“The Clash” Delivers…Again
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The featured image is of Julia Lashley Julia Lashley 5'10" | SF Bloomington South | 2026 State IN (2026) of Bloomington High School South and DistinXion Champions Black 16U. Last weekend was a big step in the course of a…
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Continue ReadingThe featured image is of Julia Lashley Julia Lashley 5'10" | SF Bloomington South | 2026 State IN (2026) of Bloomington High School South and DistinXion Champions Black 16U.
Last weekend was a big step in the course of a grassroots season, as it was the first time NCAA Division-I women’s basketball coaches were allowed to be out evaluating prospects. I spent my time in Hamilton, Ohio, watching The Clash…a huge event that has provided many kids the opportunity to be “seen” over the past several years. After you remove the core shoe company teams, many of the rest of the better teams/programs in the Midwest, Northeast, and South were in attendance. This serves as the first of eight articles I am writing to review some Indiana prospects who stood out to me at the event. This is not everyone who played well, nor is it someone from every single team…there were too many teams/prospects in attendance to cover everyone adequately. However, below are several prospects who played well when I was able to see them.
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Emma has not been a grassroots participant since she was in middle school, so it was good to see her in action. She has really nice length at her size, an athletically strong frame, and she plays with some quickness. She is a competitor and battles each possession, plus she’s willing to do a lot of the “little things” a lot of other girls don’t want to do. On the ball, she can create or run offense, and she’s able to get into the heart of a defense and collapse it. She can score in the mid-range game or at the rim, and her jump-shot has become more consistent. She’s also a scrappy defender.
Shaniyah Hughes
Shaniyah Hughes
This was my first time seeing Shaniyah, and she definitely has some intriguing athletic qualities. She has a long, athletic frame, she has a lot of bounce to her, plus she can run the floor, and she even has a little shiftiness to her and the ability to land and change directions laterally pretty quickly. She is primarily a mid-post scorer right now. She can knock down the 1o to 12-foot shot or attack the basket and finish above defenders. She is an active rebounder, and she can sit down and defend with her length. She could be a nice sleeper, especially if she continues to build her offensive skill.
Over the years, I have always liked Avah’s game and been an advocate for her on this platform. Now that she is nearing the home stretch of her high school career, she looks so much more complete as a player, and it is showing in grassroots competition. She looks dialed in, unphased by pressure or a prospect who’s maybe “better” than her constantly coming at her. She has a beautiful mid-range pull-up game, nice touch around the perimeter, and just an overall great feel for the game. I can definitely see her drawing a varied degree of interest from elite small colleges or maybe a few Division-I schools.
Emma made her first appearance in front of me at a PGH Top-250 Showcase event a couple of years ago, and she has always been a quiet, highly active, hard-working forward who just battles. She is a nice all-around athlete, a solid rebounder, both inside and outside of her catch radius, and she has some skill and touch in the mid-post. She was originally a Greenfield-Central kid, but she transferred to Morristown this past season and finished strong for the Yellow Jackets. I think she will be an under-the-radar “steal” for some small college, because she always produces.
I have enjoyed Julia’s versatility and productivity over the past couple of years, and this past weekend she was everywhere. She has a long, wiry frame, developing strength, and solid all-around athleticism. She can put it on the floor and create offense for herself or teammates, she can knock down an open jumper, or she can attack the basket to score or get inside to battle for put-backs. I feel like each time she was in the game, she was always noticeable, because she was always around the basketball. She is the exact type of prospect who tends to keep the elite small colleges, well, elite.
Carley is a really nice point guard prospect who just continues to grow on me. I first saw her last Fall at a showcase event and she was solid. Since then, she had a nice Winter, and she has grown a couple of inches and become a steady playmaker who can also make open shots consistently. She has tremendous length, she’s fluid and somewhat shifty, and she plays with a good motor and a quiet toughness. What’s scary is, she’s still not finished. She’s about 5-9 now, and she could possibly see 5-10 or 5-11 at some point. I just think she has a really nice feel for the game.
Highlights
I had seen Vanessa online this past high school season, but this was my first opportunity to watch her in-person. She is a nice, long, wiry-strong athlete who has end-to-end speed, some bounce, and the ability to play multiple positions effectively. She showed a little touch from around the perimeter, but she was almost effortless in transition, or putting it on the floor and attacking the basket, gliding by defenders. She could still use a little polish, but she has the potential to develop into a really nice wing prospect long-term, not to mention Norwell’s best player the next couple of seasons.