Weekend Warm Up: Louisville and Atlantic City
Several Ohio prospects are spread throughout the Midwest at out-of-state tournaments this weekend. Our boots will be in the ground in Indy for the next couple of days, but we wanted to also cover coaches travelling to Louisville and Atlantic City this weekend.
Ballin Under One Roof
17U: No. 7, All Ohio Gold
No. 8, Northwest Ohio Basketball Club
All Ohio Wolves, Cincy Rise, Cleveland 216ers, JSBA – Grey, Queen City Prophets
16U: No. 7, All Ohio Gold
No. 13, SMAC Primetime
No. 14, Wooster Warriors
All Ohio Black, All Ohio White, Northwest Ohio Basketball Club, Ohio Phenoms, Queen City Prophets, SMAC Canton
15U: Dayton Metro, Hidden Gems Black, Hidden Gems Platinum, Northwest Ohio Basketball Club, All Ohio Gold – Kizer, Ohio Hustle, Queen City Prophets, SMAC Attack, SMAC Future
The two ranked 17U teams from the Northwest corner of the state are bringing most of the 2019 Ohio talent down to Louisville this weekend.
Beginning with All Ohio Gold, they have a roster full of college prospects, some who are flying under the radar. For example, their two guard prospects from Sylvania Northview, Alek West and Sam Clear. West enters July without an offer but is talking to Mount Vernon Nazarene, Williams College, Univ. of Chicago, and Ashland. Clear is also communicating with D-IIIs — Trine, Siena Heights, and Adrian.
The two players on Gold with an offer are Jackie Harris and Jake Plantz, who both received one in late May from Lake Erie. Walsh has strong interest in Plantz. Oakland, Air Force, West Liberty, Saginaw Valley State, Cedarville, Walsh, Wayne State, Malone, and Findlay will all watch Harris this month.
Meanwhile, NWO’s Nathan Bruns came off the board last week with his verbal commitment to Findlay. Bruns, a 6’7” wing/forward, is ranked as our no. 14 prospect in 2019, making his D-II choice a tad bit surprising. However, UF has the location edge and has been one of the strongest programs in the country at their level in recent years.
Guys like Ryan Nunn and Jarod Schulze are the show now for NWO. Ohio Dominican, Walsh, and Mount Vernon Nazarene are among schools coming to see Nunn in July. Schulze has mutual interest with St. Francis and UNOH currently. Along with Urbana and Findlay, those two have also offered the prodding big from Minster.
Atlantic City Jam Fest
17U: No. 5, Nova (Russell)
No. 9, TNBA Ohio
No. 18, Miller Factory
We’ll touch on all three teams here, as all are quality and carry various prospects.
Starting with the Nova crew, 6’6” wing/forward Jacob Drees has racked up offers in the spring and will likely grab a few more. Although he’s not sure who will come watch him in Atlantic City, he took visits to Hillsdale, Indiana Wesleyan, and Mount Vernon Nazarene in June. Forward Owen Hazelbaker also visited Hillsdale in June. Them and Ashland are the two programs that Hazelbaker knows will follow him this month.
TNBA Ohio is still headlined by their two D-I guard prospects. Surprise surprise, right? Davin Zeigler received California Riverside and Wright State offers last month. During the Live Period, he expects South Dakota, Akron, Kent State, Bowling Green, Northern Arizon, and Mississippi State to follow him.
Their other explosive lead guard, Brandon Rush, also has a huge July ahead. According to TNBA Ohio coach Steve Vega, Rush has Kent State, Youngstown State, Cleveland State, High Point, Bowling Green, Lafayette, Longwood, St. Francis, Lehigh, Farleigh Dickerson, Furman, Ohio, and Robert Morris coming to watch him.
Finally, Miller Factory added Kayin Derden and Curtis Houston to their July roster. Derden has drawn Denison to their practices consistently in June. Kentucky State, Charleston, Urbana, Ashland, Malone, Hillsdale, Stonehill, and Northwood are also interested in Derden.
Chris Boyle is their highest ranked prospect in our updated 2019 rankings. Since May, he’s actually been racking up football offers though. High-academic institutions like Butler, Bucknell, Lafayette, and Holy Cross are in the football mix. He carries a 3.5 GPA and 22 ACT and is hoping to find an academic fit where he can study business finance and play basketball. Yes, that’s right, basketball. He’s a powerful forward with outside shooting ability and a knack for securing rebounds.
Miller Factory also carries a 2020 prospect in 6’5” forward Kaveon Ross, who has interest from Urbana, Central State, Kentucky State, Otterbein, Capital, and Charleston.