July Day-1 Headlines
It’s that time of year…several tournaments, tons of games, and just about every team and prospect you could want to view, all playing throughout the month of July. For me, I began my July journey in Louisville, Kentucky, at TFN’s…
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Continue ReadingIt’s that time of year…several tournaments, tons of games, and just about every team and prospect you could want to view, all playing throughout the month of July. For me, I began my July journey in Louisville, Kentucky, at TFN’s Run 4 Roses Classic. While I obviously was not able to see each of the hundreds of teams in attendance, I did manage to cram a full day’s work into just eight hours in the gym. Below is a look at five things that stood out to me from my Day-1 of July.
BISCHOFF WAS BISCH-ON!!!
Last year when I first evaluated Maddie Bischoff, I thought she was a solid basketball player, without question, but I wasn’t sure how high her ceiling was. She then put together an outstanding Sophomore season at Roncalli, and each time I saw her this Spring she always had really nice outings for a loaded Indiana Elite Prime team. Yesterday she maybe had her best shooting game that I have seen, knocking down jumper after jumper, getting her feet set quickly and letting it fly, and she came up big down the stretch as well, burying the tying 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer to push their game with a tough Martin Brothers Select squad into overtime. Her combination of length, fluidity, and skill make her one of the better combo guards in Indiana’s 2021 class, and if college coaches see what I saw yesterday, I think her interest could have a nice spike this month.
ALWAYS LEGIT?
The Always 100 program and the Lady Legit 2020 team represented Northern and Northeastern Indiana very well yesterday. Molly Ream (2020) and Carissa Wiegman (2020) of Bishop Dwenger had some nice moments for the Always 100 -Wright 2020 group, while Ryin Ott (2021) of LaPorte, Brynn Shoup-Hill (2021) of Goshen, and Kendal Swartout (2021) of Concord were strong for the Always 100 -Wright 2021 squad. Purdue commit RaShaya Kyle (2020) of Marion had her very own block party against an athletic Georgia team, while teammate and Detroit Mercy commit Jaci Jones (2020) of Fort Wayne South Side buried shot after shot at the other end of the floor for Always 100 Attack. Columbia City’s Rebekah Marshall (2022) of Always 100 Swish showed a great deal of promise as a wing shooter/scorer, while Warsaw’s Kacilyn Krebs (2022), Fairfield’s Brea Garber (2023), Homestead’s Alison Stephens (2023), and Jay County’s Renna Schwieterman (2023) all flashed really nice potential for the younger Always 100 groups. And I definitely don’t want to forget about the strong opening game Lady Legit put together, led by Anderson’s Tyra Ford (2021), a tremendous athlete with a nonstop motor, and Heritage’s Bree Dossen (2020), a versatile Swiss Army Knife of a ballplayer. 6-1 post Olivia McGillicuddy (2022) of Fort Wayne Snider is another solid young prospect for Lady Legit with some potential.
SHHH…DON’T TELL ANYONE
I know I have touched on the potential of McKenna Layden (2023) a couple of times on PGH Indiana already, but she continues to improve each time I see her play. While I didn’t keep detailed statistics, she might very well have had the quietest triple-double of the day against a talented, long, and tall Martin Brothers Select 2023 group out of Iowa. While she isn’t a primary ball-handler right now, the 6-0 forward has the ability to affect the game in so many ways, like her older sister Madison (2020). After graduating several key role players at Northwestern High School in 2019, McKenna could very well be their not-so-secret weapon in 2019-2020, and she’s going to have a lot of opportunities to affect games with so much attention being paid to Madison and Kendall Bostic (2020).
ENDING THE NIGHT STRONG
Oftentimes college coaches and evaluators get to that 9:00p time slot and just want to see if they can ease on out the door to get a late dinner, their six hours of sleep, then waking up to do it all over again the next day. But last night the Team Indiana Red Storm 2020 group wouldn’t allow us to do so, as they drew a big crowd of college coaches, they clicked on all cylinders, and they maybe had the best showing of any Indiana team I saw throughout the day. Bedford North Lawrence wing Chloe McKnight (2021) was automatic throughout the game, burying shot after shot with a quick release and deep range. Breckinridge County (KY) guard Natalee Tabor (2020) also knocked down several open jumpers and showed good all-around athleticism. Wings Tasi Kukobat (2020) of West Lafayette Harrison and Kiersten Poor (2020) of Jeffersonville were in constant attack mode, so smooth gliding to the basket, but also hitting open jumpers. Point guards Lexie Green (2020) of Southport and Isabell Claywell (2020) of Eastern-Pekin were steady and creative with the ball, finding teammates wide open for easy scores, plus they were somewhat disruptive at times defensively. Plus Maycee Lange (2021) of Vincennes Lincoln and Madison Webb (2020) of Bedford North Lawrence did some really nice things scoring it around the paint and preventing Team F.O.E. from easy scores. This should be a fun group to watch all month.
NON-INDIANA HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY
I was really impressed with the potential of several players on the Atlanta Cagers BlueStar 2020 group, as they gave the Always 100 -Wright team trouble at times with their size and length. While they are listed as a 2020 squad, several of their better prospects are actually younger. 6-0 Malia Fisher (2021) is a long, fluid, and somewhat smooth wing forward who can handle it a little and create offense. 6-2 Savannah Casey (2021) is a slender but extremely long mid-post to interior prospect who is just a little muscle away from being really effective. And I was most impressed with the upside of 6-2 Jessica Parish (2022), a strong and physical face-up ‘4’ who looked comfortable around the perimeter, but who could also play assertively in the mid-post or around the block.