AIS Elite 80 Review: 2021

Sunday marked the annual All-Indiana Elite 80 Showcase. With 72 girls able to participate, the event was once again solid, and this year’s setup allowed us to watch an entire 30-minute half (running clock) of each of the eight teams. There were ten members of the Class of 2021 on hand, and below is a look at each of them. We will have follow-up articles highlighting members of 2022, 2023, and 2024 who attended the event later this week.   [player_tooltip player_id="22694" first="Gracie" last="Adams"], 2021, 5-9 F, Lanesville H.S. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was hearing how great Lanesville was going to be once this 2021 class got into high school, and now Gracie and her classmates are entering their Senior year. Gracie is one of those highly productive, versatile, skillful Southern Indiana forwards who goes about her business unnoticed by just about everyone except her opponents. She is an incredibly tough matchup in the mid-post, because she can drive it and finish or knock down the 15-footer at a high rate. At the same time, she can post smaller defenders or comfortably play around the perimeter. She also has a nose for the ball and rebounds well. She is a double-double most nights and just does it all. [player_tooltip player_id="62597" first="Emme" last="Boots"], 2021, 5-8 W, Bluffton H.S. While I have seen Emme a number of times in the past, I hadn’t seen her yet this Summer until yesterday. She looks a little taller, longer, and more explosive, but she continues to play with the same motor and quiet toughness she always has. She is a really nice North/South driver who can get to the basket and finish through contact. She has some touch around the perimeter as well, especially when she can get set, but I really like her game going to the basket. She also rebounds her position fairly well, she’s a versatile defender who can take on a variety of wings and guards, and she can occasionally handle it in transition and initiate the offense in the half-court. [player_tooltip player_id="130354" first="Addyson" last="Kent"], 2021, 5-7 CG, Jennings County H.S. Addyson has performed well throughout this Summer’s grassroots events, and I thought she again played well yesterday. She is a wiry strong, fairly athletic, but very skillful guard with a solid basketball IQ. She is known mostly as a shooter, but I think she also does a really nice job of taking care of the ball, getting it where it needs to go, and not panicking under pressure. What position she plays at the next level will depend on who she’s able to defend at that level, along with whether the coach wants to set her up for shots, or wants her setting everyone else up around her. Either way, I think she is a really nice small college combo guard prospect. [player_tooltip player_id="130348" first="Paige" last="Ledford"], 2021, 5-11 PF, Jac-Cen-Del H.S. Jac-Cen-Del has graduated a number of quality basketball players over the last few years, and Paige is just the next in that line of prospects. She is a strong, physical, and skillful interior player, she can step outside and knock down the 3-pointer consistently with her lefty touch, and she plays with a tremendous motor and always outworks her matchup. She has good hands, solid footwork, and to some degree she reminds me of a small college version of 2020 Michigan State commit [player_tooltip player_id="10564" first="Kendall" last="Bostic"] because of how and what she’s able to accomplish in a given game. I think Paige is somewhat under-recruited, and she could become a tremendous asset at the next level. [player_tooltip player_id="130366" first="Peyton" last="Murphy"], 2021, 5-9 F, Evansville Reitz Memorial H.S. Peyton has put together a really nice Summer, and yesterday she was very active and involved, she showed her versatility, and she was consistent. She has a wiry strong frame, she’s a solid athlete in all directions, but it’s her ability to play inside-out that I think really intrigues small college coaches. She is strong enough inside to occasionally play a power forward spot, but she also has some ball skill and shooting touch outside to where she can be more of a small forward, her more natural position offensively. I also like the fact that with her length, she can defend a variety of different types of players, whether they’re forwards or wings/guards. [player_tooltip player_id="62552" first="Jillian" last="Osswald"], 2021, 5-7 PG, Hamilton Heights H.S. The amount of growth Jillian has shown in her game has been fun to watch. When I first saw her as a Freshman, you could see some talent, a great deal of energy and effort, but at times she was a little chaotic. Over the last couple of seasons, however, her game has really matured, she takes care of it very well now, she’s changing speeds much better and sensing tone at a higher rate, and she has shot it consistently each time I’ve seen her over the last 12-18 months. One thing she does that I think gets overlooked a little, is she’s always around the ball making plays defensively. She really causes problems at times for opposing ball-handlers, and she creates transition offense. [player_tooltip player_id="99406" first="Kathryn" last="Perry"], 2021, 5-2 CG, Shenandoah H.S. Kathryn is one of the most productive pound-for-pound kids in the entire state. She has taken off the Summer from grassroots basketball, so it was nice to see her yesterday in Noblesville. She is a wiry strong, quick (she’s more quick than fast), feisty, and high IQ ballplayer. She is a very good perimeter shooter, she can get inside a defense and finish, but she’s also a willing distributor who finds open teammates in positions to score. With still her Senior year to go, she has already scored 1395 points, handed out 281 assists, and collected 355 steals, while knocking down 150 3-pointers, 78% of her free throws, and 46% of her field goals as a guard. [player_tooltip player_id="35069" first="Haley" last="Rose"], 2021, 6-0 F, Linton-Stockton H.S. I have highlighted Haley a number of times over the past 6-8 months, and with good reason. She is a long, fluidly athletic, and versatile forward who can play all over the floor. She is probably a face-up ’4’ at the next level, but she has done a tremendous job of building her skillset, improving her handle, and making her jump-shot more consistent. She will still need to gain strength for college ball, but yesterday she showed glimpses of things to come. In one possession, she attacked the basket, made a nice spin-move, and finished through a defender. I still think she’s somewhat under-recruited, but she does have a lot of quality small college interest. [player_tooltip player_id="130365" first="Delane" last="Sheets"], 2021, 5-7 W, Fort Wayne Carroll H.S. For as long as I can remember, Delane has just been a solid, skillful basketball player who is always productive. She has a strong frame, she’s sort of quietly tough-nosed, and she plays with a really nice motor. She can handle the ball some and initiate the offense, she can knock down open rhythm jumpers, she can attack the basket and absorb contact, plus I think she does a nice job of rebounding her position well. She could stand to be a little quicker laterally, especially defensively, but I think she works hard enough to be effective at that end of the floor. She’s just a nice, versatile kid who could help a small college win games in the future. [player_tooltip player_id="99395" first="Zoe" last="Zellers"], 2021, 5-11 PF, Scottsburg H.S. I have really grown fond of Zoe’s game the last couple of Summers, and while I’ve seen her a number of times, yesterday she looked a little leaner, more explosive, and just all-around more impressive as an athlete. She is a fairly strong kid, she plays with an outstanding motor, and she is a multilevel power forward who can occasionally dominate the low-block or the mid-post equally well. She has a real nose for the ball and rebounds everything, plus she’s a very nice passing forward. One other thing I noticed yesterday is that she’s deceptive long and bouncy, and she gets her hands on a lot of passes at the defensive end of the floor. Small colleges should be all over this kid.