Indiana Top 250 Notes: 2022

This Fall, we at Prep Girls Hoops are hosting our inaugural Top-250 Expos in Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa.  This past Sunday it was Indiana’s turn to be in the spotlight, as close to 120 college prospects from Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan took the floor at the Noblesville Boys &amp; Girls Club, with several small colleges in attendance to evaluate them.  This week you have seen articles from Mason Asher, Blake Isaacs, and myself, and since I am the Senior Writer in Indiana and write about many of these girls on a fairly regular basis, I wanted to let Mason &amp; Blake write about the more common prospects, while I turn my attention to several girls I was less-familiar with entering the event.  There may be a little overlap, but between the three of us, we wanted to make sure we covered as many participants as possible.  Below is a look at ten members of the class of 2022 who I wanted to comment on. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="128162" first="Nataley" last="Armstrong"], 2022, 5-6 G, Garrett H.S.</strong> Nataley is an extremely long, wiry, and very fast guard who plays with a great motor.  While she’s explosive North/South, she does also have good lateral quickness, and she’s an extremely feisty guard who does a little of everything well.  She can handle the ball as a traditional point guard, run offense, and create scoring opportunities for others.  But I’ve also seen her play off the ball a bit and get to the rim with ease or knock down open perimeter jumpers when she gets her feet set and has rhythm.  I think she has a great deal of upside, and she certainly plays the right way, but she will need to eventually add some strength to her frame for the next level.  She’s a wait-and-see kid because she still might be growing. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="128193" first="Madison" last="Begle"], 2022, 5-10 F, Heritage Hills H.S.</strong> Before Sunday, I had only ever seen Madison one other time back in April, so it was good to see her once again versus some better competition.  Madison has a solid, wiry strong, and athletic frame.  She runs the floor well North/South, and she is a nice on-the-floor athlete in most directions.  She plays with some versatility, she can play in the post a little against undersized defenders, but she’s also comfortable around the perimeter at times.  I think right now she’s probably most effective in the mid-post, but I can see her possibly extending her game beyond the arc full-time in the future, especially with a bit more skill work and understanding.  All-in-all, I thought she played with a very nice motor and competed each possession. &nbsp; <strong>Kendall Bethel, 2022, 5-2 PG, Mishawaka Marian H.S.</strong> This was my first time seeing or hearing about Kendall, and I thought she was a very solid point guard and game manager.  She has really good ball skill, she takes care of it, and she’s a willing &amp; capable passer who is almost too unselfish at times.  While she isn’t very tall, she is strong for her size, plus she possesses some length and good quickness.  While I like how she runs a team, I think it would benefit her if she occasionally looked to be more aggressive offensively.  I think just the attempt to be a more consistent scorer would help her alleviate some defensive pressure and allow her to operate much more comfortably.  I did like how she defended and thought she competed hard at both ends of the floor. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="128196" first="Alayna" last="Boots"], 2022, 5-6 PG, Prairie Heights H.S.</strong> Prairie Heights isn’t exactly the most convenient place to get to during the Winter, but they should have a very nice season with the combination of Alayna and Senior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="132086" first="Alexis" last="German"]</strong>.  Alayna had a nice day Sunday, and I thought she looked much more confident, stronger, and even a little taller than she did when I first saw her back in April.  She is a very long, fluidly athletic, but somewhat slender lead guard.  She is a playmaker with the ball in her hands, as she can create scoring opportunities for herself or others.  She has really good ball skill, she sees the floor well, and she shoots it fairly well when open and in rhythm.  I anticipate her having a really nice season as a Sophomore, plus she is still growing and gaining strength. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="157178" first="Sydney" last="Little"], 2022, 5-7 F, Penn H.S.</strong> Sydney isn’t going to wow you with great size or overwhelming athleticism, but she is a utility knife who plays with a great motor and is very productive in her minutes on the floor.  She has a solid/strong frame, she’s a nice athlete in most directions, and she does a little of everything well.  She can play on the interior and score the ball around the basket, she is probably most effective in the mid-post offensively, but she isn’t at all uncomfortable around the perimeter moving the ball, setting screens, etc.  Defensively, she’s willing to take on post players, forwards, or wings, plus she is an active rebounder who often out-hustles her competition.  She’s a kid you can plug into most lineups to solidify a team, and she accepts her role well. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="128130" first="Julia" last="Mantyla"], 2022, 5-9 W, Northridge H.S.</strong> Sunday was my first time hearing about or seeing Julia play, and I came away quite intrigued with her game.  She is extremely long, somewhat slender, but she was fluid and smooth athletically.  What stood out initially was her ability to make shots from the perimeter, as she buried a couple of quick ones when I first saw her.  As time wore on, she started slicing to the basket, plus she made plays with her length at the defensive end of the floor.  Over the next couple of years, she will need to gain some strength, but if she can improve her handle a bit and continue knocking down shots consistently, I can see her drawing a lot of small college interest as a wing shooter/scorer. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="128154" first="Zoe" last="Stewart"], 2022, 5-7 G, Terre Haute North Vigo H.S.</strong> I saw Zoe briefly a couple of times during the grassroots season, so it was good to see her for a much longer duration on Sunday.  She is a wiry strong and athletic combo guard who moves well in all directions.  She has a solid handle and is able to change directions in traffic, she can use the dribble to get to the basket frequently, and she showed the ability to make mid-range pull-ups on occasion.  I really like her athletic talent and her potential, so if she can continue developing her understanding of situations and her shot selection, I think she could draw a great deal of college interest from a variety of levels, especially if she can go from being a scoring guard to being a more traditional point guard who can just happen to score it. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97285" first="Haley" last="Thomas"], 2022, 6-0 C, West Lafayette Harrison H.S.</strong> Haley is a kid I saw for the first time back in the Spring, and I was intrigued at that time, but now I’m even more excited about her upside/ceiling.  She has a solid frame that should be able to hold more muscle, she plays with some physicality inside, but she also has perimeter ability.  Sunday she showed the long-range jumper, as she made multiple 3-pointers.  She can also play around the block and has solid feet &amp; hands, plus she’s effective in the mid-post.  She will need to continue gaining strength and working on being a little more fluid.  But she is a solid all-around athlete for her size, and she plays with a good motor.  I think she can develop into an inside-out ’5’ who can pick-and-pop, post-up, plus do anything else in-between. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="157180" first="Jessie" last="Yelaska"], 2022, 5-9 F, John Glenn H.S.</strong> Jessie is a hard-working young forward who seems to battle at both ends of the floor each possession.  She has a solid frame, some strength for her age, and she is willing to be physical on the interior, defend bigger players, plus she’s a solid rebounder.  I also like that she’s often willing to perform a lot of the menial tasks, like setting screens, diving for loose balls, etc.  I saw her once in the Spring as well, and I haven’t really seen her look to be an aggressive scorer, though she is very comfortable in the mid-post offensively.  If she can consistently knock down the 17-footer plus attack the basket from there, I think she’ll draw some small college attention in the coming years, because coaches value all of the other stuff she does well. &nbsp; <strong>Abigail Young, 2022, 5-8 F, Mooresville H.S.</strong> Year after year Mooresville fields competitive teams, and it seems like it’s the same types of players each season, just with different names and faces.  Abigail is what I would call a typical Mooresville kid.  She has a wiry strong frame, she’s a solid athlete in most directions, plus she has a fairly well-rounded and versatile skillset that will make her tough to defend.  She plays with a good motor, she accepts her role, and she plays much bigger than she is at times.  She can play a little on the interior and act as a true power forward, defending opposing bigs and grabbing her share of rebounds.  But she is also comfortable around the perimeter, occasionally putting it on the floor, and knocking down open rhythm jumpers.