Fresh Faces from the Trine Shootout

Trine University hosted an excellent and efficient one day shootout. The Grand Rapids Storm defeated Oakland Elite to take home the trophy. While some well known highly ranked players ([player_tooltip player_id="611404" first="Kobe" last="Bufkin"] [player_tooltip player_id="985658" first="RJ" last="Taylor"] etc) came down and lived up to the hype, some new faces had good performances and jumped on my radar for the first time. [player_tooltip player_id="814681" first="Matt" last="Wisniewski"] 6-5 2021 Linden While not necessarily new to my radar as I have seen Oakland Elite play many times, Wisniewski had a very strong day. Oakland Elite’s path to the championship game featured old school grind-it-out wins. Those types of wins require an old school grind-it-out post and this young man fits the bill. Wisniewski hit the boards hard accumulating multiple second chance points. Not just a banger he also displayed a soft touch from the perimeter. Even hit a timely three in the championship game. Sturdy build is projectable to the next level. Plays very well in the high post and pick-and-roll opportunities. Aided by the fact that this was not his first rodeo with guard [player_tooltip player_id="811100" first="Blake" last="Lund"]. Lucas Doty 6-3 2021 South Lyon Highly athletic lead guard prospect. Equally adept at going to both the left and right. So much that I couldn’t quite tell what his dominant hand was. It became readily apparent when he got into the open court and finished with dunk. You don’t often see backcourt prospects this unheralded with such a mix of athleticism and size. Perimeter shooting appeared to be one area of improvement. Playing with the North Oakland Wolfpack which has produced some excellent point guards recently ([player_tooltip player_id="811108" first="Bennie" last="Crenshaw"]-Ferris St) Doty who averaged 11.5 points per game last season could continue this tradition with a big senior campaign. [player_tooltip player_id="864003" first="Bryce" last="Esman"] 6-6 2021 Oxford While Doty caught my eye on the perimeter, the guy getting after it down low was equally impressive. Similar to Wisniewski, this young man is not going to blow you away his athleticism, but there is a lot to work with. Uses his large frame to establish good deep position. The post moves over the right shoulder looked good, they just weren’t falling. Don’t know if this was a one day thing or if he needs to refine his touch. Keeps the ball high in the post and moved well off the ball which you don’t usually see in a young big. Struck me as highly competitive and played with a bit of a mean streak. Normally not crazy about that. But coming off a months long layoff I was happy to see that he came to play. Not really a nice way to say it, but his squad struggled on the day. He was still competing at the end of some lopsided games. [player_tooltip player_id="814593" first="Kaleb" last="Mitchelson"] 6-0 2021 Muskegon Reeths Puffer Not a player that wows you in warm ups, but when the lights come on quickly shows that he belongs. Good ball handler who excels at finding teammates when he gets deep in the lane. However avoids the trap of over penetrating and always has an out. Good shooter with a quick release who doesn’t need much space. Plays like a player who has been around the game a long time. With [player_tooltip player_id="789747" first="Emcee" last="Williams"] moving onto Adrian College should shoulder the load fully for the Rockets. Spencer Willman 6-2 2021 Flushing While regular season teammate [player_tooltip player_id="814676" first="Reed" last="Schilling"] was advancing to the championship game with Oakland Elite, this young man was making noise on the other side of the bracket with Voltage Elite. Highly athletic two guard who explodes to the rim. Showed rapid acceleration in dribble handoffs and went hard to the basket. Continued to utilize athleticism showing good elevation on his jump shot. Seemed to be most comfortable in the mid range as I did not see him extend his range on this particular day. Averaged 10.5 points per game last year and that could increase with [player_tooltip player_id="789805" first="Landen" last="Moore"] at Alma next year. Definitely a player to keep an eye on. Another player who deserves special mention but has been on everyone’s radar was [player_tooltip player_id="811128" first="Ethan" last="Erickson"]. The Ferris State commit teamed with [player_tooltip player_id="611404" first="Kobe" last="Bufkin"] to put on an absolute show with the Grand Rapids Storm. With [player_tooltip player_id="531740" first="Jimmy" last="Scholler"] already in the fold it would be something if Coach Andy Bronkema can build a championship backcourt by mining one school district. Erikson made that look possible with his standout play on Thursday.