Grand Rapids: Best of the Midwest
Grand Rapids: July 20-23
Congrats to 1 Nation 17U on winning the Best of the Midwest tournament as they defeated Indy Heat EYBL (81-60) in the finals of the Platinum Bracket. 1 Nation 16U also made the Platinum Finals but came up short against Arizona Power Elite (57-29). The Family 15U came away with with the Platinum Championship by defeating Team Teague (71-68).
Other Team Bracket winners included:
17U/ Class of 2018
Gold Bracket- Indy Heat Red 2018
Silver Bracket- Parallel 45 Green
Bronze Bracket: Michigan United McLain
16U/ Class of 2019
Gold Bracket- ENB
Silver Bracket- MBA National
Bronze Bracket- Lakeshore Thunder
15U/ Class of 2020
Gold Bracket- MBA National
Silver Bracket- Illinois Blaze
Bronze Bracket- AABA
14U/ Class of 2021
Platinum: Indy Heat 2021
Silver: Indy Heat United
Individual Spotlights
Drew Johnson – NW Ohio Basketball Club – High School: Pandora Gilboa ’18
Drew is a 6’5 lefty that can score in a variety of ways at the shooting guard position. He rebounds very well for a guard- especially on the offensive end and takes the ball up against the bigs and finishes through the contact. Drew is a good shooter but Friday night he really had it goingwhen he hit 11 three pointers in one game. He sat out a good portion of the game due to the score being so lopsided. This is Drew’s first summer playing AAU basketball and he’s coming off a junior campaign where he averaged 15 points per game and 8 rebounds for Pandora. Drew will be able to help a D2 College Program and if he had his way, he’d love to continue playing basketball at the University of Findlay. At this time, Findlay has not offered.
The Family 16U Big 3 are Impressive
B Artis White, Romeo Weems and Drew Lowder are very special players who can take over a game at any time. Artis (Canton HS ’19) is a 5’10 point guard who can put a defender on skates. His ability to change directions and get separation from the defender creates an opportunity for him to pull up or get space so he can find the open man for a shot or layup. Artis can hit the 3from deep or off the dribble. This makes him a serious threat on a pick and roll because if the defender goes over the screen, Artis is getting to the basket and if the defender goes under the screen, Artis will pull up for 3. He will also sit down on the defensive end and look for opportunities to pick the pocket of the ball handler with his long arms.
Lowder (Ann Arbor Pioneer ’19) is a 5’11 combo guard that can score a lot of points in a hurry. Drew can shoot the 3 from deep so you have to respect that but he also has the strength and quickness to get into the paint and finish with a floater or he may challenge your bigs with the ability to finish with either hand. Lowder can hit the pull up mid range jumper even with a hand in his face. Offensively, there aren’t too many things he can’t do.
Weems (New Haven MI ’19) is a a 6’6 small forward with tremendous athletic ability. He’s one of the best players in the country in the 2019 class. Romeo is a physical player that will bang into the defender a few times and then shoot right over the top of him. He’s an extremely difficult task to keep off the glass because of his strength and quickness. He has a nice mid range jump shot but can improve his 3 point shooting. He has a good first step and a cross over move that frequently sends the defender in the wrong direction. Weems has good vision and passing skills- He chased down an offensive rebound with his back to the basket and without looking he threw a no look pass over his shoulder to an open teammate under the basket for an easy score.
Zeb Jackson (Maumee Valley Country Day ’20) is a 6’0 point guard playing up a grade level with C2K 16U team. He is the catalyst for this team and he makes everyone around him better. This lefty like to get a ball screen so he can create going to his right and he showed the ability to shoot off the dribble, get into the paint and finish with a floater or even hit the step back jumper. Zeb has a solid crossover that creates space from the defender. He also has good vision and passing skills which created shots for his teammates. I look for Zeb to put on some muscle to help absorb some of the contact when driving to the basket. Without a doubt, Zeb will play Division 1 college basketball.
Weston Hamby (2021) plays for Total Package Elite out of Ft. Wayne, Indiana and he was one of the best point guards in the 14U division in Grand Rapids. He has really high basketball IQ and his ability to knock down the mid range jumper off the dribble was impressive for someone who has yet played a high school game. I look for Hamby to make a name for himself here in the next couple years and college coaches will take notice.