What We Know: 2024 Wings

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 wing group 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. While the wing group in 2024 might not possess as much depth as the guards or the front-liners, what does exist is a nice collection of quality, skillful, talented young ladies. The two wing names I heard the most throughout my exploration of this class were <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="176406" first="Aniyah" last="Bishop"]</strong> of Hammond, Indiana, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177344" first="Ellery" last="Minch"]</strong> of Mount Vernon High School in Fortville, Indiana. Aniyah is a long, still-growing, and very athletic player who does a variety of things right now. She is more of a talented athlete than pure ballplayer at the moment, but she is capable of playing any of the three perimeter positions at different times. She is the younger sister of 2018 Indiana All-Star <strong>Jenasae Bishop</strong>, and while she’s not quite there yet, there are those who think Aniyah has the potential to become even better long-term. Ellery, on the other hand, I have seen multiple times already. At her height and age, she has tremendous potential. She can handle the ball and run offense or create like a point forward, she is extremely long, fluid, and can play any of about four different positions, plus she is a capable shooter/scorer from most spots on the floor. She’ll need to adapt to the physicality of the Varsity game as quickly as possible, but she can make an impact immediately. Another player who stands out for a completely different reason, is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177331" first="Scottlynn" last="Johnson"]</strong> of Ben Davis. Last year Scottlynn served as the model for a bronze statue that is now on display at Smith Playground on the South Side of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An Indianapolis sculptor got the job to create the statue, and because a friend of his knew Scottlynn’s parents, she now is a representative of young, African-American, female athletes in the "City of Brotherly Love". But, make no mistake about it, she has real basketball talent and the potential to be a nice college prospect long-term. She has length, athleticism, and a versatile skillset that allows her to play multiple positions. Southern Indiana is well-represented throughout our 2024 Watch List, and the Evansville area in particular. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177347" first="Kristin" last="Niehaus"]</strong> is the younger sister of 2022 Castle star <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="128117" first="Natalie" last="Niehaus"]</strong>, and the pair of siblings now have two years to play together in the Knights program. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177353" first="Macy" last="Sexton"]</strong> of Vincennes Lincoln is another do-everything type of wing who can play on the ball or on the wing. Her versatility should really help the Alices, considering they already return a nice, young backcourt. Then there is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177332" first="Sophia" last="Johnson"]</strong> of Evansville’s Reitz Memorial. Memorial has a strong reputation of producing really nice, system type of basketball players year after year, and when those prospects have significant potential, like Sophia, the Tigers are usually one of the best Class 3A teams in the state...like right now. She will join a veteran cast that looks to duplicate or better last season’s 22-4 mark. One thing I love to watch are energetic ballplayers who give everything they have whenever they take the floor. That much, and more, has been said about both <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177325" first="Emma" last="Haan"]</strong> of Zionsville Community and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177341" first="Koryn" last="Marshall"]</strong> of New Palestine. I think the phrase "she plays so friggin’ hard" was used by multiple people to describe each of them, so I am anxious to get a first look at them very soon. Also keep an eye out for <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177312" first="Ava" last="Breece"]</strong> of Danville Community, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177315" first="Creedance" last="Chittenden"]</strong> of Cascade, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177357" first="Kendall" last="Sterling"]</strong> of Seymour, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="177360" first="Sarah" last="Werth"]</strong> of West Lafayette, as all have the upside to become Varsity contributors from the outset of this coming season. Now these are just some of the many nice wings 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 10+ wing 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.