Summer Ball: HS Standouts
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Last week was the first full week of summer games for Kentucky’s high school teams. While I wish I could’ve made it to more games, I was fortunate enough to catch a lot of great hoops being played across the…
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Continue ReadingLast week was the first full week of summer games for Kentucky’s high school teams. While I wish I could’ve made it to more games, I was fortunate enough to catch a lot of great hoops being played across the Bluegrass. As I reflect on the games I watched last week, here are some of the players that really stood out to me.
Kylie Downey Kylie Downey 5'7" | PG North Bullitt | 2026 State KY | North Bullitt | Class of 2026
Downey was really impressive already, but when I learned she was only an incoming freshman, I realized how special of a player she is. She certainly does not play like someone that just completed middle school. She is so poised out there, handling pressure like a veteran. She was running the point and facilitating the offense so well. She sees the floor and can deliver passes through traffic, even some that were full length-of-the-court passes. She also sees the floor on the defensive end, always ready to jump into the passing lanes and grab the steal. Downey was an excellent scoring threat because she kept the defense guessing. She can really shoot the ball well. She has excellent form, a quick release, good range, and she can shoot it off of the dribble or catch. However, she was also a driving threat, getting into the paint and either scoring or finding the open player.
Addison Soutar | North Bullitt | Class of 2025
Soutar has excellent height and length, and so much upside to her game. She is so disruptive around the basket because of her shot blocking abilities. Even when she doesn’t get the block, she really alters her opponent’s shots. She could average 5+ blocks per game next season and I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest. Offensively, she has a good feel for the basket and she has a lot of good moves in her arsenal. She can face away from the basket, get the pass, and shoot it over either shoulder. However, she also can step out to the short corner, free throw line, or the perimeter to knock down shots. She has really good form on her shot and I didn’t get to see her handle it much, but it actually looked like she had pretty good handles in the limited dribbles I caught. She is an excellent rebounder as well.
Ella Morrison Ella Morrison 5'8" | SG South Oldham | 2024 State KY | South Oldham | Class of 2024
Morrison is an excellent all-around player. She was defending on one end and getting buckets on the other end. She made some great passes through heavy traffic and she was handling the ball so well. She also runs the floor extremely well, getting back and defending fast breaks or finishing fast breaks for her own squad. Morrison proved that she can score from anywhere on the court. She was getting into the paint and hitting floaters or pull-ups, and she was making some strong moves to get there. She was hitting jumpers from inside and outside of the perimeter as well. She was crashing the boards hard and coming up with rebounds. And despite her scoring abilities, she was always willing to make the extra pass to get her teammates involved.
Madison Young Madison Young 5'8" | PF South Oldham | 2026 State KY | South Oldham | Class of 2026
Young is another player that I was really shocked to learn her age, as she is also just entering her first year of high school. She is such an athletic and shifty player. She has good height and length as well. Her court awareness was extremely high, always knowing when to utilize shot and pass fakes. She also made some really good moves with the ball. She has excellent footwork. Young has a good shot and was scoring from everywhere. On the other end of the floor, she is a really strong on-ball defender, using her speed to stay in front. However, she defended really well off the ball as well. She made some terrific blocks on players much bigger than her simply by timing her jumps perfectly.
Jeannae Bolin | PRP | Class of 2024
Bolin was playing inside and she was really making noise on both ends of the floor. She was reading the passing lanes and coming up with steals as a defender. Additionally, her shot blocking skills were on full display. On offense, she was posting strong and holding off the defense. She showed her ability to go left or right once she caught the ball in the post, really reading the defender and then choosing which way to attack. Bolin has really good hands and touch around the rim also. She was catching some really tough passes that looked like they were going to be turnovers and turning those into a bucket at the rim.