Who’s Next In 2024?

My intent over the course of the Spring grassroots season was to familiarize myself with the Class of 2024, like I did with 2023 one year ago. With the current pandemic we are all dealing with, those viewing periods continue to disappear one weekend after the next, so my knowledge of the depth of 2024 is limited at this time. Still, though, I wanted to take the time to highlight a handful of 2024 prospects who I have been able to see previously, and introduce you to five young ladies who should have an immediate impact once they reach the high school level, wherever that might be. I hope to still put together a "watch list" for this class at some point in June, but until then, here are five young ladies who I am positive will land on that list. This is NOT a list of the top five prospects, or anything of the sort, just five I am familiar with. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Sarah Gick, 2024, 6-1 PF, Benton Central H.S.</strong></span> Benton Central reached the Class 3A State Finals in 2019 and the Class 3A North Semi-State in 2020. A big part of their success was the interior play of forward/post <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="35689" first="Audrey" last="Strawsma"]</strong> (2020), so with her exiting via graduation, Sarah’s arrival is welcomed. Sarah is an intriguing front-liner, because she is still growing, she moves fairly well in all directions, and she is skilled inside or facing the basket to about 17-feet. She will definitely need to get stronger, but she tries to be physical and play the right way inside. From the mid-post, she can attack the basket and finish, or she can consistently knock down the jumper, and I think her range could eventually extend to the 3-point line over time. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Talia Harris, 2024, 5-7 PG, Fishers H.S.</strong></span> Talia is a younger sister of former Indiana All-Star <strong>Tyasha Harris</strong> (<em>Heritage Christian, 2016</em>). I can remember watching Tyasha’s grassroots team work out in the past, and Talia would be right there with them, going through drills, competing, and trying to emulate everything the older girls did. Talia is long, somewhat slender, but still growing. She is quick/fast, very instinctive, and she has a great feel for the game with the ball in her hands. She finishes inside with a variety of runners/floaters, she has a solid pull-up game as well, she’ll just need to continue making her perimeter jumper consistent. Defensively, she guards the ball fairly well, but she can also make plays in the passing lanes from help-side. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Ellery Minch, 2024, 6-1 SF, Mount Vernon H.S. (Fortville)</strong></span> Ellery is someone who quickly stood out to me when I first saw her at a showcase event back in the Fall. She has good height, great length, and she’s a fluid/smooth athlete. She is tough to define by position, because she does so many different things well. She’s almost a creative, point forward type of wing offensively. She can find teammates or score the ball at a high level herself. Defensively, she’s just as versatile, as she can take on wings, some guards, or even patrol the paint against her peers and block the occasional shot. As she gets older and stronger, look for her to be a full-time perimeter player who scores it consistently at all levels. She steps into a situation at Mount Vernon where they were 22-2 in 2019-2020. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Jordyn Poole, 2024, 5-4 PG, Fort Wayne Snider H.S.</strong></span> Fort Wayne has been the home to some really good point guards over the last few years, and Jordyn definitely looks the part. She is tough-nosed, long for her size, and she’s a really nice athlete with good speed and quickness. She will flat out get into people at the defensive end of the floor, and she does a nice job of using her length, quickness, and some physicality to frustrate opposing ball-handlers. Offensively, she is really good attacking the basket, and she can finish through contact. She can hit the occasional perimeter jumper, but look for her to continue improving in that aspect. I really like her upside to bring a lot of energy and toughness to a high school roster. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Chloe Spreen, 2024, 5-9 CG, Bedford North Lawrence H.S.</strong></span> Chloe has already drawn a great deal of attention, from both the media and college coaches. She is highly skilled, a really nice athlete in all directions, and she competes on every possession. She plays with the basketball savvy of a high school Senior, and I think she’ll be able to step into the lineup immediately for Bedford and have a similar impact as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="59773" first="Ashlynn" last="Shade"]</strong> (<em>2023</em>) did for Noblesville this past season, although the Stars’ backcourt is much deeper than the Millers’. Chloe can handle the ball and run offense like a point guard, she has a great sense of where her teammates are and she’s terribly unselfish, but she is equally good, if not better, shooting/scoring it as the second guard running off screens.