Don't Forget About Us: 2021 | Prep Girls Hoops

With all of the events that have taken place in Indiana this Summer, and the excitement of being able to get out of the house to do something other than go to work or to the grocery, I wanted to circle back and touch on a few prospects who have not been seen on the recruiting trail for one reason or another. Whether it’s an injury, a choice not to play, or any other reason, below is a look at seven such players. This is not everyone in 2021 who hasn’t played, but a few I wanted to point out because I felt very familiar with their games.   [player_tooltip player_id="99409" first="Ryleigh" last="Anslinger"], 2021, 5-9 SG, Evansville Reitz Memorial H.S. Ryleigh has never been a grassroots basketball kid, probably because she is a high-level soccer recruit. She has, however, attended the IBCA’s Top-100 Showcase in the past, where she has shown nice basketball skill and talent. Ryleigh is a long, wiry strong, and fairly fluid athlete. She moves well in all directions, likely a product of her "soccer feet", and she has good bounce to her as well. She is a capable ball-handler in transition, she can even initiate the offense when necessary, but she’s such an effective scorer for Memorial at all three levels, that you would want to get her open for shots/scores every possession. [player_tooltip player_id="35083" first="Layne" last="Burke"], 2021, 5-11 PF, New Albany H.S. I really thought Layne was starting to come into her own last Summer, then she was one of the best players at New Albany in 2019-2020. She is another long, wiry strong, and fairly athletic prospect. Layne is more of a mid-post forward, as she can consistently knock down the 15-footer or athletically attack the basket in one dribble and finish in a variety of ways. She’s strong enough to post smaller defenders on the block, and she’s comfortable around the perimeter and can occasionally knock down the outside jumper as well. Defensively, she works hard, rebounds well, and shows some versatility in being able to defend different types of forwards and some wings. [player_tooltip player_id="22702" first="Zayda" last="Hatfield"], 2021, 5-8 CG, Terre Haute South Vigo H.S. Zayda was really good during the Summer and Fall of 2019 when I was able to see her, and I think she has a great deal of upside as an athletic playmaker. Unfortunately, she missed this Summer due to an early 2020 injury, so hopefully she will return at full-strength sooner rather than later. Zayda is a wiry strong, explosive, and aggressive scoring point guard. She has really good ball skill, she can attack the basket with either hand, and she finishes with a variety of spin-moves, pull-ups, and floaters. She can knock down an open rhythm jumper outside, and I think she is talented enough to become an elite defender when she wants to be. [player_tooltip player_id="130317" first="Nakaih" last="Hunter"], 2021, 5-11 PF, North Central H.S. (Indianapolis) When people talk about North Central, they always point to their overwhelming talent. Whether it is past grads, or current attendees like [player_tooltip player_id="130310" first="Meg" last="Newman"] and [player_tooltip player_id="128118" first="Tanyuel" last="Welch"], I always feel like Nakaih doesn’t quite get the credit she deserves, even though she has probably been the most consistently productive player on their roster. She is strong, physical, and aggressive. She rebounds by boxing out strong or pursuing the ball outside of her area. She scores through people, over people, and around people, and she switches ends of the floor with effort. She is a key piece to their success the last three seasons. Nakaih has verbally committed to play at IUPUI. [player_tooltip player_id="35020" first="Hanna" last="Knoll"], 2021, 5-9 CG, Angola H.S. Hanna had a huge Spring and Summer in 2019, garnering a number of Division-I offers and even more interest. With many options on the table, she chose to verbally commit to Central Michigan University back in April, and her versatility should fit in well there. Hanna is a wiry strong, fluid, and somewhat smooth combo guard. She has always played with a motor and been an intelligent defender, but her offensive game has really grown over the years. She has shown the ability to handle the ball and run offense as a point guard. She can also attack the basket and finish, or knock down outside shots consistently when she plays off the ball. [player_tooltip player_id="130315" first="Ryin" last="Ott"], 2021, 5-11 SF, LaPorte H.S. Ryin is one of those players I would consider as "sneaky" good. The game just looks so effortless to her, as she glides from spot to spot, that by the end of the game you wonder what she’s done, and when you look at the numbers, she has put together a near triple-double. She is extremely long, fluidly athletic, and smooth. She can handle the ball like a point forward, find open teammates in positions to score, knock down the occasional perimeter jumper, or slice to the basket for scores of her own. She is a problem defensively because of her length and quickness, plus she can defend multiple positions. Ryin will join her sister [player_tooltip player_id="36215" first="Riley" last="Ott"] at Purdue University, Fort Wayne, in the Fall of 2021. [player_tooltip player_id="62555" first="Alyna" last="Santiago"], 2021, 5-5 PG, Crown Point H.S. Alyna could be a key piece for Crown Point this season, because she affects the other team’s box score as much as her own. What I mean by that, is Alyna has shown the ability to be an elite defender, and she can limit the opponent’s best scorer to either just a few shots, or a bad-shooting night altogether. A lot of her productivity goes unnoticed, because she is a traditional point guard who runs offense and finds open teammates. She has good speed and quickness, and her shooting/scoring has improved, but unfortunately she was limited to 14 games this past Winter due to a knee injury. Fittingly, she just Tweeted out Wednesday that she has been cleared to resume activities.