Northern Ohio Elite Showcase: Early Sign-ups (Part 2)
It’s the final week for 2018-2020 prospects to Before the final rush of registrations in these coming days, we’re starting off our preview coverage by looking at some of the top early commitments.
In alphabetical order, here are a few of the top prospects you can catch in action on July 8 at Lima Senior. In this preview, we’re highlighting these prospects’ best skills and the parts of their games that we’re looking to see progress on at the Showcase.
Shemar Morton (2018), 6’1” G, Dover / Ohio Unity
Morton specializes as a finisher around the rim. His body control when dealing with mid-air contact is a useful tool for someone of his size. We’re impressed with his aggressiveness and lack of fear when rising against much taller opponents. However, we’ll be looking closely to see if Morton brings out a mid-range or three-point pull-up to the Showcase, as it will only become more difficult to rise with bigs at the college level.
BJ Patrick (2018), 6’2” G, Mansfield Senior / Ohio Warrior Pro Bound
Patrick is the primary scorer during June and the winter months for his high school club. That’s why his role this spring, where he saw much time as a point guard, grabbed our attention so much. Patrick is always a threat to shoot the triple, but his court-vision and awareness is jumping off the page lately. We’re hoping to see him take control of a unit on July 8th while continuing to show the ability to guard opposing primary ball-handlers.
Jake Plantz (2019), 6’4” G/W, Genoa / All Ohio Gold
Plantz is a firm 6’4” who has the looks of a tweener prospect. Yet, he’s truly a guard who provides defensive flexibility because he can body up with forwards on the block. While we’d like to see more elusive ball-handling ability out of Plantz, he’s already making defenses pay when they play off and allow him to shoot the trey. The Genoa star athlete also uses his size and athleticism to finish around the rim. Plantz is definitely a candidate to surprise some colleges at the Showcase.
Dante’ Wheeler (2020), 6’4” W/F, Elida / Northwest Ohio Basketball Club
At the Dru Joyce Classic in Akron, Wheeler had a break-out weekend and placed himself on the Prep Hoops radar in a major way. Wheeler knows how to play, and can fill a number of roles because of it. First of all, his jumper is consistent from beyond the arch. Also, this stretch-four type prospect finishes with either hand, but will often take guys off the dribble before getting inside to do so. We’d simply like to see Wheeler attack the rim with a bit more urgency and explosiveness going forward.
Jaiden Woodley (2018), 6’6” F, Maumee Valley / Hidden Gems-ISG
The student-athlete from Maumee Valley is an ever-developing prospect who showed some added off-the-dribble scoring ability just last week at summer league. Woodley causes havoc defensively around the rim as a shot-blocker and rebounder. Woodley’s recruitment could be boosted if he shows consistency with his mid-range jumper. Regardless, Woodley is a late-bloomer recruit who could potentially be molded into a valuable piece by a collegiate coaching staff.