Sunday’s Best
While I realize it’s a few days late, I’m finally off the road temporarily with a little time to put my thoughts onto “paper”. The USJN Premier Showcase at the Pacers Athletic Complex in Westfield, Indiana, hosted some of the…
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Continue ReadingWhile I realize it’s a few days late, I’m finally off the road temporarily with a little time to put my thoughts onto “paper”. The USJN Premier Showcase at the Pacers Athletic Complex in Westfield, Indiana, hosted some of the state’s, Midwest’s, and nation’s best teams and prospects July 5-8. While I typically stick to Indiana content, there were many players from other states who stood out to me throughout the week, so below are ten individuals from outside of Indiana who I felt played well in Sunday’s action when I was able to see them.
Olivia Miles, 2021, 5-10 PG, Blair Academy (NJ)
The #1 player in the state of New Jersey and our #2 player nationally, Olivia definitely lived up to her top-billing all week. The University of Notre Dame commit played with poise every game, as she controlled tempo and did virtually whatever she wanted most games. With a long frame and a yo-yo handle, she was regularly getting defenders off-balance, attacking the basket for scores, or finding open teammates for wide open shots with a variety of simple passes and more complicated no-looks. While she is highly skilled with the ball, she is instinctual in all facets of the game, plus she can be an elite defender when she wants.
Emma Kerkau
Emma
Kerkau
CG
Frankenmuth | 2022
State
MI
, 2022, 5-11 CF, Frankenmuth H.S. (MI)
It took Emma about ten minutes in the game I saw for her to find her rhythm, but once she did, she was one of the best players on the floor. She has really good length, wiry strength, and she’s a nice, fluid athlete in most directions. Early in the game, she was focused more on playing in the mid-post, defending opposing “bigs”, and hitting the boards, but as the game wore on, she showed nice touch from the perimeter, smoothly burying multiple 3-pointers. I really like her upside as a face-up ’4’, but I think if she can make her handle more dynamic, she is athletic enough and a good enough shooter to become a true wing.
Kyla Oldacre, 2022, 6-6 C, Princeton H.S. (OH)
Kyla was one of the biggest prospects I saw all week. She has broad shoulders, very good length, and an athletically strong frame. She plays with a good motor for someone her size, she runs the floor well North/South, and I was really impressed with her hands, catching multiple over-the-shoulder passers in transition and finishing. She does a solid job of sitting down and establishing position on the block, but she can definitely stand to build more lower body strength. I also liked her touch facing the basket to about 12-feet. She has a tremendous amount of upside because of her size and mobility, and she already possesses a host of Division-I offers.
Zoey Persails
Zoey
Persails
5'9" | CG
Frankenmuth | 2022
State
MI
, 2022, 5-9 SF, Frankenmuth H.S. (MI)
Zoey is a strong wing with a great motor, but it was her ability to bury shots from the perimeter that stood out when I saw her play. She has a pure shooting stroke that takes very little time to get away, so she needed little space to cause problems for her opponent from 3-point range. She is a solid straight-line driver as well, and she can absorb contact and finish inside. I also thought she defended hard and understood angles, but she’ll need to continue working on her lateral quickness at that end of the floor. I thought she was very intriguing, and I can see several colleges interested in her game.
Trinity Ramos, 2022, 5-3 PG, Reynoldsburg H.S. (OH)
I love little guards who just know how to play, and Trinity was definitely that. She is a strong-for-her-size, quick, and fairly athletic traditional point guard. She does a nice job of taking care of the basketball, she runs offense well, and she gets the ball where it needs to go on time/on target. She was good at attacking in transition but also understanding when the team needed to slow down in the half-court. I also really liked her tenacity and feistiness at the defensive end of the floor. Her size will limit her recruiting a little bit, but this girl knows how to play and will definitely draw a lot of interest.
KK Arnold
KK
Arnold
5'10" | PG
Germantown | 2023
State
#8
Nation
WI
, 2023, 5-8 PG, Germantown H.S. (WI)
Big moments on big stages tend to stand out to me. I can remember back years ago watching the Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry single-handedly lead Team Philly to a big 17U tournament championship when he was in high school, and I felt like K.K. had that moment Sunday night. K.K. came off the bench, went toe to toe with Olivia Miles (above), and helped lead her 17U Midwest Elite team to what many considered to be an upset win over the 17U Philly Belles. K.K. was aggressive to the rim, drawing foul after foul and knocking down free throws, she buried a couple of big jumpers late in the game, but I felt like her defensive effort was what stood out the most to me…what a tremendous job by the young prospect.
Skylar Jones
Skylar
Jones
5'9" | CG
Whitney Young | 2023
State
IL
, 2023, 5-11 SF, Whitney Young Magnet H.S. (IL)
If Skylar is looking for a nickname, I would say “The Walking Bucket” would suffice, based on what I saw out of her Sunday afternoon. She is an extremely long, somewhat slender, but very athletic lefty who scored the ball at will from all areas of the floor against 16U competition. She was probably best off the bounce, getting to the basket and drawing a number of fouls/and-1s. But she showed a nice mid-range pull-up, and she knocked down a couple of perimeter jumpers. Like most younger prospects, she’ll need to be a little more efficient in half-court offense, but she is an instinctual playmaker who can flat out score.
Alyssa Latham, 2023, 6-0 PF, Homewood-Flossmoor H.S. (IL)
I’m not sure many people know about Alyssa, but I really enjoyed watching her play and think she has a lot of upside. She is a broad-shouldered athlete with a great frame, really good length, and some bounce to her. She works her tail off, is willing to be physical inside, and often out-hustles her matchup to rebounds and loose balls. She will still need to refine her skillset a bit, but she is certainly an athletic talent who can rebound and defend the paint right now. I think eventually she’ll become more of a mid-post ’4’, but she is highly productive with her current style of play.
Jordan Wood
Jordan
Wood
6'4" | PF
Carmel Catholic | 2023
State
#15
Nation
IL
, 2023, 6-3 CF, Carmel Catholic H.S. (IL)
The PGH Illinois #1 prospect in the Class of 2023, Jordan definitely possesses a great deal of talent, upside, and intrigue. She is extremely long, still thin, but fluid and very athletic. She moves around the floor like a wing and has a developed skillset to where she can handle the ball some, create offense for others, plus she can knock down an open rhythm jumper from the perimeter. She still works in the mid-post and on the low-block quite a bit, but I think the biggest thing for her moving forward is to continue strengthening her frame so she can absorb contact better and work on playing lower. Once she begins player lower, I think it will help her defensively on the ball, as well as handling the ball against pressure.
Adrena Gordon, 2024, 5-11 SF, Archbishop Hoban H.S. (OH)
Watching Adrena play in the 16U age group, you wouldn’t know she’s just entering high school. She has a strong and physical build, almost like a post or power forward. But she’s a very good athlete with good footwork, she has a tremendous offensive skillset, and she played with a nice motor when I saw her. She handles the ball like a guard, she has good vision and can really pass it, plus she’s a nice downhill attacker who can finish through contact at the basket. She’s also a solid shooter when she gets her feet set and is in rhythm. She’s not quite as tall or laterally quick as University of Maryland guard Ashley Owusu, but I think there are certainly a lot of similarities in terms of style of play.