An Early Look: 2024 Point Guards
The Fall rankings season is upon us, and Tuesday we expanded our online list of 2024 prospects from 60 to 80 girls, creating a Top-10 list to highlight those who have stood out in the short time we’ve gotten to…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe Fall rankings season is upon us, and Tuesday we expanded our online list of 2024 prospects from 60 to 80 girls, creating a Top-10 list to highlight those who have stood out in the short time we’ve gotten to know their games. Below we specifically look at some of the point guard prospects in the 2024 class who have either (a) made the Top-10, (b) seen their stock rising because of their Summer play, or (c) are making their first appearance on our 2024 watch list.
HEAD OF THE CLASS
At this early point in their young high school careers, there are three point guards we felt comfortable including on our Top-10 list at this time. Reagan Wilson Reagan Wilson 5'7" | PG Noblesville | 2024 State IN (#4), Jordyn Poole Jordyn Poole 5'6" | PG Fort Wayne Snider | 2024 State IN (#5), and Talia Harris Talia Harris 5'8" | PG Fishers | 2024 State IN (#9) all find themselves at the head of the class, but they’ll need to continue working on their games to remain there, because any number of nice young point guards are nipping at their heels. Wilson is a 5-7 guard from Noblesville, and she has drawn a lot of praise from us (and others) because of the energy and electricity she brings to the game. Whether she’s on the floor or the bench, she is constantly aware and engaged, encouraging teammates, calling out instructions, and doing whatever it takes to help her team win. She is a solid athlete, a tough-nosed kid, and she has a balanced skillset that should fit nicely alongside 2023 Noblesville star Ashlynn Shade Ashlynn Shade 5'10" | SG La Lumiere Prep | 2023 State #33 Nation IN .
There really isn’t much difference between Wilson and Poole from a recruiting standpoint right now, as I feel like they are interchangeable at this point in time. It will come down to what style of player college coaches seek in their recruiting. The 5-6 Poole is also electric, but in a different way. She has supreme quickness, and she uses her yo-yo handle to regularly get even the best defenders off-balance so she can attack them. The Fort Wayne Snider guard can get to the basket anytime she wants, plus she has a nice mid-range game and is getting more and more consistent outside, though I think added strength will help that. Jordyn can also take over the game at the defensive end of the floor. Harris is the younger sister of Tyasha Harris, so she grew up in the gym watching big sis. Talia is a 5-7 guard from Fishers, and she has really good length, a fluid and somewhat smooth floor game to her, and she has really developed nice finishing moves in the lane with either hand. She can pull up or hit runners/floaters over bigger defenders. Her perimeter jumper is coming along, and she does a nice job using her quickness and length at the defensive end of the floor. She doesn’t mind getting a little physical either and rebounds her position fairly well.
STOCK-RISERS
Three more point guards who I feel have really shown me something as the Summer/Fall has moved along are Olivia Nickerson Olivia Nickerson 5'7" | SG Twin Lakes | 2024 State IN of Twin Lakes, Morgan Cross Morgan Cross 5'7" | CG Northridge | 2024 State IN of Northridge, and Maddie Nipper Maddie Nipper 5'5" | PG Charlestown | 2024 State IN of Charlestown. Nickerson is a 5-6 combo guard, and I have seen her the most of these three. For much of the Summer, she has played alongside Reagan Wilson Reagan Wilson 5'7" | PG Noblesville | 2024 State IN (above), so she wasn’t as ball-dominant. But when she has been relied upon to be the primary ball-handler, she has done a nice job of taking care of it, getting it where it needs to go, plus she is a capable and fairly consistent perimeter shooter. She has a wiry strong frame, she’s a solid all-around athlete, and she plays with a quiet toughness, some physicality, and a nice motor.
Cross and Nipper are somewhat new to me, having only seen them one day each this Fall. Cross is a fairly quick and athletic guard who hustles all over the floor. She is tremendous on the ball defensively, tough-nosed and gritty, but she also takes care of it fairly well offensively and will burn you with her perimeter shot if you disrespect her and give her too much space. She could carve out a significant role for a good Northridge team this Winter, and as she gets stronger, look for her to be one of the better guards in Northern Indiana. Nipper is also a very quick-footed guard, but she’s a bit thinner, a lot longer, and she looks like she still might have a couple more inches left to grow. She plays with her head up, always looking for gaps or breakdowns in the defense. She has a really nice savvy about her offensively, plus she can hit the pull-up or the occasional perimeter jumper. I think growth and strength will really help her game, and she’s another one who could play a major role at the Varsity level, especially considering Charlestown suffered significant graduation losses in their backcourt.
NEWCOMERS
As we expanded our 2024 watch list by 20 prospects, three of the newcomers are point guards. Alli Harness Alli Harness 5'8" | CG Carroll (Flora) | 2024 State IN of Carroll (Flora, IN), Riley Milausnic Riley Milausnic 5'7" | CG Lake Central | 2024 State IN of Lake Central, and Madelyn Poe Madelyn Poe 5'6" | PG Columbus East | 2024 State IN of Center Grove are new to the list, and deservingly so. Harness really impressed a lot of people over the Summer, and she is one of the most unassuming assassins in this Freshmen class. When the game begins, she is typically one of the most consistently productive kids on the floor, regardless of the opponent. The 5-6 guard has really good length at her height, she is very quick and makes quick decisions with the ball, and she’s a lot tougher than her slender frame might suggest. She can get to the basket, she doesn’t mind contact, and she’ll get after it defensively. Offensively, however, is where she shines, as she can really shoot it with range well-beyond the 3-point line. As people guard her a little harder, she just pulls up deeper. It will be interesting to see how good she can become as a shooter once she finishes growing and gains strength.
Milausnic is a crafty, feisty, but fairly intelligent 5-4 guard who does a number of things well. She has good length at her height, she’ll likely grow another inch or two, and she looks to have an impact sooner rather than later for Lake Central. She is really quick with the ball and can get defenders off-balance, she has good touch with some range behind the 3-point line, plus she can get after it defensively and bother people with her quickness. She is the daughter of the LCHS boys’ Head Coach, and you can see that come out in her poise and understanding of the game. I really like her overall floor game. Poe is another extremely feisty guard who plays with a tremendous amount of energy and a nice motor at both ends of the floor. She is a long and rangy 5-5 guard who likes to create offense off the bounce. She is a willing passer, a solid finishing in the paint, but she will also take that energy to the defensive end of the floor and really scrap, whether she’s on the ball or in “help”. Once she finishes growing and adds strength, I look for her to help the Center Grove program, because she strikes me as the type of player who does well in their system.