Cincinnati Basketball Diaries
The offers having been coming and coming fast for prep players in Ohio. And obviously that means the Cincinnati area has been well involved in the action, with athletes from the area getting their share of the offers. Let catch you up on what’s been happening.
Giovanni Santiago (Hughes/2018 PHO #49) has had one heck of a month. First, he helped Puerto Rico 18U team advance to the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup with a 4th place finish in the U18 FIBA Americas Championship in Canada. During the tournament Santiago averaged 11.8 points and a team best 5.3 assist per game. And then came today when Gio first announced his reclassification to the class of 2019 and that he will be enrolling at Hargrave Military Academy. Then within 10 minutes of that announcement he announced his first offer as a member of that class, from Frank Martin and University of South Carolina. This will be the first of many offers for Mr. Santiago and a day he will not soon forget.
And by the way, that makes two Cincinnati guys on the Hargrave roster as Giovanni will join Moeller W/F Jeremiah Davenport (PHO #11/2018) in Virginia.
Following the trend of 2018 graduates going prep, Princeton W Dominic Pierce (PHO #159) proclaimed his commitment to EAI Academy in Oklahoma City, OK on June 17th. Pierce was part of a team that was one win away from advancing to the Final Four in the D-I playoffs. On the season Dominic averaged just over 7ppg while shooting almost 50% from the floor.
Now let’s move to the class of 2019 where another offer has rolled in for Winton Woods point man Greg Tribble (PHO #18) as Northern Kentucky University extended an offer on June 20th. Playing for OBC throughout this spring/summer, Tribble has offers from other programs including Ball State and Youngstown State. While known for his athleticism and ability to get into the paint, much has been made about Tribble improvement in the pick and roll along with his improved shooting stroke.
And not to be out done, class of 2020 C Jackson Ames (PHO #21/West Clermont) received an offer from Toledo on June 18th. Ames missed most of the prep season with a lower leg injury but has shown that he is now 100% playing for the Louisville Magic during the AAU season. Team him with Galia Academy big man Zach Loveday (PHO #1) and what you have is a problem in the paint and in pick and roll/pop situations.