Team Rose: Saturday Standouts

The Team Rose Shootout opened up on Saturday with a full day of action featuring seven games with teams from all around the Chicago area and beyond. Here is our Team Rose: Saturday Standouts!   Paul Zilinskas (Riverside Brookfield – 2020) Continue to be amazed their isn’t more attention for this Riverside Brookfield wing at the D2 level. Zilinskas is a high level shot maker from three with a crisp and clean stroke. He also moves very well without the basketball both on the perimeter looking for a three along with cutting to the basket where he often catches passes for layups. The senior had 17 points.   Josh Holmes (De La Salle – 2020) Holmes is a rangy shooting guard that can play on the ball a little at times too. Mostly known as a jump shooter he displayed a more diverse game to open the day at Team Rose. He scored on several layups showing off his athleticism at the cup. Went for 21 points on the night.   DeAndre Hagan (Brother Rice – 2020) Hagan is a 6’4” small forward that plays bigger than his height with his long arms and tenacity. Plus athlete that is at his best playing above the rim in transition and slashing to the hoop for scores through traffic. Rebounds well for his size using his quickness. Streaky shooter that can hit a three, but also struggled at times. He had 20 points.   Tevin Smith (Danville – 2021) This was probably the player we were most looking forward to seeing on Saturday. Smith suffered a serious knee injury in March and missed all the travel team circuit. He had a heavy brace on his knee, but there was no doubt that he is getting close to full health already. He had a dominant first quarter scoring 15 of his game high 27 points. Smith was on fire from the jump drilling step backs, threes, crashing the glass, and scoring through contact for and-1s. One of his most impressive plays was grabbing a defensive rebound and taking it the full length of the floor for a bucket. Great to see him back and playing like the D1 recruit that he has always been!   Christopher Smith (Rich East – 2020) Smith stands at 6’8” and this power forward was extremely active on both ends of the floor. We were most impressed with his defensive instincts. Excellent shot blocking presence and defensive rebounder with his quick second jump. Offensively he was efficient with his touches around the hoop showing mobility in the paint. He had 12 points to go with numerous rebounds and blocks. Small college gem.   Chris Hodges (Schaumburg – 2021) Hodges continues to impress in our second viewing of the Wisconsin Badgers commit this week. The 6’8” center has become much lighter on his feet which has allowed him to score in more ways. He still plays with a great deal of power inside, but he is starting to put combination moves together with fluidity on the block. Had a nice spin move that he finished with a left handed hook. Multiple up and unders along with a seal for an and-1. Hodges had 17 points and 8 rebounds.   AJ Casey (Tinley Park – 2022) Casey matched up with Hodges in the battle of the top big men in the sophomore and junior classes. Casey more than held his own. What you have to love about this 6’8” four man is his size, frame, and unlimited upside. Extremely projectable and fits today’s game to perfection with how he can handle it facing up, knock down mid-range jumpers, and score on the block with smooth moves. Runs the floor hard in transition. He is a force on the defensive end of the floor as a shot blocker presence. The ones he doesn’t block he alters. Casey had 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 swats.   Christian Shumate (Bloom – 2020) Shumate continues to see his stock soar every single time he hits the hardwood. He came into the season as one of the top uncommitted prospects in the senior class and has established that even more with his play over the last three weeks. Saturday he had it all working again. The 6’5” combo forward is an elite level athlete that throws down huge dunks and is an absolute force on the defensive end blocking shots and grabbing rebounds. Flies in from out of nowhere to make impactful plays. Even hit a corner three. He went for 18 points.   Martice Mitchell (Bloom – 2020) The Minnesota Gophers signee brought the intensity early on for Bloom. The rim running big man did just that throwing down a monster dunk. Also had a quick post move for a score. He was a factor defensively contesting and blocking shots. Finished with 10 points.   Isaiah Barnes (OPRF – 2021) Barnes did it again. He had a pedestrian first half of only four points not looking very involved at all. Then in the third quarter he exploded for a dominant second half performance finishing with 21 points. We have seen OPRF three times this year and the uber talented top 10 junior has done this in all three games. His jump shot was falling down with a feathery touch from all over the floor connecting on three after three along with scoring on silky smooth takes off the bounce.   Justin Cross (OPRF – 2021) Cross is a senior, but has already announced that he will be reclassifying to the 2021 class and attend prep school next year. The long and lanky face up four man has considerable upside with his frame and projectability. Cross was extremely active on both ends of the floor playing with a high energy level high pointing rebounds in traffic, using his length defensively, and hitting shots from 15 feet and in. He went for 14 points.   Matthew Ambrose (Stevenson – 2020) The University of Indianapolis commit is going to be an outstanding player at the D2 level. The high IQ two guard is an elite level sniper that has a quick and easy release along with an understanding of how to find the weak spots in the defense to get clean looks for threes. Ambrose had 16 points.   Ramean Hinton (Curie – 2020) This SEMO commit is now the go to player for Curie and he played like it on Saturday night. The physical and high-motor wing is one of the most intense players out there on both ends of the floor. Strong slasher that finished well on passes in the paint on dump offs and crashing the offensive glass. Knocked down a couple jumpers and often got his offense started with his defense and rebounding. Just wills his team to wins! Hinton had 25 points and 12 rebounds.   Josiah Hammons (Curie – 2020) Hammons absolutely broke out with his play on Saturday night. The 6’2” guard put his name on a lot of small college coaches lists after his performance. He drilled a trio of threes from the corners with a lightning quick release. Look forward to see the continued progress here. Finished with 14 points.   Jakobi Heady (Hillcrest – 2021) Heady is in the PHI 2021 rankings, but without question is WAY too low in them. That was evident after watching his monster performance for Hillcrest on Saturday night. The lengthy combo forward did about everything you would want to see. He is a fluid athlete that got on the offensive glass for put backs. Slashed to the rim for slippery scores at the rim. As the game went on he got more comfortable shooting it drilling multiple from beyond the three point arc. Defensively he impacts with his length blocking shots and getting in passing lanes. Heady recorded 30 points and a ton of buzz on night one at Team Rose!