Jammin July Showcase – Showing That Potential
The Jammin in July Showcase was full of talent. Here are seven players that grabbed our attention with their potential for the future. [player_tooltip player_id="890462" first="Ajantae" last="Hogan"] Ajantae Hogan Ajantae Hogan 6'5" | CG Lincoln Southeast | 2021 State NE…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe Jammin in July Showcase was full of talent. Here are seven players that grabbed our attention with their potential for the future.
Ajantae Hogan Ajantae Hogan 6'5" | CG Lincoln Southeast | 2021 State NE of Team Factory (6’4, Lincoln Southwest, 2021, SG). Hogan is dealing with an injury but often times you wouldn’t know it when he made the decision to go hard right exploding by often helpless defenders. Really good bounce when attacking the rim and solid bounce lifting into his jumper. Long arms, has really big hands allowing him to control the ball in ways that others can not, and was often one of the main options his team looked to for points. This winter Hogan averaged 19 points and six boards a game making nearly half of his field goal attempts as a guard.
Joe Hurlburt Joe Hurlburt 6'10" | PF Enderlin | 2022 State #147 Nation MN of D1 Minnesota 16U (6’10, Enderlin, 2022, PF/C). I don’t think Joe got a full chance to show everybody what he could do last weekend because a game and half into this event he hurt his foot. However, the skill that has so many college programs and college scouts drooling, was still there for all to see. First off all Joe has range to the arc. His jumper is clean and he will always be defended by players with size who are going to have difficulty closing out to the arc so it’s the type of high percentage weapon that will be too tough to defend possession to possession. The next thing is Hurlburt’s comfort running the floor. Guys his size rarely have the ability to both run the floor AND fluidly have the skill to make plays on the move going at the rim. Joe not only does this with comfort, he does it in a way that makes you think he is going to be a top 50 player in his class. At a minimum. Next up is his ability to use his right and his left both handling and finishing around the rim. Joe has a great comfort to do both. Then the ball screen. Joe has a massive frame to clear the defender on the ball, and then when he moves off the ball into space Joe is a danger if he floats to the arc or goes at the rim (as we clearly defined how comfortable he is catching and making a play on the move).
Hayden Muirhead Hayden Muirhead 6'7" | PF SF O'Gorman | 2021 State SD of South Dakota Network (6’6, Sioux Falls O’Gorman, 2021, PF). We’ve talked about Hayden a lot lately at Prep Hoops but we need to talk about him once more because that is how much of an impression he made. It’s been a long time since I saw a player attack the rim from a baseline drive like Hayden did. He seemed like that 8th grader that for the first time saw a hoop he could dunk on so he just went at the thing with a happy face, only this was a 17u player on a ten foot hoops trying to break the rim and break the will of his opponents. I simply loved the way that this power forward aggressively went after every board, and attacked every field goal attempt with such aggression and determination. College coaches need to look him up now.
Joshua Ola-Joseph Joshua Ola-Joseph 6'6" | SF Osseo | 2022 State #166 Nation MN of D1 Minnesota 16U (6’5, Osseo, 2022, SF). The best way to describe Joshua Ola-Joseph Joshua Ola-Joseph 6'6" | SF Osseo | 2022 State #166 Nation MN to a person that has never seen him play is to say… think back to Rodney Williams with that two foot explosive bounce and long arms, and then subtract four inches off the height and whatever length, and that is Josh. And as you would expect after hearing that comparison, Ola-Joseph exploded on rims for finishes down in Ames. Josh led Osseo in scoring last season taking a big step in terms of how to move around the court using his agility to get him open, and his skills are starting to take a step forward as well.
Lincoln Palbicki Lincoln Palbicki 6'10" | C Maple Grove | 2023 State MN of Howard Pulley 15u (6’10, Maple Grove, 2023, C). When you watch a young big on the spring/summer circuit it can not be about stats because young players don’t understand how to use bigs and they have a hard time getting the ball to them as well. So what you look for is how they get up and down the floor. Do they naturally glide with long strides and/or do they bust tail up and down regularly. Lincoln certainly busts tail. Then you watch how they fight on the block even though the ball rarely comes there way and Lincoln does a great job getting position. Finally you keep an eye on their hands and their effort to board, and Lincoln has solid hands and goes after every board. Great first 15u impression.
Daniel Tobiloba Daniel Tobiloba 7'0" | C Grand View Christian | 2023 State IA of All Iowa Attack 16U (6’10, Grand View Christian, 2023, C). Know this name. Daniel has physical gifts that will put him at the high major level eventually. Daniel is at a minimum 6-foot-10 and he runs like a purely natural athlete. Daniel is quick off his feet to board, dunk, and contest shots and his ability to drop his hips to run, drop his hips to turn, it’s so natural. Tobiloba is still getting comfortable to the speed of playing with nine other talented players and his understanding of the game still has a bit to go but I’ve been impressed seeing him play over two different weekends. The natural gifts there are very rare.
Isaac Traudt Isaac Traudt 6'9" | SF Grand Island | 2022 State #45 Nation NE of Lincoln Supreme (6’8, Grand Island, 2022, SF/PF). Creighton, Kansas State, and Nebraska have offered from the high level of college basketball. Traudt is a long athlete with the ability to use the dribble to score, to use his size around the rim to score, and of course use that beautiful scoring touch to finish plays. Isaac has such good size and skill that he could extend defenses at the three, or the four if he keeps growing. Such a quick release that you better be a perfectly positioned defender and have some size if you are going to contest his shot.