Notebook: College Team Camp Pt. 2
This past week we spent a ton of time on college campuses checking out some of the top teams in the state. With respect due to the colleges, we won’t say where we were at specifically but we will discuss what we saw. Here is our notebook from the past week. We have broken it up into two parts.
- Pike Central – Watching Pike Central last week we got to see just how good Bryant Nalley is. He’s got a bit more versatility now and that will be put to the test. Pike didn’t have too many options returning from last year’s team. Losing Wornica and Elliott from last year’s group really hurts. They should still win a ton of games with their schedule but just not sure who will step up to help.
- Franklin Community – This group has been in development for a couple years now. They haven’t had a ton of upperclassmen that have dominated but their freshman and sophomore classes are loaded with starters for them. Their top two scorers were sophomores last year so that boades well for them to have a really good year again this season. Can they take guys like Cory Richards and Reece Thomson and lead this group against some of their Indianapolis area competition? That is the question but Richards looks a bit more polished and Thomson can handle the point for them along with Blaine Wentzell. Drew Byerly should provide some help inside as well.
- Southport – Southport was in a state of rebuilding last year. That will be the same this year as most of their talent are underclassmen. Brevin Jefferson will take the reigns of this group alongside Chaz Hinds and Brian Miller. They will have to see if any of these guys can take over the bulk of scoring against the big Indianapolis teams as all have shown spurts of scoring ability but that would be a whole other level of scoring.
- Evansville Bosse – While Bosse loses Jaidon Hunter and Javien Langley, they should still be one of the top teams in the state again this year. Mekhi Lairy, Jaylin Chinn, and Jaylen Minor make up a really good backcourt. Lairy looks like the leader he needs to be and if Minor can add in a bit more offense this year, this backcourt could be lead this team a long ways. They also should get more out of freshman talent Kiyron Powell. Powell wasn’t too impactful last year but when we saw him this summer he’s been able to be more assertive and involved on both ends of the floor. He, at 6’8, could be a difference maker.
- New Palestine – New Palestine was one of the more improved teams we saw this summer. Like Franklin, their talent is all with their underclassmen. Dylan Romine, Max Gizzi, and Matt True all had good years last season. Now, they should be expected to contend a bit more. They actually have a bit more size with Hausz and True as inside-out threats and Romine as a tall shooter on the wing. I really liked this team when I watched and walked away thinking they could score the ball better than you would think. Some upside here.
- Mississinewa – Mississinewa had a pretty good season in 2016-17 winning 16 games. Now, they will bring back their top two scorers in Jerod May and Thabit Gault. May looked really good when we watched. A little strong, a little more aggressive, and tons of confidence. Gault should provide a good inside threat who can really rebound the ball well. Wasn’t seeing another guy right then who could step up and be a third scoring threat but they had a few candidates. This team has more size than you would think as well.
- Greencastle – Last year, Greencastle really struggled as they lost a good chunk of their scoring. Now, they will look to rebound as they are rebuilding in a different way. Colin York showed he can be a more balanced scoring threat with the ball in his hands. Also, the sophomore forward duo of Gavin Bollman and Trey Wood solid when we watched. They both have legit size and enough weight to throw around and potentially could really help in the rebounding department. If they can get those big men to be impact guys, they could flip around their 8-15 record this season.