Fall Rankings Review: 2024 PG Rundown
The featured image is of Joirdyn Smith Joirdyn Smith 5'4" | CG Fishers | 2024 State IN (2024) of Fishers High School and Always 100 Elite. As the Fall rankings updates continue, Tuesday we turned to the 2024 class, updating…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe featured image is of Joirdyn Smith Joirdyn Smith 5'4" | CG Fishers | 2024 State IN (2024) of Fishers High School and Always 100 Elite.
As the Fall rankings updates continue, Tuesday we turned to the 2024 class, updating them for the first time since June, and we added another 25 prospects to the mix. In this article I take time to break down the point guard position, giving you a look at a number of floor generals from different perspectives.
Top of the Class
The Fort Wayne Snider Panthers have a strong 2024 class to boast about, but point guard Jordyn Poole Jordyn Poole 5'6" | PG Fort Wayne Snider | 2024 State IN has really separated herself from her peers throughout the state. She is extremely quick, fast, and explosive, she does a nice job changing speeds, plus she has a great feel for the position and understands how to find open teammates and take care of the basketball. Her play over the past year has drawn her interest and offers from a number of mid to high-major Division-I schools. The one prospect in this class who could possibly challenge Jordyn as a lead guard is Noblesville’s Reagan Wilson Reagan Wilson 5'7" | PG Noblesville | 2024 State IN . I’ve always been drawn to Reagan’s game because she brings an incredible amount of energy, enthusiasm, and competitive fire. I challenge you to find me anyone who is as vocal and encouraging with teammates. She has a balanced skillset, as she can handle and operate as a game-manager, but she can also knock down open jumpers or get downhill and create around the basket. I look for her to step up in her second season for the Millers and offer them a true second scoring threat.
Rounding out the top five are Elizabeth Kelleher Elizabeth Kelleher 5'10" | PG Westfield | 2024 State IN of Westfield, Alli Harness Alli Harness 5'8" | CG Carroll (Flora) | 2024 State IN of Carroll (Flora), and Talia Harris Talia Harris 5'8" | PG Fishers | 2024 State IN of Fishers. Harness has drawn comparisons to 2023 point guard Ashlynn Brooke Ashlynn Brooke 5'7" | PG Pioneer | 2023 State IN of Pioneer because of her ability to accurately shoot the deep ball. Harness also possesses good ball skill and the ability to make plays, but she is more of a combo guard right now because she such a natural scorer, and a volume scorer at that. As a coach, you want to run her off screens and help her find space, because she can fill it up in bunches. Harris is the younger sister of the WNBA’s Tyasha Harris. Talia is trying to create her own path to the next level, and the lefty point guard is a smooth and fluid creator. She does a really nice job finding gaps, turning the corner, and getting into the paint. She can finish with a variety of floaters/runners, but she also does a nice job finding her interior teammates. Additionally, she’ll cause problems defensively with her length and quickness.
On the Rise
Getting back to Elizabeth Kelleher Elizabeth Kelleher 5'10" | PG Westfield | 2024 State IN (above), her play throughout the Spring and Summer caused a meteoric rise in her recruiting. The combination of her growth in the last year, her added strength, and her skill development have vaulted her in the rankings and earned her legitimate Division-I interest. She is just so steady, not at all flashy, but she takes care of the ball, knocks down open shots, and she can get through the defense and finish inside. She also has great instincts at the defensive end of the floor. Another nice floor general to keep an eye on this season is Riley Milausnic Riley Milausnic 5'7" | CG Lake Central | 2024 State IN of Lake Central. She earned Varsity experience as a Freshman, but I look for her to fill a much bigger role in year-two. She is quick, fast, and dynamic off the bounce. She can create for herself or teammates, plus she has good vision and can find her comrades through small windows. I also like her confidence when it comes to taking and making big shots.
Another prospect who has seen her stock rise due to growth and strength-gain is Elle Marble Elle Marble 5'9" | CG Jeffersonville | 2024 State IN of Jeffersonville. She is extremely long, she has good height for the position, and she is a fluid athlete who plays with great poise and confidence. She is comfortable playing on or off the ball, she can knock down open perimeter shots when in rhythm, but I was really impressed throughout the Summer with her ability to manage and run a team. New to the rankings, but also on the rise in terms of her play, is Mariah Stoltzfus Mariah Stoltzfus 5'2" | PG Bethany Christian | 2024 State IN of Bethany Christian. She isn’t very tall, but she’s as tough-nosed and feisty as they come. She does a nice job of knowing what she is and playing compact, she can make open shots, and she is good at managing her team’s offense. I anticipate a big Sophomore season out of her at the Class 1A level.
Don’t Sleep on Them
Every class has a handful of girls you can identify quickly as really standing out, whether it be size, strength, skill, or ability. At the same time, there is another group of prospects who tend to fly under the radar for a number of different reasons, so I wanted to mention four such young ladies. One player who I felt had a really nice Spring & Summer is Joirdyn Smith Joirdyn Smith 5'4" | CG Fishers | 2024 State IN of Fishers. Coming up, I felt like she had more of a reputation as a scorer, but playing alongside Jordyn Poole Jordyn Poole 5'6" | PG Fort Wayne Snider | 2024 State IN (above) on the grassroots circuit, I thought she really did a nice job of almost emulating her and playing the role of creator, while also being able to score the ball at all three levels. Joirdyn has really nice ball skill and works effortlessly on it, but now she’s distributing more and defending with a greater sense of urgency, and it’s noticeable. I also really like what Lauren Klem Lauren Klem 5'1" | PG Franklin Community | 2024 State IN is able to get done on a game-by-game basis. She has a great instinct for the position, she has nice touch outside with deep range, plus she plays with a real feistiness. She is able to get by defenders, find gaps, and set up open teammates, plus she’ll play underneath opposing ball-handlers and really frustrate them defensively. Lauren also excels as a distance runner.
Another real “sleeper” is Adrianne Tolen Adrianne Tolen 5'10" | SF West Lafayette | 2024 State IN of West Lafayette. I’m not even overly familiar with her other than seeing her on film, as she hasn’t been a big grassroots participant in the past. But she has good height, tremendous length, and fluid athleticism to her game. She can play on or off the ball, she can slice through the defense and find teammates or finish inside, and she can knock down the occasional perimeter jumper. As a Freshman in 2020-2021, she averaged 13.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 3.7 steals per game, plus she shot 77% from the charity stripe. Look for her to be even better in her Sophomore campaign, especially as she gains strength. And finally, keep an eye on Ella Hickok Ella Hickok 5'6" | PG Hamilton Heights | 2024 State IN of Hamilton Heights. She is extremely quick, fast, and feisty, and she can make plays at both ends of the floor. Offensively, she likes to create off the bounce, attack the defense, and find open teammates. She can shoot/score it when it’s available, but she doesn’t force shots either. Defensively, she’s another one who uses her height (or lack there of) to her advantage, getting underneath opponents and really bothering them, as she hawks the ball all over the floor.
Newcomers
With expansion comes new additions, and as I mentioned above, we added 25 prospects to our list for 2024, giving us 125 total prospects now listed on Prep Girls Hoops Indiana. When I went back through that list newbies and reviewed each of those 25 girls, only one was a point guard, and that was Mariah Stoltzfus Mariah Stoltzfus 5'2" | PG Bethany Christian | 2024 State IN , who I addressed above.