Rankings Review: 2022 2-Guards
The featured image is of 2022 combo guard Jessica Carrothers Jessica Carrothers 5'7" | CG Crown Point | 2022 State IN of Crown Point High School. The image is courtesy of her @JessicaCarroth1 Twitter account. Yesterday we released are updated…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe featured image is of 2022 combo guard Jessica Carrothers Jessica Carrothers 5'7" | CG Crown Point | 2022 State IN of Crown Point High School. The image is courtesy of her @JessicaCarroth1 Twitter account.
Yesterday we released are updated Class of 2022 rankings, with several minor adjustments here and there. The 2-guard collection in 2022 isn’t overly strong at the top, but there are several tremendous small college prospects. There are a number of versatile, quality combo guards, some good shooters, and several feisty defenders. Below is a look at the top 20 2-guard prospects in Indiana’s Class of 2022, with additional comments to follow.
Crown Point’s Jessica Carrothers Jessica Carrothers 5'7" | CG Crown Point | 2022 State IN is our top guard on this list, but she’s also the top overall guard in Indiana’s 2022 class, and for good reason. First, she might have the best motor in the state, regardless of graduating class. She also is terribly difficult to define by position. She is just a ballplayer. She can handle it and run offense, she’s tremendously strong and aggressive attacking the basket, often earning repeated trips to the free throw line, and while she doesn’t hunt jump-shots a whole lot, she did shoot 37% from beyond the arc this season. Defensively, she is incredibly gritty, tough-nosed, and physical. She can defend some point guards, all bigger guards, plus she can defend some small forwards as well. She will likely be a front-runner in Miss Basketball conversations in a couple of seasons.
I continue to be impressed with how much Kenna Kirby Kenna Kirby 5'8" | SG Tri-West | 2022 State IN of Tri-West has improved over the last two seasons. She has grown a little, toned her frame a lot, and made herself a more explosive athlete. Add to that her toughness, her ability to bury shot after shot from the perimeter, plus her improved finishing around the basket, and she has become one of the better multi-dimensional scorers in this class. She can also handle it and find open teammates. If she can continue to improve defensively, it could determine which types of schools recruit her moving forward. Speaking of defense, I was really impressed with what I saw out of Benton Central’s Tressa Senesac Tressa Senesac 5'6" | PG Benton Central | 2022 State IN this season. She is extremely long, quick/fast, and very active at that end of the floor. She flies around, but in a disciplined fashion, and she seems to get her hands on just about every pass. She can handle the ball and run offense, plus she gashes defenses slicing to the rim. As she continues to gain strength, she should become a more consistent shooter/finisher long-term.
Chloe McClain Chloe McClain 5'7" | SG Kokomo | 2022 State IN of Kokomo had some really big games this season, and a lot can be attributed to her finishing growing and adding some strength to her frame. Chloe is a long, fluid, fairly smooth all-around athlete. She can make the occasional perimeter jumper, but she’s so much better attacking the basket. She averaged 14.7 points per game this season, but over her last five games she averaged 23.4, with an explosive 39-point effort in a close win against Muncie Central. Look for her to be even bigger for the Kats next season. Indianapolis Pike’s Jordyn Payton was called upon to play a much bigger role this season, and she showed flashes of nice upside. She is a strong kid, willing to be physical on the perimeter, but she can make shots. She is a little streaky at times outside, but when she gets it rolling, she can catch fire and make four or five 3-pointers in a row. As she becomes more dynamic off the bounce and starts scoring it at all levels, look for her to become a potential mid-teens scorer.
Union City’s Mariah Claywell Mariah Claywell 5'7" | SG Union City | 2022 State IN is part of a pretty deep 2022 class for the Indians, but she ultimately might be their best college prospect. While she doesn’t lead them in scoring, she is a double-figure scorer, an aggressive rebounder, plus a nice distributor and their de facto point guard. She has a long, wiry strong frame, and she’s a solid multisport athlete. She is a playmaker, so if she can add a consistent perimeter jumper, she could be an even tougher matchup for opponents. The Indians were in the 2017 Class 1A State Finals, and if this 2022 class of theirs develops together, they could make a couple more deep runs these next two seasons. While there are 20 girls mentioned above, there are several other 2-guards I could also talk about. I think you’ll find the Class of 2022 is very strong at the top, but there is good depth and there are several really nice small college prospects as well.