June 28 Recap: LBI Michigan Jamboree
This past Sunday I turned my car towards Northern Indiana and headed to The Zone in Plymouth, Indiana, for the LBI Michigan Jamboree, co-hosted by Lady Ballers Insider and Always 100. The event showcased some talented young ladies, and it…
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Continue ReadingThis past Sunday I turned my car towards Northern Indiana and headed to The Zone in Plymouth, Indiana, for the LBI Michigan Jamboree, co-hosted by Lady Ballers Insider and Always 100. The event showcased some talented young ladies, and it was a great opportunity for me to get eyes on a few teams for the first time this Summer. While I primarily cover Indiana prospects, there were a number of talented Michigan teams in attendance as well. Below is a look at eight Michigan prospects who stood out to me throughout the afternoon.
(There are additional articles from this event posted on PGH Indiana, but they are limited to the Indiana prospects I evaluated over this past weekend.)
Jayd Hovey
Jayd
Hovey
5'8" | PG
Hart | 2022
State
MI
, 2022, 5-9 PG, Hart H.S.
Basketball is a team game, without question, but you could honestly say if Jayd wasn’t on the floor in the game I saw, they would have lost by 15-20 instead of it being close throughout. She is a long, wiry strong guard who seems to be in complete control at all times. She is active and athletic while the action is moving, but she’s also impressive with her communication and awareness during dead-ball situations. She is skilled handling it and creating offense for others, plus she was effective scoring it when attacking the basket. She also sat down and defended the ball well. I really like her upside and potential to draw widespread college interest the next couple of years.
Amanda Roach
Amanda
Roach
CG
Hartland | 2022
State
MI
, 2022, 5-6 PG, Hartland H.S.
Amanda played with so much energy, heart, toughness, and grit, that she stood out almost immediately and didn’t disappoint throughout the remainder of the day. She is a strong, low-to-the-ground style of point guard who takes care of the ball. She can get her defender off-balance and attack the basket, plus she had a couple of nice odd-angled finishes around taller interior defenders. While she might not have been the most explosive prospect in attendance, she was one of the most cerebral and productive point guards I saw, plus her motor is so contagious.
Lauren Sollom
Lauren
Sollom
PF
Hartland | 2022
State
MI
, 2022, 6-1 SF, Hartland H.S.
I had the opportunity to watch
Whitney Sollom
Whitney
Sollom
6'4" | PF
Hartland | 2020
State
MI
(2020) a few times last July, and after being impressed by her, I noticed she had a younger sister in the Mystics program. After seeing Lauren last July as well, and viewing her again on Sunday, it’s probably time to start dropping the “little sister” narrative, as Lauren looks stronger, much more assertive, and is becoming a really nice prospect herself. She is a wiry strong, extremely long, and very athletic wing forward. The thing I noticed most this time around, is that she is playing with a lot more confidence, and her handle has greatly improved. She likes to attack off the bounce and finish athletically inside of 15-feet, plus she is a capable defender who can take on guards or wings. Lauren’s upside is tremendous, and I’m anxious to see her growth as a player moving forward.
Cadence Dykstra, 2023, 5-9 CG, West Catholic H.S.
Cadence is a really nice prospect who is difficult to label by position…she is just a ballplayer. For her Grand Rapids Storm team, she was their primary ball-handler, but she’s much more than that. She can play any of three positions effectively, she has a wiry strong frame, good length, and nice all-around athleticism. She can attack the basket off the bounce, absorb contact, and finish inside, but she also has some touch from the perimeter when she’s able to get rhythm. While I have no idea what her recruiting looks like right now, she reminded me very much of the #1 2023 prospect in Indiana, Ashlynn Shade, and Shade already has a handful of Division-I offers, including from the Big Ten.
Macey Fegan, 2023, 5-11 SG, Standish-Sterling Central H.S.
Speaking of the Big Ten, Macey is a couple of weeks removed from a Michigan offer, and the 5-11 guard didn’t disappoint in Plymouth either. She is extremely long, very fast and athletic, and she showed quick feet at the defensive end of the floor, effectively guarding one of Indiana’s best young point guards in 5-6 Ashlynn Brooke (2023). Macey was constantly on attack at the offensive end as well, and she showed a lot of athleticism in transition. I didn’t get to see her shoot many/any long jumpers, and I would like to be able to evaluate that part of her game, but she is certainly a nice young talent many coaches will surely follow moving forward.
Sarah Rambus, 2023, 6-3 PF/C, Flushing H.S.
Being from Indiana, I’m not sure what kind of Winter Sarah had at Flushing, but from a recruiting standpoint, she has a bit of a “wow” factor to her, especially considering I heard she just turned 14 years old and could very well be in the 2024 class. Sarah is incredibly long, wiry strong, and fluidly athletic. She runs the floor like a deer, she plays with a solid motor, and she tries to be physical, though once she’s done growing, strength will be a must. Speaking of growth, I also heard she has sprouted up several inches in the last year as well. Defensively, she was an obvious presence and blocked some shots, but offensively, she attempted different post moves, she looks like she has absorbed coaching, and she could eventually become a monster on the block. I was impressed with her potential as much as anyone I saw this past weekend.
Layne Sleight, 2023, 5-7 PG, Jackson Northwest H.S.
I don’t know what it is about some of these Mystics guards, but they are fun to watch. Layne is another bulldog of a point guard, and she played with a nice motor as well. She is a strong/powerful kid for a floor general, a solid all-around athlete, plus she was tough and physical inside the arc, finishing through contact well. Layne has a nice shooting stroke from the perimeter, a quick release also, and I felt like she showed a really nice basketball IQ for the game and was solid finding open teammates, both in the half-court and in transition. If she can continue working on her angles and developing more quickness defensively, I feel like she can become a really nice Division-I prospect.
Alison Bisballe, 2024, 6-4 C, Houghton Lake H.S.
I didn’t get to see a lot of Alison on Sunday, but from what I did see, she certainly has a great deal of upside. She’s already very tall and extremely long for her age. She runs the floor well North/South, but she will need to get stronger, play lower, and work on her lateral explosiveness. Still, though, she is young, still growing, and once she finishes growing and adds strength, I think she’ll be a completely different player both physically and mentally. Right now she is more of a defensive presence, but she did show some post skill, and she looks like she has been training and developing moves/counter-moves to score the ball on the low-block. It will be interesting to watch her develop her game over the coming years.