NOE Showcase: Shooters
In Lima, at the Northern Ohio Elite (NOE) Showcase in Lima, there was plenty of spacing on the offensive end, largely because these guys listed below kept the defense honest with their jump shooting.
Caleb Kynard (2018), 6’0” G, Maumee Valley Country Day
What we like about Kynard’s shooting ability is that he prefers the pull-up, while some other guys are only effective as catch-and-shoot options. Kynard often ball fakes, takes one long dribble towards the middle and pulls-up with a quick release. We’ve noticed that Kynard tends to front-rim these attempts, but he did get it going later in the day. By the way, Kynard can shoot it off the catch, he just has an unusual tendency to shoot off the dribble.
Darweshi Hunter (2018), 6’4” G, Cincinnati Princeton
Hunter is a deadeye from way deep. The Phoenix-native shoots it from such a distance at times that the defense isn’t even thinking about contesting the jumper. While Hunter is usually shooting the ball well, he did so especially on Saturday. He also seemed to take a matchup with Justin Ahrens personally, which was fun to watch. During that particular stint, Hunter held his own in multiple ways, including the jumper.
John Garza (2018), 6’3” G, Bryan
Garza is a spot-up shooter. He hit it rather well on Saturday. Once he hit a couple, it opened up other parts of his game — particularly, Garza is good at straight-line drives down the baseline, where’s he’s either laying it in or finding someone in the middle of the paint as he draws a second defender’s attention.
Mark Mayle (2018), 6’7” F, Malvern
See Stock-risers article.
Justin Ahrens (2018), 6’5” W, Versailles
Ahrens may have hit more jumpers than anyone in the NOE Showcase. This wasn’t much a surprise, as he holds offers from the SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, and various others, largely for the shooting ability. He’s taller than pretty much every guard who matched up with him, which allowed Ahrens to pull-up regardless of the defensive look. Also, the shooting ability of Ahrens opened up some of his teammates for wide open looks when the defense paid too much attention to him.
Carter Gray (2020), 6’3” G, Arcanum
Gray had a moment towards the end of the day that had the entire sideline freaking out. On about five straight possessions, Gray was pulling up from the three-point line and dropping them in. During the stretch, he was acting as the primary ball-handler, crossing over his matchup and just knocking home buckets. Currently, Gray’s biggest threat does come three points at a time, but he does show the ability to attack the gap in the defense and finish layups rather athletically.
Mike Bothwell (2018), 6’3” G, Cornerstone Christian
Bothwell has always impressed us with his driving ability and on-ball defense. But if he continues to show the shooting ability we saw Saturday, his recruitment could see a significant jump during his senior season. Bothwell, who was Team D’s point guard for much of the day, was dropping in step-backs triples at an elite rate. Also, Bothwell definitely still drove to the rim consistently, but he finished those with some contested pull-ups that we weren’t used to seeing.
Zeb Jackson (2020), 6’ G, Maumee Valley Country Day
Look, we’ve written this before and we’ll continue writing it: there’s not a player we’ve seen stay in front of Jackson when he’s putting pressure on the defense. His fluidity on crossovers is elite, as he darts side-to-side with long strides. During the high school season, Jackson was either going straight to the basket or dishing out to the wing after those moves. Now, and again on Saturday, Jackson is using that separation to hit pull-ups from around the elbow. When his jumper is going, Jackson puts up points very quickly.
Caleb Kynard (2018), 6’0” G, Maumee Valley Country Day
What we like about Kynard’s shooting ability is that he prefers the pull-up, while some other guys are only effective as catch-and-shoot options. Kynard often ball fakes, takes one long dribble towards the middle and pulls-up with a quick release. We’ve noticed that Kynard tends to front-rim these attempts, but he did get it going later in the day. By the way, Kynard can shoot it off the catch, he just has an unusual tendency to shoot off the dribble.
Darweshi Hunter (2018), 6’4” G, Cincinnati Princeton
Hunter is a deadeye from way deep. The Phoenix-native shoots it from such a distance at times that the defense isn’t even thinking about contesting the jumper. While Hunter is usually shooting the ball well, he did so especially on Saturday. He also seemed to take a matchup with Justin Ahrens personally, which was fun to watch. During that particular stint, Hunter held his own in multiple ways, including the jumper.
John Garza (2018), 6’3” G, Bryan
Garza is a spot-up shooter. He hit it rather well on Saturday. Once he hit a couple, it opened up other parts of his game — particularly, Garza is good at straight-line drives down the baseline, where’s he’s either laying it in or finding someone in the middle of the paint as he draws a second defender’s attention.
Mark Mayle (2018), 6’7” F, Malvern
See Stock-risers article.
Justin Ahrens (2018), 6’5” W, Versailles
Ahrens may have hit more jumpers than anyone in the NOE Showcase. This wasn’t much a surprise, as he holds offers from the SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, and various others, largely for the shooting ability. He’s taller than pretty much every guard who matched up with him, which allowed Ahrens to pull-up regardless of the defensive look. Also, the shooting ability of Ahrens opened up some of his teammates for wide open looks when the defense paid too much attention to him.
Carter Gray (2020), 6’3” G, Arcanum
Gray had a moment towards the end of the day that had the entire sideline freaking out. On about five straight possessions, Gray was pulling up from the three-point line and dropping them in. During the stretch, he was acting as the primary ball-handler, crossing over his matchup and just knocking home buckets. Currently, Gray’s biggest threat does come three points at a time, but he does show the ability to attack the gap in the defense and finish layups rather athletically.
Mike Bothwell (2018), 6’3” G, Cornerstone Christian
Bothwell has always impressed us with his driving ability and on-ball defense. But if he continues to show the shooting ability we saw Saturday, his recruitment could see a significant jump during his senior season. Bothwell, who was Team D’s point guard for much of the day, was dropping in step-backs triples at an elite rate. Also, Bothwell definitely still drove to the rim consistently, but he finished those with some contested pull-ups that we weren’t used to seeing.
Zeb Jackson (2020), 6’ G, Maumee Valley Country Day
Look, we’ve written this before and we’ll continue writing it: there’s not a player we’ve seen stay in front of Jackson when he’s putting pressure on the defense. His fluidity on crossovers is elite, as he darts side-to-side with long strides. During the high school season, Jackson was either going straight to the basket or dishing out to the wing after those moves. Now, and again on Saturday, Jackson is using that separation to hit pull-ups from around the elbow. When his jumper is going, Jackson puts up points very quickly.
