What We Know: 2024 Forwards & Posts

Monday we posted our very first Class of 2024 "Watch List". Thanks to the help of more than 30 high school coaches, grassroots coaches, and Regional media members, etc., we were able to assemble a quality list of 60 young ladies who we felt were most deserving of appearing on our initial list for 2024. Did we miss someone here or there? I’m sure we did. But you can certainly make an argument for everyone who made the list, and given the restrictions we had throughout the Spring, plus the fact a lot of that time would have been spent familiarizing ourselves more with this class specifically, I think this is as fair of a list as we could have built considering the obstacles we faced. With that said, I wanted to take the time to look at the forward and post groups in 2024 and pass along some thoughts of players I’ve seen, as well as add some additional notes on girls I haven’t seen, as provided by others "in the know" who offered up strong opinions on these kids as our "Watch List" was being assembled. The forward and post groups offer a variety of attributes, including size, strength, length, athleticism, and inside-out skill. As is the case with most frontline players, this group should be fun to watch develop over the coming years. If it’s size you want, then we’ll give you size. Two of the taller prospects are located not far apart in Northern Indiana. 6-2 center <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177328" first="Kyra" last="Hill"]</strong> of Goshen Community High School is the younger sister of 6-3 2021 Redhawk star <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="130314" first="Brynn" last="Shoup-Hill"]</strong>, who recently gave a verbal commitment to the University of Dayton. Kyra is more of a back-to-the-basket post right now, whereas Brynn likes to play facing the basket at times. But Kyra reportedly has the potential to grow taller than Brynn and see a similar recruitment long-term because of her size and ability. Not 20 minutes away at Northridge High School is 6-3 center <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177319" first="Kaylie" last="DeHaven"]</strong>. Kaylie has also shown a great deal of upside/potential, as she is still growing and gaining strength. Right now she’s more of a defensive presence in the paint, but she should come along nicely over the next four years in the Lady Raiders’ program. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177309" first="Reaghan" last="Benjamin"]</strong> of Riverton Parke and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177343" first="Lauryn" last="Merritt"]</strong> of Maconaquah are two more traditional posts who have shown good upside as they enter high school. This class is also blessed with several versatile players with size/height. The Zionsville twins, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177349" first="Isabelle" last="Poehlein"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177350" first="Sophia" last="Poehlein"]</strong>, are both in the 6-0 to 6-1 range, both have tremendous length, and both move around the floor very well. While skillfully they may play more around the basket at this young age, I would anticipate each becoming more of a mid-post ’4’ in time. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177358" first="Kate" last="Thomas"]</strong> of Fishers High School is another long, tall prospect who has shown more of an interest at playing in the mid-post and becoming a face-up ’4’ as well. Yet another nice prospect who has flown somewhat under the radar outside of her local area is 6-1 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="176407" first="Sarah" last="Gick"]</strong> of Benton Central High School. She is long, wiry strong, and has good fluidity in her game. She is most comfortable in the mid-post, but she has shown the ability to play on the low-block as well. I’ve also heard tremendous things about <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177342" first="Addisen" last="Mastriano"]</strong> of Northeastern High School out near Richmond, Indiana. From what I’ve been told, she should transition into their Varsity lineup nicely, as she’s able to play just about anywhere inside the arc for them. I want to wrap up this article with the more traditional power forwards and combo forwards. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177316" first="Kennedy" last="Coleman"]</strong> of Charlestown High School is someone people in Southern Indiana have compared to 2022 forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97242" first="Diana" last="Burgher"]</strong> of North Harrison. Kennedy has good length, she looks to still be growing, and she has a really nice, versatile, inside-out game that should help her early in high school. I’ve heard similar things about <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177320" first="Brylee" last="Delano"]</strong> of Evansville’s Mater Dei High School, though Brylee might be a true wing already...I just need to see her play. People in the Evansville area are excited about her, though, and they think she can be impactful immediately for the Wildcats. Another nice Southern Indiana prospect is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177333" first="Ali" last="Jones"]</strong> of New Albany High School. Ali is a strong kid, physical, but also skillful and deceptively athletic. She has handled the ball some for her school team and run offense, but she can also dominate smaller defenders on the block. Two other young ladies people spoke highly of are <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177362" first="Juliann" last="Woodard"]</strong> of Jennings County and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177326" first="Rachel" last="Harshman"]</strong> of Mooresville. I’ve been told both have good motors, some toughness and physicality, but also good mid-post skill in their games. Now these are just some of the many nice forwards and posts in the Class of 2024 we’ve come across in our research. We didn’t omit anyone intentionally, and we are always on the lookout for more prospects to add to our database. In fact, we already have another 20+ forward and post prospects to consider for our "Watch List" expansion from 60 to 75 girls in mid-September, so please bear with us as we work through the limited visibility opportunities we all get this Spring and Summer.