Rankings Overview: Deepest Rosters
Searching for the deepest teams in Ohio is pretty simple: find which teams have the most ranked prospects. It’s much less complicated than our other Rankings Overview articles you’ll find on the site this week, which involve a formula that’s…
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Continue ReadingSearching for the deepest teams in Ohio is pretty simple: find which teams have the most ranked prospects. It’s much less complicated than our other Rankings Overview articles you’ll find on the site this week, which involve a formula that’s broken down here.
For this one, we’re just looking at teams who have six or more players ranked.
Nine players
Pickerington Central
Javohn Garcia, Sam Towns, Coleton Landis, Jaidon Lipscomb, JaJuan “Jay” Rodgers, Tahleik Walker, Conner Maciag, Garner Wallace, Elhadji Thiam
Pretty much every player in the rotation is ranked, including maybe two guys here who won’t even see the floor some nights.
More importantly for Pick Central, there isn’t too much roster overlap. Sure, they have three guys (Garcia, Rodgers, Walker) who like to handle the ball a lot, but two can play together at one time. Then, they have a couple unselfish wing/forwards who provide defensive versatility in Wallace and Thiam. Finally, they’ll have a size advantage inside with Towns and Landis — two skilled posts who can rebound.
Eight players
St. Vincent-St. Mary
Lunden McDay, Chris Painter, Darrius Cone, Keyshawn Jones, Isaiah Ingol, Marcus Johnson, Seth Wilson, Malaki Branham
Similar to Pick Central, the Irish have a roster that makes a lot of sense. McDay and Branham will be the do-it-all wings, with the sophomore still likely one year away from a HS season breakout. Meanwhile, Wilson and Painter will pace the team with Ingol as their utility guard. Jones, Cone, and Johnson provide a nice palette of physical tools and post attributes.
The common thread is their intelligence. These kids are well-coached and all played like students of the game this grassroots seasons on their respective teams.
Seven players
Upper Arlington
Max Martz, CJ Karsatos, Josh Russell, Max Mollman, Jake Warriner, Fred Wilkes II, Kobe Buford
We expect Martz to be one of the top couple players in the Ohio Capital Conference, in terms of production. Meanwhile, the others will likely complement his scoring ability and focus on defense. This list of seven doesn’t even include returning starter Sammy Sass, a senior baseball star who plays sound perimeter defense.
Lutheran East
Nehemiah Benson, Dayvon Adams, TJ Blevins, EJ Farmer, Jalin Billingsley, Colin Albert, Sirr Hughes
Between Benson, Farmer, Billingsley, Albert, and Hughes, Lutheran East could trot out five future D-I players when they’re all eligible to play. However, expect Adams to play a major role as a defensive-oriented athlete who won’t need the ball to be effective. Further, The LUE will need both Benson and Farmer to lubricate the chemistry, as all of their transfers are used to having the ball in their hands a lot.
Toledo St. John’s
Payton Moyer, Caleb Smith, Elijah Kimmons, Dimitri Mitsopoulos, Brady Lichtenberg, Thomas Zsiros, Shane Garcia
Considering the emergence of Whitmer and St. Francis, SJJ may appear to be a sleeping giant in NW Ohio after graduating their 2018 class. However, they’re the only team from the area with more than six ranked players possibly fitting into the rotation. They’ll need someone to go from role player to playmaker/creator/leader and the early indication is that Moyer and Smith will fulfill those duties.
Six players
Moeller
Miles “Deuce” McBride, Alec Pfriem, Jake Younkin, Max Land, Logan Duncomb, William McCracken
All six of these guys are scholarship-level basketball players. After sprucing in a couple senior role players who are unmentioned here, it’s totally reasonable to consider Moeller the favorite to repeat as OHSAA Division I State Champions. In order for that to happen, though, Duncomb, Younkin, and Land will all need to quickly adapt Moe’s patented offensive discipline.
Gahanna
Josh Corbin, Elijah Thomas, Zane Leitwein, Jaiden Davis, Nate Staib, Jarius Jones
Gahanna is deep; but they’re also deep with guys who haven’t been asked to do a lot at the varsity level previously. All six of these guys may not even play significant minutes, actually. If we were including noteworthy incoming freshman, Gahanna has two in Sean Jones and Joshua Whiteside who will probably start. Lot of overlap in the backcourt, too.
Benedictine
Davin Zeigler, Kevin Bishop, Andy Babra, Jashun Cobb, Anthony Maxie, Eric Buckner Jr.
Benedictine was even more talented and deep than this last season, they just couldn’t stay healthy. The Bengals will need to check that box before competing in the playoffs, even if they are the most talented roster in Division II.
The healthy version of this team is potent offensively, led by one of the most dynamic players in the state, Davin Zeigler. We expect them to play fast and skilled lineups. Any combination of these six players could be out there at the same time.
St. Edward
Demetrius Terry, Grant Huffman, Devontae Blanton, Montorie Foster, Lawson Nash, Caleb Warren
Unless Warren or 6’5 senior Spencer Crane is ready for more minutes than we anticipate, Ed’s will likely play a very small lineup this season. The upside of that is quickness, playmaking ability, shooting, and basketball IQ all over the floor. Further, guard play tends to be more important than big bodies in high school ball.
Princeton
Isaiah Kennedy, Khalil Davis, Jaheim Thomas, Kaleb Crawford, Darrion Henry, Micah Thomas
Every single one of these players resides in the 2020 class and that’s even after losing Aaron Ward to Winton Woods. A couple Power 5 football prospects, Henry and Jaheim Thomas, will provide power and rebounding. Meanwhile, Micah Thomas is an athletic defensive wing. Then, their scoring and playmaking will come from a trio of ball-handlers.
For Princeton, the name of the game this season should be building chemistry. Despite a ton of athleticism, they’re a year away, in our eyes, from challenging the other Division I powerhouses in Dayton and Cincinnati.