Under The Radar? Class 4A Sleepers

Indiana is blessed to have so many quality basketball players, and with more than 400 high schools in the state, there are anywhere from 7,500 to 8,000 girls playing throughout the state in a given year. PGH Indiana currently has 375 girls ranked between 2019 and 2022, so it’s impossible for us to rank everyone. Even if we just trimmed those 8,000 down to the pool of girls who are college prospects, it would be a tall task. Therefore, prospects are omitted by accident, sometimes they fly under the radar unseen, or they have been evaluated and are just outside of our lists, on the cusp of getting in. Regardless, since we have recently previewed Class 4A, I wanted to take the time to highlight eight young ladies who are all very nice basketball players, but who were not ranked the last time we published our lists. In my eyes, they deserve to be pinnacled for their abilities, because they are definitely college prospects.   [caption id="attachment_15801" align="alignright" width="300"] Kailyn Graham of Pendleton Heights[/caption] Kailyn Graham, 2019, 5-7 F, Pendleton Heights H.S. Pendleton Heights should have a very deep team this season, with no real superstars but several nicely skilled ballplayers. Kailyn is a versatile forward who possesses a lot of skill. First and foremost, she’s a tremendous perimeter shooter with a soft lefty touch. You can’t give her any space at all or she’ll knock it down. She’s also good at using the dribble productively, and she can make dribble moves to create space for shots. She has improved her strength in the last year as well, and she’s now an assertive rebounder who isn’t afraid to get inside and play physical. She is just a really nice small college prospect as a skillful inside-out forward.   Alexa Porter, 2019, 5-10 F, Concord H.S. Concord hasn’t had a strong recent history of success, but Alexa has helped the Minutemen become relevant the past couple of years. She is a strong, physical, high-motor power forward who does a nice job of taking contact and dishing it back out. She is more of a defender / rebounder right now, but she has begun adding some polish to her offensive skillset. She’s still probably most comfortable scoring it around the block, but she can step out to 15-feet now and be effective. She is starting to pick up a lot of small college interest because she is a highly productive, tough-nosed front-liner.   Katie Real, 2019, 5-5 G, Greenfield-Central H.S. When Katie got to high school, she was a Varsity contributor immediately, and she was already showing signs of being a nice college prospect. Then, unfortunately, she struggled through one injury after another, and she hasn’t had the opportunity to play grassroots basketball the last couple of years because of it. She returned last Winter to put together a string of really good games, but she still missed a handful of games here and there. Hopefully this season she is fully healthy, because she’s a very good perimeter shooter with a veteran savvy and headiness to her game. She can handle it some and run point, or she can run off of screens and knock down shots.   [caption id="attachment_14901" align="alignleft" width="202"] Aryana Shelton of Mishawaka[/caption] Aryana Shelton, 2019, 5-5 G, Mishawaka H.S. I really enjoy kids who bring energy, and one thing about Aryana is that she definitely does that. You can constantly hear her, whether she’s in the game or on the bench, talking to her teammates, encouraging them, and staying engaged at all times. When she’s in, she flies around the floor with reckless abandon, diving on the floor for loose balls, battling for rebounds, or doing anything else she can to help her team win. She is a gritty, tough-nosed guard, but she’s also skilled. She can handle it some and initiate offense, but she’s better when she’s in attack mode going to the rim. Defensively, she will get into opposing ball-handlers and make them work.   Jade Shipley, 2019, 5-2 PG, Westfield H.S. Jade really took a step forward last season and became a nice leader for this Westfield team. She has always been feisty and tough, but she was much more vocal and put a lot of the responsibility on her shoulders. She is a quick / fast, but little point guard. She does a nice job of getting into the lane and collapsing the defense, but she can also hit shots at all levels. She’s very creative with her finishes, and defensively she can be a real pest to opposing ball-handlers. This year she’s going to have several talented youngsters (with size) around her, so I look forward to seeing her add her “seasoning” to this team.   DaKoyta Sloss, 2019, 5-4 G, Muncie Central H.S. Over the last couple of seasons, Muncie Central has really struggled to put together anything consistent. But, towards the end of last season, they showed quite the spark, and DaKoyta was a huge part of that. She is long, quick / fast, and extremely feisty. She has a motor that never stops, and she flies around the floor always looking to make the next play. What I like most about her, is she can miss a shot and move on quickly to the next possession. She is a really nice athlete who just needs to continue developing her skillset, but she is always productive and affects each game in so many different ways.   [caption id="attachment_15802" align="alignright" width="193"] Sydnee Perry (#22) of Mt. Vernon[/caption] Sydnee Perry, 2020, 5-7 G, Mount Vernon H.S. (Fortville) Mount Vernon has really grown as a school and as a community, and you should start to see their girls’ basketball team resurface in the upper half of Class 4A again very soon. Sydnee should be a big part of that these next two years, as she is a long, fast, and athletic guard. She is more of a ‘2’ than anything, but she can really attack the basket with speed, and she’s a capable perimeter shooter. She does a nice job defensively of using her length to affect passing lanes, and she’s great causing turnovers in their 1-2-2 full-court press. She had a nice Sophomore season, but I could see her really taking off this year as a Junior.   Addyson Kent, 2021, 5-6 G, Jennings County H.S. You don’t hear a whole lot coming out of Jennings County, as it’s kind of out in the middle of nowhere, but this year’s team has a couple of really nice players, and Addyson is one of them who should have a really nice year. She was very solid as a Freshman last Winter, and as she gets stronger, I anticipate her being much more productive. She is fairly long, somewhat slender, but smooth and fluid. She can handle the ball and play point guard, but she’s also a capable shooter, and she can glide by defenders and get to the basket. More strength, though, should really help her absorb contact and finish better. She’s not bad defensively either.   Header photo of an E3 AWACS Radar Plane; photo courtesy of desktopbackground.org. Photo of Kailyn Graham courtesy of heraldbulletin.com. Photo of Aryana Shelton courtesy of southbendtribune.com. Photo of Sydnee Perry courtesy of greenfieldreporter.com.