Spiece Indy Heat
There were no rosters in the roster packet for 15U teams so some of the spellings could be off in this section. It was my first time seeing most of this group during this event. I was really impressed with Brent Scott, 6’0 Fort Wayne Northrop, who is a strong, crafty, lefty that can shoot it from the outside or get to the lane anytime he wants to. His twin Bryson Scott, 6’0 Fort Wayne Northrop, is very similar in the way they play, but I think Brent is a little bit more of a scorer and playmaker than Bryson is at this time. Brent is probably HM-/MM+ right now where Bryson is MM. The top prospect on the team might be Richard Freeman, 6’6 Lawrence Central, the lefty big man can shoot it from 17 feet and looks good doing it. He had a monster 2-handed dunk in the championship game which speaks for his athleticism. He moves really well and has a great looking frame. This time next year is probably when Freeman will explode as a player.
Clay Yeo, 6’4 Triton, is a shooter with good length and is more athletic than he looks. I will have to watch him more in the future to get a feel for his college potential. Markese McGuire, 6’2 Elkhart Memorial, is a lanky, slashing guard that had a solid championship game. Just like Yeo, I need to see McGuire more this spring to get a feel for his college potential. Franco House, 6’5 Concord, is a powerful big man at this age. He moves well and finishes well, but he could very well be done growing so he will have to expand his offensive game away from the basket more in the next couple of years. Spiece Indy Heat won the title convincingly even though they were playing without Victor Beachem,6’5 Fort Wayne Harding, who was not at the event.
Eric Gordon 15U
This team was impressive last weekend at Indyball, but they are missing a couple of pieces especially a dominate, true big man. They use Devin Davis, 6’6 Warren Central, in the post but he is more of a 4 man who is working to become a wing. Davis is a very good athlete and is working to improve his perimeter skills but he still has a lot to improve on. EG10 also uses Darius Latham, 6’4 North Central, who is a wide-bodied post man. He uses his strength to battle in the post for positioning and rebounds but against the true big men that EG10 will play deep in good tournaments…he is going to be outmatched. Basil Smotherman, 6’5 Heritage Christian, wasn’t quite as impressive as he was last weekend but I still love his game and upside. Smotherman is a shooter that has good length and quickness. He is a no doubt HM prospect in my eyes. I see Zavier Turner, 5’8 Pike, has a more conservative version of PJ Boutte. Both are ultra-quick, small, pass first playmaking point guards. Turner doesn’t have the showmanship in his game like Boutte does though. Speaking of their point guard play, they were playing without Phillip Owens, who will be playing with Smotherman next year at Heritage Christian. I have been anxious to see RJ Currington,6’2 Oak Hill Academy, since I read an Indy Star article about him. I finally got my chance this weekend and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with what I saw. Calling him a MM prospect right now would be outrageous. He has a set shot that isn’t very accurate, not smooth with the ball, athleticism is not very good. I don’t like being negative about such a young kid, but he has gotten some hype since he is at Oak Hill Academy and it is completely unwarranted. Zak Irvin, 6’4 Hamilton Southeastern, will be a very good second option to Gary Harris next year at HSE. Irvin is really long, pretty athletic, inconsistent shooter right now, but has the make-up of a kid that could be really good down the road if he works at it.
Side note, these two teams played each other for the championship. Spiece Indy Heat won 76-61 in a game that was never close in the second half. Spiece was just too deep at every position for EG10.