Ohio 2024 Summer Basketball Recap
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With the end of the grassroots season, it’s time to look back and reflect on the busy past few months that we’ve seen in the Ohio basketball scene. In this article we’ll get you up to speed on what you…
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Continue ReadingWith the end of the grassroots season, it’s time to look back and reflect on the busy past few months that we’ve seen in the Ohio basketball scene. In this article we’ll get you up to speed on what you need to know.
High major priorities
Four prospects have established themselves as high major priorities, Tyler McKinley Tyler McKinley 6'9" | PF Winton Woods | 2024 State #78 Nation OH , Raleigh Burgess Raleigh Burgess 6'10" | C Sycamore | 2024 State #130 Nation OH , Jonathan Powell Jonathan Powell 6'5" | SG Centerville | 2024 State #164 Nation OH and Jesse McCulloch Jesse McCulloch 6'9" | PF Lutheran East | 2024 State #136 Nation OH . McKinley has been the top ranked prospect since our initial rankings came out for this class and has offers from Cincinnati, South Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia, Kansas State, Ohio State, Dayton and Penn State. McKinley had a great spring for All Ohio Red 16 U, then spent most of June at Team USA tryouts and July playing up on All Ohio Red 17 U at the peach jam. Our second ranked prospect Raleigh Burgess Raleigh Burgess 6'10" | C Sycamore | 2024 State #130 Nation OH has raked in the offers this summer! After being a bit of an unknown to those outside of Ohio, Burgess exploded onto the scene with Indiana Elite 16 U. Burgess and his Indiana Elite 16 U squad won the 3SSB championship and in the process, Burgess picked up offers from Ole Miss, Cincinnati, Indiana, Wake Forest, College of Charleston, Ohio, Iowa, Dayton, Purdue, Xavier, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech and Clemson. Jonathan Powell Jonathan Powell 6'5" | SG Centerville | 2024 State #164 Nation OH made a major rise this spring, going off for 40+ points against Burgess’ Indiana Elite squad, handing them one of their two losses all year. Powell then made the jump to 17 U for Wildcats Select where he continued to shine. Powell has offers from Dayton, Illinois, Indiana, Cincinnati, Texas A&M, Xavier, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Ohio and Alabama. Finally, Jesse McCulloch Jesse McCulloch 6'9" | PF Lutheran East | 2024 State #136 Nation OH is the most recent prospect from Ohio to establish himself on a high major level recruitment wise. McCulloch completely transformed his body in the past 12 months, and this has helped him gain offers from Kent State, Akron, Cleveland State, Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Michigan State, Butler, Xavier, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin.
Depth of Mid-Major talent
Ohio’s 2024 class is impressive at the top, but a lot of prospects are also attracting interest at the mid-major level. Prospects who have earned offers from a mid-major program include Colin White Colin White 6'5" | SG Ottawa Glandorf | 2024 State #156 Nation OH , Jacob Theodosiou Jacob Theodosiou 6'4" | PG Western Reserve Academy | 2024 #146 Nation OH , Calvin Little Calvin Little 6'2" | PG Garfield Heights | 2024 State OH , Mason Shrout Mason Shrout 6'4" | SF Preble Shawnee | 2024 State OH , Luke Skaljac Luke Skaljac 6'2" | PG Brecksville-Broadview Hts | 2024 State #162 Nation OH , AJ McBride AJ McBride 6'5" | SF Moeller | 2024 State OH , Alex Bruskotter Alex Bruskotter 6'7" | PF Shelby | 2024 State #316 Nation OH , Jonas Nichols Jonas Nichols 6'3" | SG Hoban | 2024 State OH , Ace Buckner Ace Buckner 6'1" | PG La Lumiere | 2024 #195 Nation IN , Carter Jackson Carter Jackson 6'2" | SG Garfield Heights | 2024 State OH and Jackson Washington. It wouldn’t be surprising to see some of these prospects elevate to high major status and I expect this list to grow soon with a couple notable prospects still waiting on their first offer.
Prospects playing up
I’m always impressed when a prospect takes on the challenge of playing up an age group and Ohio’s 2024 class had some notable players get experience at the 17 U level. Tyler McKinley Tyler McKinley 6'9" | PF Winton Woods | 2024 State #78 Nation OH played at the Peach Jam with All Ohio Red 17 U. Jonathan Powell Jonathan Powell 6'5" | SG Centerville | 2024 State #164 Nation OH got moved from Wildcats Select 16 U to 17 U for the July live periods. Jacob Theodosiou Jacob Theodosiou 6'4" | PG Western Reserve Academy | 2024 #146 Nation OH was playing 17 U during the second July Live period with Wildcats Select and Luke Skaljac Luke Skaljac 6'2" | PG Brecksville-Broadview Hts | 2024 State #162 Nation OH played the entire spring and summer with TNBA ‘ last=”]’ last=”]-Ohio’s 17 U squad.
Independent squads find success
Before we discuss independent squads, this article wouldn’t be complete without mentioning both the Mid Ohio Pumas and OBC who are on the Adidas Gold circuit, but the Pumas qualified for the 3SSB finals with another impressive spring. Wing Jesse Burris Jesse Burris 6'4" | SF Delaware Hayes | 2024 State #297 Nation OH is the highest ranked prospect in Ohio’s 2024 class still waiting on a Division I offer. OBC 16 U is headlined by star point guard Ace Buckner Ace Buckner 6'1" | PG La Lumiere | 2024 #195 Nation IN and wing guard Duncan Moy Duncan Moy 6'4" | SG Joseph Badger | 2024 State OH , who could be the biggest sleeper in the state. One of the most notable independent squads is Ohio Buckets -Garcia with a nice mix of Ohio and Indiana talent at the top including Colin White Colin White 6'5" | SG Ottawa Glandorf | 2024 State #156 Nation OH , Alex Bruskotter Alex Bruskotter 6'7" | PF Shelby | 2024 State #316 Nation OH , Tucker Day and Jackson Pardon. Nova Village-Turner has some scholarship talent with Juwan Turner Juwan Turner 5'10" | PG Pickerington Central | 2024 State OH , Derek Goodman Derek Goodman 6'4" | SG Olentangy Berlin | 2024 State OH , Na’Varion Adams Na’Varion Adams 6'5" | C Westerville North | 2024 State OH and Braylin Wells Braylin Wells 6'7" | C Pickerington Central | 2024 State OH . Team Clutch-Kovach had some impressive wins including the All Ohio Super 16 championship. Hayden Nigro will make a splash in the updated rankings. Mac Basketball Izzy 16 U was another squad that impressed me, combo guard Jayson Levis Jayson Levis 6'1" | CG Lutheran West | 2024 State OH is another prospect who will debut during the next rankings update. Finally, the Ohio Rebels 16 U squad won the AAU national championship down in Florida. Their notable 2024 prospects include Hosea Steele Hosea Steele 6'4" | SF Richmond Heights | 2024 State OH , Deandre Jones Deandre Jones 6'8" | PF Garfield Heights | 2024 State #266 Nation OH and Kenyon Giles Kenyon Giles 6'0" | CG Maple Heights | 2024 State OH . Plenty of other squads impressed including Dayton Elite 16 U, NW Ohio 16 U, Hopson Elite 16 U, Marshall Warriors 16 U, the list goes on and on, but I wanted to highlight these specific squads.