Spiece Select 2011

Playing without Alex Pritchett and Jordan Hahn due to prom Spiece still had a very strong showing. Justin Gant, 6’8 Terre Haute North, was big time all weekend. No one has ever doubted his offensive game and he scored a bunch this weekend. He was really impressive rebounding and playing defense. Two things people have been weary of in the past.Gant completely dominated in a match-up against Stanford commit Stefan Nastic on both ends of the court.  Kendall Griffin, 6’5 Avon, also had a breakout event. He might have had the highlight of the weekend with his breakaway 2-hand dunk over a guy Friday night. Griffin shot it well all weekend as well. Torrey Nibbs, 6’1 Brownsburg, might have been the surprise of the weekend. He has struggled with ball handling and decision making in the past but not this weekend. He also shot it well which has been another weakness for him. Probably a football recruit, but he raised his basketball stock with this past weekend.

Zac VanDeWater, 6’5 Whitko, is becoming more consistent this spring so far. You can pretty much put 15-20 points in the book before the game for him. He is a lot more athletic than he is given credit for. Alec Peterson, 6’10 Carmel, might be the sleeper of the class. He has great timing blocking shots and he gets to a lot of rebounds. He does need to be tougher with the ball when he gets the rebound though. His offensive game needs a lot of work, but he could be a great pick up for a LM or MM with an extra scholarship to develop him.

SYF 17U

First time seeing SYF this spring and I probably won’t see them again for a while as they like to play out of the state a lot. Branden Dawson, 6’7 Lew Wallace, is a freak. That is all I really need to say. He is mega explosive and long which allows him to get to just about every rebound. He needs to improve his jumper and handles past one hard dribble. Mitch McGary, 6’9 Chesterton, is back on the court after battling injuries and sickness this school season. He did some impressive things on the offensive end and even tried about a 12 foot hook shot with his right hand (he’s left handed). He has to improve his close-outs and needs to keep his energy up higher at all times. Jeremiah Jones,6’3 Merrillville, is really smooth on the court. Jones is a very good shooter and quick enough to get to the rim basically anytime he wants to. He struggled with passing against pressure and decision making though. He must improve those areas to be a MM recruit. Travis Trice, 6’1 Wayne HS OH, is a bigger, longer, more athletic version of Indiana’s Nic Moore. Trice is more of a scorer/shooter than he is a pure point guard. That being said, he is a pretty good ball handler. I would just like him to create more for his teammates. Jared Smoot,6’9 Crown Point, is another candidate for the sleeper of the 2011 class. Smoot is ultra raw but moves well, catches pretty well, and is strong. He is more aggressive than most raw, big kids are and that is what I like about him for the future. Max Biefeldt,6’6 Peoria Notre Dame IL, could become one of my favorite players. Biefeld is a tough kid, big time motor, great at pick and pop although it is a set shot. Biefeld is not going to impress you with his athleticism that is for sure and that lack of athleticism causes him not to finish against bigger opponents at times. He is probably a MM- with his height and athleticism level. Ben Davisson, 6’10 Rensellear Central, has lost a lot of weight like Isiah Hill. He looks a lot better and is moving a little bit better. He has a nice stroke at the free-throw line, but I never saw him knock down a pick and pop shot from 15’ or something like that. LM recruit with the way he moves.

Eric Gordon-Fast Break

Jalen Packer and Ryan Taylor weren’t there this weekend for EG10 so that really hurt them. Chris Page, 6’4 Plainfiled, played well for them the game I saw. He can shoot it, but is at his best when he is getting to the basket off the drive. He will definitely need to add muscle if he is going to be a D1 player. His handles appear to be shaky at times as well. Rontray Chavis, 6’5 Princeton, is one of my favorite players that don’t appear to getting a lot of recruiting attention. He is strong, quick, and can shoot it from the outside. I think he would be good at a MM program where he could play multiple positions offensively and defensively.

Ohio Basketball Club

It is kind of weird for me to cover a full team from outside of Indiana, but OBC has 4 kids with Indiana connections. PJ Boutte,5’8 Howe, puts on a show everytime he takes the court. He does a few too many careless things for my liking. Boutte does shoot it pretty well from the outside although inconsistent at times and he finishes inside really well for his height. Downside is that 5’8 might be generous and he will make a couple unforced turnovers per game trying to make a crowd-pleasing pass. Boutte’s teammate Jordan Manual, 6’9 Howe, was with him at the event. It looks like Manual is going to go to Brewster Academy next year at this point. Manual is a mega long swing man that can shoot it from 21 feet. Manual is rail thin and needs to add some muscle but he has all the skills to be successful in college. Ronald Ross, 6’4 Mountain State Academy, is formerly from Indiana before transferring to Mountain State. Ross has re-classified to the class of 2011. The fourth Indiana kid is Kevin Rose from Howe, but he didn’t get much playing time.