Ridgewood Shootout Standouts
It was another quality day of hoops in the Chicago land area on Sunday as PrepHoopsIllinois attended the Ridgewood Shootout. We will have extensive scouting on the event later in the week, but let’s start off with our Ridgewood Shootout Standouts!
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.
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.
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.
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.
F Steve Aragones (Joliet West – 2020)
Aragones is a 6’4” forward that we saw early in his career and liked his potential. We didn’t see him much over the last year, but he came off the bench to provide some key production for Joliet West. Face up four man that is slightly undersized. He drilled a corner three as well as a pick/pop one. Quality area rebounder with mobility. Finished with 9 points.
PG Austin Freeman (St. Patrick’s – 2019)
Freeman is a 6’2” combo guard that was slippery through traffic getting to the rim. Was in attack mode throughout the game with his quality ball handling. Decent pull up jump shooter. Active defender as well that used anticipation to pressure the ball. He had 17 points.
SG Enes Prijic (Ridgewood – 2019)
Ridgewood had a tough game against Maine South, but there was a bright spot with this team in their 6’4” shooting guard. Prijic has positional size and can really shoot the ball. Was money on spot up threes throughout their game. He has a clean release with consistent mechanics. Has some athletic pop as well high pointing rebounds and showed he could handle in the open floor. Went for 14 points.
SG Fillip Bulatovic (Maine South – 2019)
Bulatovic is a prospect that we have consistently felt was flying under the radar. He is a strong wing at 6’4” that is also a quality athlete. He is crafty on his drives to the hoop connecting on runners and also got out in transition for some scores. Decent passer as well including a sweet wrap around dime. He had 17 points.
G Essam Hamwi (Maine South – 2019)
Hamwi is a combo guard that can really score it. Opened slow with an air ball, but then went to work for the rest of the game. He drilled multiple threes and scored on creative takes off the dribble. Hamwi also proved he can play some point at the next level with the way he dished the rock. Defensively he got in passing lanes and turned them into scores on the other end. Went for 16 points.