Fort Wayne, Indiana: The Summit City

Last week we took a glance at Evansville, Indiana, and several talented lesser-known prospects from that area of the state. This week I wanted to turn everyone’s attention to the complete opposite corner of the state and focus on the state’s second biggest city…Fort Wayne…nicknamed “The Summit City”. I also quickly want to recognize and thank the site www.visitfortwayne.com for some of the information included below. Fort Wayne is named after “Mad” Anthony Wayne, an American General who helped build the first fort where the Saint Mary’s River, the Saint Joseph River, and the Maumee River all come together. Later, in the 1830s, construction began on the Erie and Wabash Canal in Fort Wayne, and because Fort Wayne was the highest point above sea level along the canal route, it was aptly later nicknamed the “Summit City”. Like Evansville, year after year Fort Wayne turns out several high-quality basketball players and high school teams. Recent prospects like Ellen Ross (Bishop Dwenger 2018), Miss Basketball Karissa McLaughlin (Homestead 2017), Madisen Parker (Homestead 2017), Darby Maggard (Canterbury 2015), and Deja Wimby (R. Nelson Snider 2015) all originate from the Summit City. Even 2018 Miss Basketball finalist Leigha Brown (DeKalb) is from that Northeast corner of the state, though not actually “in” Fort Wayne. All of those ladies were Indiana All-Stars and/or are playing at Division I schools. However, year after year there are many other quality players in the Fort Wayne area who often go underrecruited, so I encourage small colleges to drive up I-69 or across U.S. 30 a couple of times each high school season to check out the area teams. Below I wanted to take the time to highlight a handful of girls who may not often grab the spotlight, but who deserve their share of recognition for their basketball abilities. Not all of these girls are technically in Fort Wayne, but they are from the Northeast corner of Indiana.   [caption id="attachment_12006" align="alignright" width="211"] Da'Leshia Davis of Snider[/caption] Da’Leshia Davis, 2019, 5-6 PG, R. Nelson Snider H.S. Da’Leshia is a strong, tough-nosed, and athletic guard. I first saw her as a 7th grader and she was playing 16U grassroots ball at the time. She already had a great feel and understanding of the game. She’s a nice one-directional athlete who gets to the rim at ease. She’s a willing passer, almost too unselfish at times, but she does a nice job of breaking down defenses and kicking to open teammates. She can also be a physical on-ball defender who opponents don’t want to face. She is a nice Division I or Division II prospect.   Julia Huey, 2019, 6-0 F, Homestead H.S. Julia is one of those kids who happens to be on one of the state’s best high school teams, playing behind three Division I prospects. If she were in most other situations, she might be a double-figure scorer. She is somewhat thin but very long, fluid, and she is an accurate perimeter shooter. That’s what makes her valuable to college programs, is her ability to hit shots, and she does have some small college offers / interest. She plays the right way, and she could be a nice secret weapon for Homestead this season.   [caption id="attachment_12007" align="alignleft" width="200"] Grace Hunter of Bellmont[/caption] Grace Hunter, 2019, 5-9 W, Bellmont H.S. Grace is an outstanding basketball player, and she has somewhat resurrected a Bellmont program that had struggled in recent history. She plays with as good of a motor as you’ll see, she’s tough-nosed, fairly strong, and she has an athletic frame. She is a nice one-directional athlete who attacks the basket hard, but she can also knock down the open perimeter shot. She is just so highly productive, it’s hard to actually stop her…you have to work on ways to contain her. She has already verbally committed to Northern Illinois University.   Alaina Rongos, 2019, 6-0 F, The Canterbury School Alaina is one of the best “unknown” kids in the state, let alone Northeast Indiana. She is a wiry strong, fairly athletic forward with a nice all-around skillset. She is definitely a scorer at heart, and she has a solid handle for someone six-feet tall. She is best attacking out of the mid-post and hitting 15-footers, but she’s also a capable 3-point shooter who can really stretch defenses and cause problems. She has already verbally committed to Huntington University, and as she continues to mature, look for her to be a real weapon for them down the road.   Alaya Chapman, 2020, 5-10 F, South Side H.S. Alaya is a really nice combination of athleticism and strength. When she was younger, she was more of a long, bouncy athlete, who created offense off the dribble and was best attacking the basket from the perimeter. But in the last year, Alaya has added noticeable strength, and while she maintains a solid handle and an aggressive offensive approach off the bounce, she’s probably more effective attacking the basket from the mid-post. What’s new, though, is now she can take smaller defenders to the block and finish through them.   [caption id="attachment_12010" align="alignright" width="188"] Bailey Hartsough of Lakeland[/caption] Bailey Hartsough, 2021, 5-9 G, Lakeland H.S. Lakeland is not a school known for pumping out basketball talent, so when I saw Bailey for the first time at the IBCA Top-100 Showcase in July, I was pleasantly surprised. She is a long, fluid, but somewhat slender wing guard. She has a solid handle, a great feel for the game, and she hit shot after shot from the perimeter when I saw her. As she gets stronger over the years, I think she has enough skill and talent to become a Division I prospect, but I’ve also heard that volleyball is her passion and possibly her path to college athletics.   Destiny Jackson, 2021, 5-10 F, Northrop H.S. When I first saw Destiny this spring, she was a very athletic forward who moved well in all directions. She has good length, a wiry strong frame, and she makes a lot of plays on effort and talent alone. Throughout July, she started to show a bit more of a skillset and had some really nice moments in half-court situations. Right now, I think she’s more of an athletic face-up ‘4’, but as she continues to develop her game, I think she’s athletic enough to become more of a true wing forward. She already loves to slash to the basket.   Maiah Shelton, 2021, 5-8 W, Norwell H.S. Maiah is a very intriguing wing forward who kind of does a little of everything effectively. She is a smooth and fluid athlete with some length, she plays with a good motor, and she has a solid basketball IQ, typical of Norwell kids. What I like most, is you can play her around the perimeter or in the mid-post offensively, and defensively she can guard multiple types of perimeter players. She handles it reasonably well, shoots it a little bit from the perimeter, and she has a nice, athletic frame, that should get stronger in time.   Additional Northeast Corner Prospects In Our Statewide Rankings: Sophia Buck, 2019, 5-8 F, Homestead H.S. Sydney Freeman, 2019, 5-7 PG, Central Noble H.S., committed to Ball State Carissa Garcia, 2019, 5-7 PG, Concordia Lutheran H.S., committed to Northern Kentucky Kara Gealy, 2019, 5-6 PG, Homestead H.S., committed to Tiffin Ashya Klopfenstein, 2019, 6-0 F/C, Westview H.S. Meleah Leatherman, 2019, 6-1 F, Central Noble H.S., committed to Saint Francis-IN Brianna Lucas, 2019, 6-0 F/C, Homestead H.S., committed to Malone Maddy Robrock, 2019, 6-0 C, Huntington North H.S. Madison Schermerhorn, 2019, 5-10 G, West Noble H.S., committed to Purdue (Volleyball) Sylare Starks, 2019, 5-8 W, Homestead H.S., committed to Detroit Mercy Haley Swing, 2019, 6-0 F, Homestead H.S., committed to Grand Valley State Addison Bayman, 2020, 5-6 G, Woodlan H.S. Sydney Graber, 2020, 6-0 F, Homestead H.S. Jaci Jones, 2020, 5-4 PG, South Side H.S., committed to Detroit Mercy Ally Lorntz, 2020, 5-5 PG, Angola H.S. Lydia Reimbold, 2020, 5-9 G, Bishop Luers H.S. Amber Austin, 2021, 6-0 C, Homestead H.S. Chanteese Craig, 2021, 6-0 C/F, Concordia Lutheran H.S. Chloe Jolloff, 2021, 5-6 PG, Lakewood Park Christian School Hanna Knoll, 2021, 5-6 G, Angola H.S. Emily Parrett, 2021, 5-7 PG, Carroll H.S. Grace Sullivan, 2021, 5-4 PG, Homestead H.S. Lamaiya Woodson, 2021, 5-11 F/C, South Side H.S. Rebekah Marshall, 2022, 5-9 F, Columbia City H.S. Ayanna Patterson, 2022, 6-3 F, Homestead H.S. J’Asia Scott, 2022, 5-5 PG, Northrop H.S. Olivia Smith, 2022, 5-3 PG, South Side H.S.   Header photo of Fort Wayne courtesy of cityoffortwayne.org. Photo of Da'Leshia Davis courtesy of journalgazette.net. Photo of Grace Hunter courtesy of news-sentinel.com. Photo of Bailey Hartsough courtesy of kpcnews.com.