The 2017 Ohio Grassroots Team Rankings: 15U
To wrap up our coverage of the 2017 grassroots season, it’s time for our final official Team Rankings. The 15U Rankings will remain accessible underneath the Grassroots tab at the top of the Prep Hoops Ohio homepage. This article will simply explain our thinking behind them.
First of all, these are Team Rankings and rosters have changed on a weekly basis, as players jump from team. So, these rankings are more so based on records/championships, rather than talent alone. Talent is still considered though! In some situations, it’s the reason one team with comparable results is ranked higher than another.
Also, these final rankings do factor in team performance from the spring. Some teams made huge leaps in July, but it’s impossible to jump from unranked to #1, if their spring wasn’t impressive.
The 15U Top Ten
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Mid Ohio Pumas Elite 2020
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Ohio Basketball Club
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All Ohio Red
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C2K Elite
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Rebels
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HWB/OBC
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All Ohio Gold
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All Ohio Elite
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VCC-NOVA (Alleyne)
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SMAC Primetime
Tier 1: 1-4
This group of Mid Ohio Pumas Elite 2020, OBC, All Ohio Red, and C2K, is tough to separate. We wrote after the spring rankings that “these teams can switch on a weekly basis in July.” It’s still that close.
The Pumas finish at #1 because they lost two games in the entire month, one of which was avenged by 28 points the following weekend against Indiana Elite Central. Also in July, they made it equally as far or farther into Sunday than any other Ohio team in the top 15U bracket at Indy and Louisville.
OBC leap-frogged from #4 to #2 mainly because they went 5-1 at the adidas Summer Championships last weekend in Vegas. Their semifinal appearance in the Championship bracket last weekend is definitely one of the most impressive weekends any team in the rankings had all season. However, their early exits in Louisville (where they played in the 2nd 16U Division) and Indianapolis kept them out of #1.
Chemistry is also a factor. The ball moves fluidly around the floor for the Pumas and OBC.
All Ohio Red and C2K have proven that they can play with any of the two teams above. Red had strong performances at the Peach Invitational and in Orlando, yet was bounced by (unranked) TNBA South in Columbus. C2K’s 15U group was hot (4-1 in Atlanta for UAA Finals) and cold (2-3 in Grand Rapids) in July, but their ceiling is way too high to drop out of the top tier.
Tier 2: 5-8
The second tier speaks to the strength of Ohio’s 2020 class. Although we’ve separated this group from the top, some of Ohio’s top talent is within this group and these teams can beat the top squads on any given weekend.
The Rebels didn’t play against their counterparts from the Buckeye State in July, instead going to Orlando and Memphis for AAU Nationals. They brought the hardware home from Orlando by winning the 16U Division II National Championship.
HWB/OBC has prospects who will likely make their way into the adidas Gauntlet before their careers are over. The amount of athletic size on this team, some of which comes from the 2021 class, led them to a 10-3 record in July. In Vegas at the adidas Summer Championships, HWB/OBC was the runner-up in the Silver bracket. Also, they were the Consolation Champions byway of a 5-1 weekend in Louisville.
All Ohio Gold made a two spot leap this July after going 11-1 during the month. In Louisville, they beat everyone in their way in the 15U Gold, by posting a 6-0 record. All Ohio Elite also played well in July, winning the Nike Summer Championship in Columbus by going 5-0. All Ohio Elite could’ve jumped into Tier 1 if they would’ve played better in the Peach Invitational.
Tier 3: 9 and down
NOVA’s consistency throughout the entire grassroots season is awarded with the #9 spot here. They come in slightly ahead of SMAC Primetime, because NOVA won their head-to-head matchup last weekend in Fort Wayne. SMAC has a strong argument to be higher on the list though, because they went to the quarterfinals in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis this month.
Although this is a Top Ten list, we consider Mid Ohio Pumas Black and Silver, ISG-Hidden Gems, and Shining Star (Price), to be in Tier 3. All were considered heavily for the final two spots of the Top Ten, and are distinguished above the other unranked Ohio 15U teams.