’23 Rankings Update: Stock Risers

<span style="font-weight: 400;">I wanted to highlight a few players who impressed me late in the spring and who I believe can make some noise in July. Below are my stock risers for the summer.</span> &nbsp; <b>[player_tooltip player_id="184019" first="Laura" last="Johnson-Shedd"] - Bay State Jaguars/Lincoln Sudbury - 5’8’’ - CG</b> <b>’23 Rank: #72</b> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-298244" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/04/CqO7jsR8ass0vz5NWuQ-scaled-crop-1206x792-1623845879-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Every time Johnson-Shedd steps on the floor, you are going to get maximum effort, hustle, and suffocating defense. Her lateral quickness is insane. I trust Johnson-Shedd to lock up and frustrate whoever she defends. She is tough, aggressive, has good instincts and the dog mentality you want to see out of an athlete you deem a shutdown defender. The same speed and quickness you see on defense, Johnson-Shedd displays on offense, too. She slashes aggressively and shows flashes of a prospect who can be a valuable two-way player. I liked towards the end of the spring, Johnson-Shedd was attacking the rim more aggressively and confidently. With her offensive game trending up, she can move up the ranks because she is already an elite defender at her position. </span> https://x.com/Johnsonshedd23/status/1388546562658295809 <b>[player_tooltip player_id="267137" first="Hannah" last="Smith"] - Team Saints/Windham - 5’6’’ - CG</b> <b>’23 Rank: #91</b> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-298243" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/06/27006064_Unknown-crop-1389x912-1623845852-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Smith was outstanding during the whole month of May. Her development and progression this spring did not go unnoticed, and what stood out the most was Smith’s outside shooting. Before the spring season started, I watched Smith at practice, and she was one of the players who popped. Her athleticism is off the charts, and she is an absolute bullet with the ball in her hands. The last few weeks, however, Smith has shot the lights. The confidence she has shown from three and the efficiency was something I did not see back in March. You can tell by her body language that she is comfortable facilitating the offense and her movement on the court looks natural. She moves the ball well, makes quick decisions, and isn’t stagnant on offense. I like the trajectory of Smith’s game, and I think she is due for a big summer. </span> https://x.com/hannah_smith_20/status/1396489669462970377 <b>[player_tooltip player_id="267250" first="Brooke" last="Paquette"] - MCW Starz/Bishop Guertin - 5’8’’ - CG</b> <b>’23 rank: #54</b> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-298242" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/03/zuprSbmNQhOvvBOaFbialw-scaled-crop-1899x1247-1623845789-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> <span style="font-weight: 400;">The part of Paquette’s game that I underrated was her passing ability. She has been filling up the scoring column all spring, and I like how hard she attacks the rim, but her unselfishness stuck out to me superficially during the New England Showcase. Paquette brings the ball up a lot, is responsible for facilitating the offense at times, and she has been doing a good job securing the ball and making the defense work with quick ball movement. We associate great passers with being a flashy playmaker, but Paquette is no flash, but rather highly effective who makes timely, crisp, accurate passes into her teammates’ hands. Everyone in the gym knows Paquette can get a bucket, but what enhances her value is that she consistently will turn down a good shot for a great shot and get her teammates involved.  </span> &nbsp; <b>[player_tooltip player_id="267455" first="Mia" last="Mancini"] - Lady Rivals/New Hampton - 5’6’’ - PG</b> <b>’23 Rank: #45</b> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-298240" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/06/IMG_0318-crop-1767x1161-1623845642-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Mancini’s playmaking the last few weeks has been top-notch. Her passing acumen is insane, and she’s been seeing the floor beautifully lately. Every game I watch from Mancini, she makes a pass that has me wondering, " How in the world did she get that pass through?" That’s how mind-blowing her court vision can be. I also like how aggressive she has been penetrating and her scoring efficiency. There have been instances where Mancini has played up with the Rivals 17U team, and she gave them valuable minutes off the bench. She controls the tempo and does an excellent job initiating the offense, which was an element of the team that the Rivals needed to replace when point guard [player_tooltip player_id="184011" first="Lucy" last="Palmer"] got injured. It seemed like during the Zero Gravity Nationals, Mancini hit her stride, so I am excited to see her continue to build and develop as the summer continues.</span> https://x.com/IAMCoachU1/status/1402641659951714307