Wooden Shoes Shootout: Evaluations Pt 2

Over the weekend PrepHoopsIllinois attended the 7th Annual Wooden Shoes Shootout. This five game shootout was an excellent evaluation event allowing us to see several prospects we needed to get further looks at along with finding quite a few new players to add to our radar. Here we go in-depth on the prospects we saw in Wooden Shoes Shootout: Evaluations Part 2! C Jaccob Dust (Effingham St. Anthony – 2020) Dust is a 6’6” center who we first noticed with the Illinois Bears last spring. He has since grown a little vertically and slimmed down. Still a big bodied post he is at his best using bully ball inside where he mauled on the offensive glass for multiple put backs. Showed decent footwork after garnering deep post position. Right handed hook and a 12 foot shot were effective. Quality area rebounder. 18 points and 7 boards.   SF Kaden Fearday (Effingham St. Anthony – 2020) Fearday is a sophomore that definitely has some small college potential. The 6’5” small forward has nice size and length. Long and rangy build. Skilled game where he can hit from mid-range. Scored 13 points.   PG Jack Hoene (Effingham St. Anthony – 2020) Junior 6’0” point guard is a crisp passer that made solid decisions with the ball especially early against Danville. Capable shooter. Went for 9 points.   PG Parker Wolfe (Effingham – 2021) Wolfe is one of the best sophomores in southern Illinois. He isn’t the biggest point guard, but man can this kid get buckets! Plus shooter especially off the catch. He nailed seven from beyond the arc in their game Saturday night. Quick and consistent mechanics. Always has his head up looking to find teammates ahead of him on outlet passes in transition. Finished with 34 points on the night.   SF Landon Wolfe (Effingham – 2019) Wolfe is among the top uncommitted small forwards on the board in the 2019 class. His usually reliable jumper wasn’t falling at the rate it usually does so he went to work in the paint. Wolfe is an excellent offensive rebounder from his wing spot. Got a handful of put backs on second change opportunities. Couple powerful spins in the lane for scores and a nice baseline take on his way to an 18 point and 8 rebound outing.   SF Nate Thompson (Effingham – 2021) Thompson definitely has some projectability at 6’4”. The sophomore has good size and length on the perimeter. Did a very nice job on the glass high-pointing them on the defensive end and getting on the offensive glass for scores. He had 6 points.   SG Drew Thompson (Effingham – 2021) Thompson is a 6’1” shooting guard that brings a nice combination of toughness and skill to the table at a young age. Decent rebounder that is a quality passer on the offensive end.   C Cole Marxman (Effingham – 2019) Marxman is a center that stands at 6’8”. He is a plus area rebounder that can also block shots on occasion. Not the most explosive athlete he knows how to use his body inside. He didn’t have the biggest scoring game as he only recorded 3 points, but was an effective rebounder.   PG Cayman Hayes (North Vigo Terre Haute, IN – 2019) This smaller point guard looked like he was about to go off as he dropped 14 points in the first quarter nailing threes, mid-range pull ups, and getting loose in transition. Creative scorer that is constantly moving! Effingham focused their D on him the last three quarters, but he still managed 23 points for the game.   G Dawson Smith (Teutopolis – 2019) It wasn’t a spectacular night for this 6’4” combo guard, but there is so much to like here. Excellent size for position being able to see over the defense. He is an outstanding facilitator in the half court finding teammates. Feel for hitting cutters, shooters, or his big man. Can invert the offense posting up in the high/low as well. Strength off the bounce. He had 11 points.   PF Clint Weber (Teutopolis – 2019) Weber is a big man that will make a nice debut in the final 2019 rankings after we have seen him multiple times late in the season. Lefty 6’7” post that is a power player down low. Excellent passer from his post spot and understands angles down low. Runs the floor well and flushed an alley-oop. Tough post defender. Struggled shooting free throws. He went for 12 points.   SG Evan Wermert (Teutopolis – 2021) Sophomore 6’2” shooting guard drained a wing three, got loose in transition for a layup, and had a sweet dime off a steal. Finished with 5 points.   SG Pryce Punkay (Champaign Central – 2020) Coach Finke told us that Punkay had been on a roll. He continued that against T-Town as the 6’2” shooting guard proved to be an excellent perimeter sniper as he knocked down six from beyond the arc mostly off the catch. Moves very well to get open and relocates if he doesn’t get the space he needs. Good length and strength. Punkay had 19 points in a win.   SF Khailieo Terry (Champaign Central – 2021) Terry is one of the toughest evals in the sophomore class. He is an absolute freak show athlete! That was seen on a one handed poster dunk in transition. There is no denying he is one of the best pure athletes playing basketball in the state. The skill level has to catch up now. Listed at 6’3” I don’t think he is going to grow much more which means the perimeter skills have to come along. He was quiet in the first half not recording a point, but in the second was effective making plays for his team. Opened with a shot fake and baseline drive. Then had a couple quick finishes on post ups in the paint. Late he got out in transition for several scores. Potential to be an above average defender switching onto multiple positions. Didn’t take a single jump shot. He had 14 points.   PG Jalen Booker (Champaign Central – 2019) Booker is a tough and thick bodied point guard that is powerful with the ball driving downhill. Struggled a bit versus pressure on his way to 4 points.   SG Gus Rossow (Champaign Central – 2019) Rossow is another shooting specialist on this team. The 6’0” two guard knocked down three triples off the catch for 9 points.   SG Sam Beasley (Champaign Central – 2019) Beasley only scored 2 points, but flashed potential. Long and lanky build at 6’4” with some athletic pop.