Fresh Faces from the Trine Shootout Take 2

<p>The first one day shootout went so well, Trine University decided take advantage of teams heading south for the weekend and hold another one. Last Thursday, Michigan commit [player_tooltip player_id="611404" first="Kobe" last="Bufkin"] came down and put on a show. This time around uber 2022 recruit [player_tooltip player_id="787618" first="Ty" last="Rodgers"] did the honors. Below are five other players who are not in that category but opened my eyes. Some for the very first time.</p> <p><b>DJ Wood 6-7 2021 Kalamazoo Loy Norrix </b>Got off to a slow start but I was impressed with how he bounced back against what was an extremely formidable front court in the Minor Threat squad (Rodgers, [player_tooltip player_id="985665" first="Xavier" last="Thomas"] etc) Solid sturdy frame with broad shoulders. Not the most fluid athlete but I wouldn’t call him ground bound or immobile. A little mechanical but made some plays in the open court and transition. Much better down on the low block. Good footwork and goes well over his left shoulder. Contested well without fouling. Had multiple blocked shots in Trine. I was not able to catch Camp Darryl in Fort Wayne, but was told that he continued showing improvement this weekend as well. </p> <p><b>[player_tooltip player_id="814616" first="Kipras" last="Blazevicius"] 6-5 2021 West Bloomfield </b>Going to cheat a little here and merge two Thursdays together. Blazevicius played well two straight weekends in Trine. Having seen him a lot, what impressed me most recently was his competitiveness. Oakland Elite was seemingly in nail biters all summer. In crunch time Blazevicius did not shrink from the moment. He wanted to take the shot, he wanted to defend aggressively. Now that is not to imply he is some kind of overachieving “scrapper”. Has length, athleticism to defend multiple positions, and a nice perimeter touch. Appeared to be most comfortable driving the baseline which is not the most common sweet spot. Extremely active on the grassroots and showcase scenes and plays at a large school. So he has a lot of big time basketball under his belt.  </p> <p><b>[player_tooltip player_id="969512" first="Kyle" last="Hamlin"] 6-1 2021 Hartland </b>Got off to real slow start as did his team Voltage Elite. However once he got going, almost led a huge comeback against Team Toledo. Said comeback featured some absolute bombs that were well beyond the college three point line. Not just a shooter. Has a good enough handle to get where he wants on the court, but not a true point guard at this point in development. Biggest strength is a trigger quick release and deep range. I wouldn’t call him a spot up shooter as he seemed to do best coming off screens or pulling up on the break. If he has a big senior season playing in what is a very deep region for talent, he could catch some small college attention.</p> <p><b>Isaiah Moore 6-4 2021 Three Rivers </b>Not going to pass the initial eye test but the more you watch you see a lot of things to like. For starters he big guy with an extremely soft touch. If he shows the strength to keep small college bigs out of the paint, while conversely forcing them to extend defensively on the other end that is a rare skill. Also was not intimidated by the blue bloods on Minor Threat. Seemed to relish the challenge and was not afraid of contact. Went hard to hole with varying levels of success. If he can sustain that motor against players his level, he could have a big senior season. </p> <p><b>Jonathan Blackwell 6-1 2023 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice </b>As the 13th ranked player in our 2023 rankings this is not necessarily a “fresh” face. But he is very young and I was not able to make a Novi Christian game last season. Was able to standout on what was an absolutely loaded Minor Threat roster. The makeup of that roster is what made Thursday’s performance impressive. On a team of multiple major college recruits Blackwell picked his spots well and showed that he belonged. Already possessing excellent size for a backcourt prospect the next step is deciding what he wants to be. Does he want become the steady floor general Brother Rice needs, or keep developing into a dynamic two guard? Nice problem to have wouldn’t you say? Already plays with good court awareness and looked for his teammates on Thursday. Accordingly I would split the difference and lean towards a large intelligent lead guard. Stepping up in competition and exposure with Brother Rice, so this is a big year for Blackwell. <br /> <br /> </p> <p><b>Coming Soon: Brawl for the Ball Coverage </b></p>