Winding Down “The Clash”
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The featured image is of Ellie Frobig Ellie Frobig 5'7" | SG Carmel | 2026 IN (2026) of Carmel High School and Indy Magic -Bennett E40 16U. A little over a week ago was a big step in the course…
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Continue ReadingThe featured image is of Ellie Frobig Ellie Frobig 5'7" | SG Carmel | 2026 IN (2026) of Carmel High School and Indy Magic -Bennett E40 16U.
A little over a week ago 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 seventh 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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Aubrey is a nice “hidden” talent in Southwest Indiana, and I think with consistent play this Spring & Summer, she can become a really nice small college recruit. She has length, a wiry-strong, athletic frame, and she is a good all-around athlete. She can play on the ball and run offense or create for others. Off the ball, she is a capable shooter, a nice North/South driver, and she moves fairly well without the ball. Defensively, she has the ability, and she does a solid job of using her length, that if she can play just a little lower and longer with her legs, she could be really good at that end.
The people at Tippecanoe Valley rave about Gaby and really like her toughness, motor, and ability to affect the game at both ends of the floor. She has some strength at her size, but she is quick, fast, and feisty. She plays hard and competes, but learning how to change speeds could really help her at the offensive end of the floor. She can get into gaps, find open teammates, but she can also find the basket herself and knock down the open jumper outside. Aside from her size/height, I think she’s someone who could impact a small college immediately by bringing her energy to the floor.
Highlights
I have raved and raved about Layla since I saw her last June at a school shootout with her new Wayne team (she transferred in from Homestead). All she has done since then is grow another inch, get stronger, and really work on her skill and ability to get up and down the floor. She has a high ceiling, and she’s starting to draw legitimate looks from schools. She has great length, both in her arms and legs, which suggests she might see 6-4 or 6-5 at some point. She still has some polishing to do on her skillset, but the amount she’s grown as a player over the past 18-24 months has been outstanding.
Ava Burkle
Ava Burkle
Last weekend was my first opportunity to ever see Ava in-person, and she is incredibly intriguing. She has a very long frame, she’s a fluid and even somewhat bouncy athlete, and she plays with a nice motor. She tries to be much more physical than she looks, and she is active everywhere inside of 15-feet. She has some perimeter skill, so I think the potential is there for her to eventually transition into more of a wing. But for now, she seems like an ideal fit as a mid-post ‘4’. She has touch in the mid-range game, she can put it on the floor, and she’s a versatile inside-out defender.
I had seen Ellie a few times in a variety of environments, but I was happy to see her in a situation where she saw a lot of opportunity on the floor. She is definitely a tough-nosed, hard-working kid with a motor. She looks like she’ll be rather strong by the time she graduates, but she is also skillful. She can handle it a little, she is a very good perimeter shooter, and she’s solid attacking the basket North/South. Defensively, she could be a little quicker laterally, but she takes good angles to the ball, and she understands how to play with urgency at that end of the floor. She’s a really nice ballplayer.
Sophie started to emerge last Spring when she played for a 17U team and at times was their best player on the floor. She is definitely a high-motor, energetic, competitive young lady who will go to battle each time out. But she also has nice skill, an understanding of the game, and the ability to make shots at all levels. I’m not sure if you call her a power guard or a power wing, but either way she is going to be physical, rebound, and defend inside or out. She could get a little quicker defending the ball, but again, no one is going to just beat her off the bounce, because she’ll use her physicality.
Highlights
There aren’t too many people familiar with Savannah on a statewide level, because she doesn’t play for her high school’s team. She does play on a very good grassroots team, however, and she has already picked up offers from a couple of the better Midwestern small colleges. She has tremendous length, a wiry-strong frame, and she has speed, fluidity, and some bounce to her. I like the fact that despite her long frame, she will try to be physical and doesn’t shy away from contact. She has some touch at 15-feet as well, and she is a great rim protector at the defensive end of the floor.