Director’s Cut: Ohio Edition (Part 2)
As the first half of the grassroots season comes to a close we wanted to touch base with programs directors and coaches to see how things went during April and May. These articles aim to provide updates on the teams as well as under the radar players or the kids who are on track to have a big July.
Team Name: Columbus Kings
Mid-Season Update:
The Columbus Kings found success early on in the year and coach Frank Andrews was pleased with his squad. Lead by strong play in the backcourt the Kings gave team fits during the months of April and May.
Under the Radar Players:
• Jordan McMillian – 6’1 G – has performed at a high level making plays for others
and controlling the game, 1st team all-conference and 1st team all-district kid
• Josh Osei – 6’3 W – been a stock riser this spring coming off a 2nd team all-
conference high school season
Where can you find them in July?:
July 6-10: Adidas Invitational – Indianapolis, IN
July 15-17: Adidas ALL-IN – Cincinnati, OH
Still working to round out the July schedule.
Team Name: Mid Ohio Pumas – 2020
Mid-Season Update:
It’s been a spring of injuries for the 16U Puma squad. Both bigs have missed significant time due to lower body injuries. During that time the Pumas have overcome these set backs and put together a good first half of the season at 9-4 in league play. With the lose of 7’1 Zach Loveday going to the Louisville Magic the guys have all stepped up and had long stretches of really good basketball.
Under the Radar Players:
• Logan Dumcomb – 6’9 C 2021 – recently visited Xavier, currently holds 2 DI
offer, active big who will be on top of 2021 rankings
• Grant Whisman – 6’8 W/F – holds offer from Cleveland State, could crack into
some bigger schools with a strong July, high ceiling kid
• Jack Pugh – 6’5 W/F – transitioning from predominantly post play into more of
a perimeter role with the Pumas, strong build, drawing interest from Miami
Ohio, Wright State and Ball State amongst others.
• Jake Younkin – 6’2 G – guard who has put on 15 pounds of muscle mass since
high school season, hearing from Miami Ohio and Wright State, interest
expected to pick up in July
Where can you find them in July?:
July 11-15: Adidas Invitational – Indianapolis, IN
July 20-22: Adidas ALL-IN – Louisville, KY
July 27-29: JamFest – Louisville, KY
Team Name: Dayton Metro
Mid-Season Update:
The Dayton Metro squad has been productive early in the year, leaving tournaments with a winning record. At the C2K event Metro started 3-0 in pool play and would later lose a tough game to M2K Elite. In the following weeks at the Run N Slam event they opened up 3-0 again with an impressive win over the Miller Brothers and then dropped a tough game to the Illinois Wolves in the championship bracket. The guys are looking forward to resting up and reconvening at the end of June to get ready for their home stretch in July.
Under the Radar Players:
• Ethan Conley – 6’4 W – athletic strong build who competes every play on
both ends of the floor, DII offers across the board while DI’s keep an eye
on him
• Antone Webb – 6’7 W/F – super young junior who is having a big spring,
nightmare matchup as he can post up smaller guys and take bigs onto the
perimeter, drawing a ton of DII interest
• Jake Gudorf – 6’3 G/W – combo guard with great vision and an extremely high
basketball IQ, working on developing more scoring production, having talks
with DII schools
Where can you find them in July?:
July 11-15: Adidas Invitational – Indianapolis, IN
July 19-22: Brawl for the Ball – Grand Rapids, MI