Preseason Prospect Preview: The Prairie School

In this short series, I’ll be previewing some of the deeper teams in the southeast corner of the state by giving a breakdown on some of their prospects with the potential to play at the next level. We’ll start off with The Prairie School out of Racine, Wisconsin, who will be one of the state contenders at the Division 4 level. [player_tooltip player_id="879983" first="Antuan" last="Nesbitt"] (6’4 2021 W)- One of the most versatile players in the 2021 class, Antuan has been stuffing the box score for Prairie since his sophomore season. At around 6’4 with long arms, he has the size to play the 1-3 at the high school level, and his athleticism adds to his ability to guard all of those spots. He’s an explosive finisher who can leap off one or two feet to finish, has an underrated outside shot (46% on 46 attempts last year), and gets to the rim both in transition or off the dribble in a half court set. Antuan is able to play as a lead guard for his team and does a good job of setting up his teammates to score, or can also play off the ball as a scoring wing. Add in his aggressive rebounding and you have a player who finished top-4 in his conference in scoring, assists, and rebounds last season. [player_tooltip player_id="981021" first="Ashe" last="Oglesby"] (6’6 2023 F)- As a freshman it took Ashe a while to get acclimated to the varsity level, but towards the end of the season he really started to excel at the forward spot. This summer he’s really worked on his body and athleticism, and looks like a prospect who could play the 3 at the next level, but will likely play in the post for Prairie for now. He’s a fantastic finisher with either hand around the rim, has the strength and footwork to score from the block, and also shot 42% from 3P on 48 attempts last season. I really like his ability to handle the ball for a player his size as well. Ashe had a streak of four straight games with 22+ points as a freshman, and although he won’t be relied upon to put up those type of numbers every game, he’s capable of being a go-to scorer at times. [player_tooltip player_id="1041724" first="Asanjai" last="Hunter"] (5’11 2022 PG)- Prairie’s third leading scorer last season at 10.4 ppg, Asanjai is a solid point guard in the 2022 class. He can score a little but also handle the rock and facilitate the offense to get his teammates involved. Asanjai is a super quick guard capable of locking up on the defensive end, sitting low in a stance and pressuring the ball while moving his feet. He also averaged an impressive 4.1 rpg for a player his size. Really liked what I’ve seen out of him in some open run settings this fall. [player_tooltip player_id="938202" first="Kody" last="Krekling"] (6’3 2021 W)- [player_tooltip player_id="938202" first="Kody" last="Krekling"] comes from a family of varsity basketball players who have contributed at Prairie, and he really came into his own last season as a 3-and-D guy. With averages of 9.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists, he was a bit of a do-it-all player as a junior. He has a strong frame, some bounce off of two feet, a smooth stroke from three, and a high defensive IQ. I had the chance to watch him in a few games over the summer and he was the player that teams constantly needed to be aware of because his off ball movement led to many open looks from three. Defensively he was always in good position, and seemed to take at least one charge every game I saw. [player_tooltip player_id="1072738" first="KJ" last="Williams"] (5’8 2021 PG)- KJ has been flying under the radar for a while, but has continued to impress in camp settings. As a senior he could see his role increase however, as he looks to improve upon his 4.4 points and 2.3 assists from last winter. KJ is an extremely shifty ball handler able to blow by his man to get into the lane, or create space on the perimeter to get off a jumper. He hit the three at 39% last season, and has the vision to pick out the open man once he draws in a help defender. Jacob Fallico (5’10 2021 G)- Jacob excelled in his role as Prairie’s shooter last season, and ended up averaging 9.4 ppg and knocking down 45 threes on the season. He’s a quick player who moves well off the ball and can come off screens and fire off threes with a quick release. Jacob adds in deep range which forces defenders to step out and defend him beyond the arc. Kaleb Shannon (5’11 2023 G)- Kaleb didn’t see the floor much at the varsity level last season as a freshman, but showed some flashes of being a nice slasher on the wing. He has some solid athleticism, and is a tough finisher around the rim in transition and in the half-court. Should see his role increase as a sophomore. Malcolm Moses (6’ 2021 G)- Haven’t gotten to see too much of Malcolm as he didn’t see much time at the varsity level last year, but he’s been working hard in the offseason and has had some solid performances has various camps/leagues this fall. Could see a bigger role this winter.