2024s at the Grassroots Memorial Weekend Shootout
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The featured image is of Jaya Johnson Jaya Johnson 5'7" | SG Elkhart | 2024 IN (2024) of Elkhart High School and Always 100 -Wright White 17U. Yesterday, I decided at the last minute to check out some games at…
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Continue ReadingThe featured image is of Jaya Johnson Jaya Johnson 5'7" | SG Elkhart | 2024 IN (2024) of Elkhart High School and Always 100 -Wright White 17U.
Yesterday, I decided at the last minute to check out some games at the Grassroots Memorial Weekend Shootout at the Hammond Sportsplex and Purdue University Northwest in Hammond. It wasn’t a big event in terms of quantity, but there were out-of-state programs like Example Sports, Michigan Drive Premier, the Illinois Lady Lightning, and Michigan Crossover in attendance. The Indiana field was much smaller, but I was able to catch a couple of Always 100 teams, a couple of the City Elite teams, a couple of OPS teams, plus the 17U Region Rebels . Below is a quick look at five Seniors who played well when I was able to catch them in action.
Niya Bell
Niya Bell
Niya’s team had a couple of tough Saturday morning matchups, but she seemed to find her rhythm and knock down open jumpers pretty consistently. She has a reasonably strong frame, some length, and she’s a solid North/South athlete. She does a really nice job of moving without the basketball and finding opportunities to shoot/drive from the wings and long corners. She gives great effort at both ends of the floor, and she’ll even get inside and rebound on occasion. If she can continue to improve her lateral quickness defensively, she has the jump-shot to draw solid small college interest.
It’s difficult to ever walk away from one of Shena’s games and say she wasn’t a ball of energy. She is all over the place. She is constantly on attack offensively and never stops moving. She hit a variety of pull-ups, long-range jumpers, and even had a really nice and-1 reverse layup in the game I saw. She is showing more discipline/better shot selection offensively, but she is difficult to defend because of her explosiveness. She is wiry-strong and absorbs contact well, plus she has great speed and quickness. Defensively, she can be a real problem as a lockdown, 94-foot, on-ball defender.
Highlights
The 2024 class has a great group of smaller guards, and Kenzie has drawn her share of Midwestern small college interest. She plays low and compact, but she’s also very strong, and she initiates contact and uses that to her advantage. She has touch outside, a nice mid-range game as well, plus she plays with an incredible motor and a quiet toughness. She sees the floor well, finds teammates regularly, and she competes at the defensive end of the floor. Paired with Junior All-Star Kennedy Fuelling Kennedy Fuelling 5’7″ | CG Norwell | 2024 State IN (2024) at Norwell, the Lady Knights should be tough to beat during the 2023-2024 season.
It was good to see Jaya back in action this weekend. She is a really nice athlete with run-and-jump ability, she has good quickness as well, and she has an athletically strong frame. She was incredibly active on Saturday, constantly in the mix trying to make plays. She is best off the bounce, attacking the basket relentlessly, plus she rebounds her position very well. Defensively, she can take on bigger guards, wings, and even some undersized forwards, thanks to her strength. As she continues to polish her skillset, she has the athletic talent to draw some really nice small college interest.
Juliet Starr
Juliet Starr
Juliet is a strong, compact, skillful point guard prospect. She has a nice handle, she takes care of the basketball, and she seems to rarely make the same mistake twice. She has touch from the perimeter and can get hot quickly, but she also plays with her head up scanning the floor, looking for open teammates. She doesn’t mind physicality and is a solid downhill attacker, plus she seeks contact defensively and will rebound her position. She is just a very solid, cerebral, skillful lead guard who should draw some small college interest because of her steadiness.