Ridgewood Shootout Evals Pt 2
This past Sunday PrepHoopsIllinois was at the annual Ridgewood Shootout where we took in four games. Here we breakdown the prospects involved in the event. This is our Ridgewood Shootout Evaluations Part 2!
SF Jeremiah Hernandez (St. Viator – 2019)
Hernandez was phenomenal on Sunday afternoon! Definitely the best high school game we have seen him play. The 6’4” small forward opened up strong and it continued throughout the game. Love his passing feel and ability to get his teammates involved. He also scored at a high level in this one. His mid-range jump shot is about as good as you will find in the state and it was on point! Every time he rose up to shoot it you thought it was going in and most of the time it did. Hernandez has a feathery jumper from both mid-range and three. Also was aggressive off the dribble with some strong takes that he converted or got to the foul line. Rebounds well from the wing. Should have scored more except there was a bad tech called on him so he had to sit out for a bit with foul trouble. The Kent State commit had 27 points.
PG Trey Calvin (St. Viator – 2019)
Calvin was almost equally as good for St. Viator. He is known as perhaps the best perimeter shooting point guard in the senior class. That was made even more evident with his performance on Sunday. The Wright State signee drilled a handful of triples with his quick release. Mixed in a few creative layups. Ran the show in the half court directing the offense and getting others involved. I was also impressed with how well he rebounded from his point guard spot. Went for 25 points.
SF Connor Kochera (St. Viator – 2020)
Kochera is an underrated prospect in the junior class. At 6’3” he does a little bit of everything for this team. Stat sheet stuffer. Coming off an injury and this was his second game back. Drilled a pair of spot up threes from the corners. Did a nice job on the boards. Sound passer and defender. Does everything solid. He had 8 points.
PG Michael Campagna (St. Viator – 2020)
This 6’1” combo guard is a crisp passer. He drilled a three off the catch. Went for 6 points.
SG Josh Holmes (De La Salle – 2020)
Holmes is a transfer from Jones and is fitting in nicely with his new team. He has been known as a shooter over the last couple years and that was exactly what he did best in their game against St. Viator. Holmes drilled several threes including a couple contested ones. Scored on some bank shots and runners in the paint. Came out aggressive early. Crisp shooter! He had 17 points.
SG Alex Raiford (De La Salle – 2019)
Raiford is a spot up shooter at 6’4”. Has positional size. Big time shooter off the catch. Really stretches the floor with his perimeter shooting. He had 14 points in a loss.
SF Clyde Benton (De La Salle – 2019)
Benton is a prospect we were excited to see. This 6’5” wing is a jumbo wing that has some projectability and strength. Got in early foul trouble which limited his production. Did hit a three, but only had 5 points.
PG Abnar Muhammad (De La Salle – 2020)
Muhammad is a 5’11” point guard with compact strength. Connected on a runner and a three. Solid ball handler. Went for 5 points.
PF Kendrick Tchoua (Benet – 2019)
Tchoua has had some buzz about his play early in the season after moving to play at Benet from Maryland. The 6’6” four man is a junk yard dog mauler in the paint. Slightly undersized post that has a physical body and big time athleticism. Early in the game he absolutely dominated a small Dekalb squad with his quick second jump. Finished a high/low pass and got an and-1 through contact. Got to the charity stripe a lot where he didn’t shoot it particularly well. Tchoua had 16 points and 6 rebounds.
C Colin Crothers (Benet – 2020)
Crothers played the best we have seen him during his career. He had a huge advantage in size as the closest defender was three or four inches shorter. The Benet post used his size, strength, and body positioning to go to work on the low block. Gives his guards a big target to throw it into. He sealed off his man on several occasions. Crafty big man that isn’t the most athletic, but against Dekalb he didn’t need to be. Crothers was excellent on the glass clearing it on both ends of the floor. He passed it well out of double teams too. Went for 26 points and 14 rebounds.
SG Will Engels (Benet – 2019)
Engels is a 6’5” wing that can handle the ball well. He is a sneaky athlete which was shown on a sweet reverse layup. Several nice takes to the hoop where he either finished or got to the line. Closed out the game late with some key free throws. Engels is a prospect that is flying under the radar. He had 10 points.
G Trevor Casmere (Benet – 2019)
Casmere is a 6’3” combo guard that is crafty in the lane. Really likes to utilize his floater game. Also got out in transition for multiple layups. He had 8 points.
PG Charlie Dollard (Benet – 2019)
Dollard is a crisp passer that made several nice dishes in the half court. Crafty scorer in the half court and showed a decent shooting stroke.
G Trenton Kyler (Dekalb – 2021)
Kyler is a combo guard that is best right now as a spot up shooter. The lefty sophomore was lights out from three off the catch. He bombed in five triples in their game against Benet. Will need to round out his game, but we look forward to monitoring this guards progress moving forward. He had 17 points in the final game of the day.
PG Blake Williams (Dekalb – 2019)
Williams is a wiry point guard that at times can be a little wild with the ball. Gets dribble penetration consistently and has speed off the bounce.
PG Isaiah Youngquist (Dekalb – 2020)
Youngquist is a 6’1” combo guard that impressed at the Ridgewood Shootout. He is a quality perimeter shooter that hit a quartet of threes. Also did an excellent job defensively pressuring all over the floor. He had 14 points.
SF Jordan Williams (Dekalb – 2019)
Williams is a long and lanky 6’4” small forward that high pointed rebounds. Was an excellent three point shooter as he hit four threes along with a pair of mid-range jump shots. Little bit of a long release, but when given space he was consistently hitting them. He had 18 points.