Fall Rankings Review: 2024 SG Rundown
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The featured image is of Madisyn Bailey Madisyn Bailey 5'9" | PG Bedford North Lawrence | 2024 State IN (2024) of Bedford North Lawrence High School and Indiana Showcase Black. As the Fall rankings updates continue, last Tuesday we turned…
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Continue ReadingThe featured image is of Madisyn Bailey Madisyn Bailey 5'9" | PG Bedford North Lawrence | 2024 State IN (2024) of Bedford North Lawrence High School and Indiana Showcase Black.
As the Fall rankings updates continue, last 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 off-guard position, giving you a look at a number of shooters/scorers from different perspectives.
Top of the Class
Not only did Bedford North Lawrence guard Chloe Spreen Chloe Spreen 5'10" | SG Bedford North Lawrence | 2024 State IN maintain the top spot among ranked off-guards in Indiana’s 2024 class, but she continues to be the state’s #1 prospect, regardless of position. She has always been tremendously skilled, something she works hard to maintain, but I felt like she played with more strength and more confidence all Spring and Summer. She was much more aggressive off the bounce, she absorbed contact better, and she also shot it more consistently with range from behind the arc. She will be a much bigger handful for opponents this Winter, and she has earned a number of high-major Division-I opportunities already. From there, four more skillful young ladies round out the Top-5 of this position group, most notably Allison Caldwell Allison Caldwell 5'11" | SG Zionsville | 2024 State IN of Zionsville. Caldwell looked a little taller, noticeably stronger, and she showcase a nice all-around game throughout the Spring and Summer. She is a very good perimeter shooter, but I think her vision and passing ability go overlooked at times. She has such a nice all-around feel for the game, that while she might be better suited to play off the ball at the next level, she is also a nice playmaker for herself and teammates.
Fort Wayne Snider’s Joh’nea Donahue Joh’nea Donahue 5'8" | SG Fort Wayne Snider | 2024 State IN quietly goes about her business and just plays with a great motor, consistently producing each time I see her. She has an athletically strong frame, and she uses that at both ends of the floor. She can make shots outside, but she is aggressive to the rim as a downhill attacker. Defensively, she doesn’t mind mixing it up a little, plus she’ll take on all types of perimeter players. Camryn Runner Camryn Runner 5'9" | CG Hamilton Heights | 2024 State IN of Hamilton Heights had a really nice Summer as well. She is a high-level perimeter shooter who can also handle the ball and initiate the offense. She is long, slender, but fluid and somewhat smooth. She can dissect a defense in several different ways, and I think she can become a really nice on-ball defender with her length and quickness. Then there’s Olivia Nickerson Olivia Nickerson 5'7" | SG Twin Lakes | 2024 State IN from Twin Lakes. While there are a lot of great shooters in this class, she’s probably the last person I’d want to play H-O-R-S-E against. She needs very little space to get her shot away, and she can shoot it with deep range as well. She has improved her handle and playmaking ability, but she’s still most valuable as a lethal perimeter threat who can terrorize defenses from just about any spot inside the 10-second line.
On the Rise
I was really impressed at times with the play of wing Kaiden Kreinhagen Kaiden Kreinhagen 5'8" | SF North Central (Indianapolis) | 2024 State IN this Summer. While there were girls on her grassroots team people might consider higher-profile, the Indianapolis North Central product always seemed to come up with a big play or knock down a big shot late in games. She is such a strong athlete, she plays with a tremendous motor, and she gives effort offensively and defensively. If she can be a bit more dynamic with the ball in her hands, I think she’ll draw a lot of varying college interest, and she could really help the Panthers this Winter in the always tough MIC. I also feel like Bloomington North’s Ava Reitmeyer Ava Reitmeyer 5'10" | SG Bloomington North | 2024 State IN is someone to keep an eye on moving forward. She has added noticeable strength since July, and she has been really good throughout the Fall showcase season. She is much more aggressive attacking the basket, she’s more physical on the boards and defensively, and she is playing with a new confidence to her game. What makes her more intriguing is that she’s very young for her grade level, and she might still grow another inch or two. She could very easily be a double-figure scorer for the Cougars this season.
Another Star from Bedford North Lawrence, Madisyn Bailey Madisyn Bailey 5'9" | PG Bedford North Lawrence | 2024 State IN was incredibly consistent throughout the grassroots season. She plays with such a great motor and a quiet toughness, plus she always seems to contribute in one way or another. She has an athletically strong frame, she’s a nice North/South athlete, and she can affect a game in several different ways. She can handle the ball at times, push in transition, and initiate the offense, but she’s also a capable shooter who does a nice job of attacking the basket off the bounce. I also really enjoy how she battles for rebounds and is a willing defender. One prospect I mentioned a few times throughout the Spring is Morgan Roberts Morgan Roberts 6'0" | SF Fishers | 2024 State IN of Fishers. The combination of her physical growth, along with her numerous hours spent developing her skillset, have really helped her game. She has nice length, a wiry-strong frame, and she has gone from being primarily a shooter to now kind of being a point forward with the ability to make shots outside or create off the bounce. She still needs to add more strength, but that will come as she finishes growing.
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. Not many people were aware, but Lauren Foster Lauren Foster 5'7" | SG Indian Creek | 2024 State IN led Indian Creek in scoring as a Freshman with a 17.4 ppg average. She has one of the best motors in the state, regardless of class, and she is always making the hustle play, diving on the floor for loose balls, grabbing a big rebound, and drawing contact in and-1 situations. She probably gets as much use out of her knee pads as anyone. At the same time, she does possess solid ball skill and the ability to make shots from the perimeter. I’ll be curious to see what she does for an encore this season. Eastbrook’s Sophia Morrison Sophia Morrison 5'6" | CG Eastbrook | 2024 State IN is another prospect who put together a strong Freshman campaign in 2020-2021. She is a strong, physical, and compact combo guard. She has a great handle and utilizes it well to create space or get downhill. But what she probably does best is shoot it at a high level from the perimeter. At her height, she’ll need to prove she can be more of a point guard at the next level, and she certainly has the skill for it, but for now, she can concentrate on pouring in the points this Winter.
Charlestown has a really nice 2024 class, and a couple of those players saw Varsity action last year. But keep an eye on Lyric Steele this time around. Steele is a talented athlete with elite track & field abilities. She unfortunately injured her knee during the 2020 grassroots season, but she should be back and ready to perform this Winter for the Pirates. She can handle it a little and create offense for herself or others, but she’s such a nice athlete attacking the basket, plus she’s a potential lock-down defender with her speed and quickness. Norwell’s Kennedy Fuelling Kennedy Fuelling 5'7" | CG Norwell | 2024 State IN is another really nice athlete who probably doesn’t get enough attention because she has been very intermittent with regards to her attendance during grassroots events. Fuelling saw action early and often on a Senior-laden Knights team last Winter, but she should now step more into the forefront and be a key weapon for Norwell. She has an athletic frame, she can run and jump, and she will play with a nice motor at both ends of the floor, while also showing good skill and a nice all-around feel for the game.
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, there were three off-guards new to the list. Jenna Guse Jenna Guse 5'9" | SG Columbus East | 2024 IN of Columbus East, Bradie Chambers Bradie Chambers 5'8" | SG Linton-Stockton | 2024 State IN of Linton-Stockton, and Jayden Flagg Jayden Flagg 5'6" | PG New Prairie | 2024 State IN of New Prairie have been added this time around. Guse and Chambers are both really nice shooters/scorers who have solid all-around athleticism. Guse is probably a little more of a perimeter shooter, while Chambers looks to attack a bit more, but they both have really nice small college upside. Flagg is more of a combo guard who can shoot/score, but she also has ball skill and the ability to play a little point guard. She has missed some time due to injury, which is why her visibility on the grassroots circuit has been minimal these last couple of Summers.