle it a little and run offense like a point forward, plus she has some touch on her jump-shot. Because it looks like she has grown quickly, I think she could learn how to play a little lower to the ground at both ends of the floor, but that typically comes with strength as well. I think she can contribute immediately at Forest Park.
Taylor Farris, 2023, 5-8 W, Northeastern H.S.
Taylor is one of those kids who is difficult to define by position, because she does so many different things on the court, and eventually I can see colleges recruiting her for different roles depending on their systems. What she is, is a strong, athletic, and tough-nosed wing who gets after it. She can handle the ball and create offense for herself or others, she’s a strong-for-her-age slasher who can absorb contact and finish around the basket, and she’s a developing shooter with a nice mid-range game already. Based on her frame right now, I’m not going to assume she’ll grow a lot more, so she’ll need to emphasize tightening up her entire perimeter skillset. But she possesses a great deal of skill and talent, so she should have a great Freshman season.
Nasiya Gause, 2023, 5-5 G, Lake Station Edison H.S.
Lake Station already has a high-scoring Junior in 5-4 guard Taylor Austin, so the addition of Nasiya to that roster this year should make them incredibly dangerous in Northwest Indiana at the Class 2A level. Nasiya is a strong guard with an impressive frame for a youngster. She has really good length as well, and she’s a nice all-around athlete in most directions. She stood out to me at the defensive end of the floor first, because even when she was beaten defensively, she’d use her length and physicality to recover quickly. Offensively, she seemed to handle the ball fairly well, she found open teammates, and she scored it at all levels. As any younger guard should, she could benefit from a little better shot selection and learn situational basketball, but she is a nice talent.
Rashunda Jones, 2023, 5-6 PG, South Bend Washington H.S.
Sunday was my second time seeing Rashunda, and I left even more impressed than when I saw her in September at a showcase event. She is very long, fluidly athletic, and she will occasionally show you an impressive burst to get by defenders. She is still rather thin, but she plays much tougher, stronger, and more physical than she looks. As she ages and adds strength, she should become tremendously tough to stop from getting where she wants to go. Her handle is solid, and her jumper is developing, but right now she just knifes through the defense with ease. I also like her potential to become a high-level on-ball defender, and I think that’s an area in which she might be able to excel as a prospect.
Janiah King, 2023, 5-9 W, Carmel H.S.
Based on what I’ve seen since March, Hamilton County is absolutely loaded with talent in the 2023 class, but this was my first time seeing Janiah, so she just adds to that surplus. Janiah was incredibly intriguing to me. She’s a long, wiry strong, fluidly athletic wing who seemed to glide around the floor somewhat effortlessly. She showed the ability to handle the ball some in transition and when attacking the basket, plus she changed directions fairly well off the dribble. Most of her offense came on the interior, but she did knock down a couple of mid-range jumpers when I was able to see her. Defensively, I think she has the ability to be very versatile and really help a team at that end of the floor.
Hailey Smith, 2023, 5-8 W, Fishers H.S.
Olivia Smith, 2023, 5-8 W, Fishers H.S.
The Fishers High School twins are extremely similar to each other and very talented on a basketball court. This is meant in a complimentary way, but they are absolute dawgs when it comes to competition. They are strong, physical, and incredibly aggressive. They can pressure you and be physical with you at the defensive end of the floor, and they put their heads down and are low-to-the-ground attackers who can probably carry you with them to the basket if you latch onto them. They can each play any of a variety of positions, but the best way to describe them is as ballplayers. From what I saw in the Spring, to what I saw Sunday, they look a little taller, and they look like they are both shooting it much better from the perimeter. They already have the “goods” in regards to toughness and physical ability, so if they can continue building their skillsets, they are going to give rivals nightmares as they continue to develop their games.
Kailyn Terrell, 2023, 5-5 PG, Brownsburg H.S.
Whether or not Kailyn develops into a top-tier prospect, she is one of those kids who is always enjoyable to watch play. She is strong for her age, incredibly tough-nosed and feisty, and she just competes at both ends of the floor each possession. When I have watched her, I really like her discipline and understanding of the game as a point guard, and I love the fact that she doesn’t force the issue and tries to be efficient. I also enjoy her competitive fire and intensity, and it seems like in any environment, her teammates feed off of that. As she ages, I’d like to see her improve her explosiveness, but her ball skill is solid, and she can knock down open jumpers consistently. I am curious to see how she fits in with her recent move to Brownsburg High School.
Daneijah Wynn, 2024, 5-9 F, Lawrence North H.S.
Daneijah was a very intriguing younger prospect. She is a solidly built kid who looks like she still might grow a little and could become overpowering in some capacity at the high school level. She ran the floor well in transition, showed off solid skill in the half-court, and is a versatile forward right now who can post up smaller defenders or take care of the ball around the perimeter, but she is probably most effective in the mid-post offensively. She has a solid 15-foot jumper, and she attacks the basket from the mid-post reasonably well. If she can continue developing her skillset and work on playing with more of a sense of urgency, I think she has a nice future in front of her.
Allanah Gilbert, 2025, 5-11 F, Homeschooled (Indianapolis)
Allanah is another youngster who had a solid showing playing against the high school prospects. She is a wiry strong forward already with an athletic frame and the potential to add good muscle-weight in high school. She is a fluidly athletic kid who runs the floor North/South well, plus she had some bounce and changed directions fairly well. At her age/size she isn’t a post by any means, and she looked very comfortable in the mid-post area of the floor offensively. She shot a decent ball from there and was able to get to the basket off of one dribble, but she struggled with physicality at times on the interior. Defensively, she has some talent and versatility, but she’ll need to learn how to sit down more and play lower.