April Showers – Part One
The featured image is courtesy of freeinfonature.wordpress.com and found at pinterest.com. They say that April showers bring May flowers, but considering the “storm” 2020 has rained down upon us, it could take a bit longer than May to see budding…
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Continue ReadingThe featured image is courtesy of freeinfonature.wordpress.com and found at pinterest.com.
They say that April showers bring May flowers, but considering the “storm” 2020 has rained down upon us, it could take a bit longer than May to see budding prospects throughout Indiana. With that in mind, I wanted to highlight a handful of perimeter players from the Class of 2021 who I thought were primed to have a breakout Spring in terms of their recruiting and grassroots play, but who unfortunately missed out on some of those opportunities because of this pandemic. There are many more prospects to choose from, but I limited this article to these seven, because for one reason or another they stood out to me.
Carley Culberson
Carley
Culberson
5'8" | PG
Yorktown | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, 5-7 CG, Yorktown H.S.
Carley was an incredibly productive scorer as a Freshman and was all set to put together an outstanding high school career. She was drawing some light Division-I interest, and that would likely all but have grown during a highly anticipated Sophomore season. However, things don’t always work out the way we want, and Carley was curious about playing football, so she joined Yorktown’s JV team, and rumor has it she was one of their better players. But a midseason ACL injury forced her to miss the entire 2018-2019 basketball season, as well as the Spring grassroots season in 2019. She returned over the Summer months and showed flashes of her play as a Freshman, then this past Winter she started to look more and more like her old self each time out. This Spring was surely going to be her opportunity to prove to everyone she was back, fully healthy, and a top prospect in 2021.
Courtney Fields
Courtney
Fields
5'7" | PG
Cathedral | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, 5-7 CG, Cathedral H.S.
Courtney didn’t follow the same exact circumstances as
Carley Culberson
Carley
Culberson
5'8" | PG
Yorktown | 2021
State
IN
(above), but she has ended up with some of the same results. As a Freshman, Courtney was outstanding at times, giving the Irish quality minutes as a combo guard, and making a name for herself. She followed that up with a solid Summer, and she showed Division-I talent and skill. Then, she too missed her entire Sophomore high school season and wasn’t readily visible throughout the Spring grassroots circuit. But when I saw her play in July, she looked like she hadn’t missed a beat, and she even played more disciplined, looked in better control of the ball, and was at times smooth scoring it. This Winter, Courtney returned to the court for Cathedral, was their second leading scorer, and was their top assist person. This Spring looked like a great chance for her to put her name on several colleges’ lists, with the potential to earn a few offers.
Lillian Mast
Lillian
Mast
5'7" | SG
West Noble | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, 5-7 SG, West Noble H.S.
There are times when we receive names of players, but due to their location, we don’t really know what they are until we’re able to put eyes on them. Such is the case for Lillian. I had heard several nice things about her, but it wasn’t until April of 2019 that I was finally able to see her play. She is a strong guard who plays with an outstanding motor, and I was really impressed with how productive she was. She is a tough-nosed, physical, straight-line athlete who attacks the basket with power. She has some touch from around the perimeter as well, plus she can occasionally slide over and run offense. Every year there are a handful of Juniors who draw interest from some of the Nation’s best small college programs, and we have several of those throughout Indiana and the Midwest. I felt like, with the right performances this Spring, Lillian had a great opportunity for that to be her.
Maddie Patterson
Maddie
Patterson
5'9" | SF
Danville Community | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, 5-9 SF, Danville Community H.S.
Maddie falls into the category of “my turn”. At Danville, she has been the second-leading scorer the past two years to 2020 Indiana All-Star
Ella Collier
Ella
Collier
5'11" | SG
Danville Community | 2020
State
IN
, and rightfully so. Additionally, she has played the last two seasons for the older Indiana Flight-Duke 17U grassroots team, where quality upperclassmen like
Bayleigh Runner
Bayleigh
Runner
5'7" | PG
Hamilton Heights | 2020
State
IN
(Hamilton Heights 2020) and
Makenna Fee
Makenna
Fee
6'0" | PF
Seymour | 2019
State
IN
(Seymour 2019) have been more of the focal point. In both cases, it’s now Maddie’s turn to step into more of the spotlight, and this Spring would have been her first opportunity to do so. She is a wiry strong, long, and fairly athletic wing forward. She can play in the mid-post and score off the drive or knock down jumpers, plus she’s a good shooter from the perimeter when set and in rhythm. This Spring would have been a great opportunity for her to show an improved handle and her defensive versatility.
Karly Sweeney
Karly
Sweeney
5'7" | SG
Salem | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, 5-7 SG, Salem H.S.
Karly is without a doubt one of my favorite players to watch in this 2021 class. The combination of energy, toughness, grit, and competitive fire she brings to the floor each time out is hard to replicate by other prospects. Playing in Southern Indiana hinders her visibility and media attention a little bit, but when people do actually get the chance to see her play, they rave about her. I felt like that would have been the overwhelming opinion of small college coaches this Spring if they would have had the chance to see her play on the grassroots circuit. She has good length at her height, strength, and she’s a nice straight-line driver to the basket. She has also worked on her handle, she’s a consistent perimeter shooter, plus she has improved her angles and is defending much better. She will be a great “fit” kid wherever she ends up.
Pa’Shence Walker
Pa’Shence
Walker
5'8" | SG
Martinsville | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, 5-8 SG, Martinsville H.S.
To be honest, Pa’Shence already has somewhat of a name and a little interest from colleges, due to the fact that her older sister, Kayana Traylor (Martinsville 2018), was heavily recruited and now plays at Purdue University. At the same time, I think she too often gets compared to Kayana, when Pa’Shence is a different type of player altogether. Pa’Shence is a long, wiry strong athlete, and she might even be a little more fluid of an athlete than her older sister. She is more of an off-guard though, a gliding slasher to the basket, and she makes plays with her athleticism. This season, she increased her shooting percentages by 3% to 8% across the board, and I felt like she contributed more in a variety of ways than in the past. She rebounded better, set her teammates up better, and she proved she can be an elite defender. A strong Spring could have really helped her recruiting in a big way.
Mary Wilson
Mary
Wilson
5'10" | SF
Center Grove | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, 5-9 SF, Center Grove H.S.
Each grassroots season there is a player who steps their game up to another level and really stands out as someone that was overlooked by colleges for too long. I felt like Mary had the opportunity to prove that this Spring. She has always been an outstanding worker, always in the gym, and she has developed into a dangerous perimeter shooter with a quick release. Whenever she can be seen again, she is primed to draw a great deal of attention because of her ability as a shooter, but I feel like she’s much more than that. She plays with a quiet toughness, she’s willing to be physical, and she can score it attacking the basket. Her handle has improved, and she has turned into an effective defender who is very cerebral. She just understands the game at both ends of the floor so well. Someone is going to recruit a “specialist” and figure out quickly that she’s a well-rounded “ballplayer”.