Scouting the State: Friday Night Standouts

<p>Friday night I took in a pair of games that featured a ton of quality prospects.  Here we dive into what we saw in the Kankakee vs Rich Township and Normal Community vs Peoria Notre dame contests in <strong>Scouting the State: Friday Night Standouts</strong>!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Willie Strickland (Kankakee – 2021)</strong></p> <p>Strickland played very well for Kankakee.  The 6’6” four man has broad shoulders and a nice frame.  Finished with physicality on the interior.  Also has some mobility.  In the first half alone he score on a curl to the hoop, floater, converted a dump off, and had a short hook shot.  Quality rebounder that should be on the radar for small colleges and JUCOs as a late blooming post.  Finished with 16 points.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Amarion Osbourne (Kankakee – 2021)</strong></p> <p>This 5’10” guard was the spark plug for Kankakee early in the second half that ignited them to their win.  He drilled an array of threes in the second half starting with a barrage to begin the third quarter.  Also had a nice euro step and a couple of quick passes on the fly.  Went for 14 points.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Rashard Harris (Kankakee – 2021)</strong></p> <p>Harris is a big and strong 6’4” senior guard that lived at the foul line in this contest.  Every time you looked he was at the charity stripe again.  Power wing rebounds and played with a high motor.  Went for 13 points.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="921072" first="Gary" last="Clay"] (Rich Township – 2021)</strong></p> <p>Clay is a rangy 6’4” two guard that that has nice length.  He had a breakout second quarter to get his team back in the game.  Scored a ton in transition turning defense into offense in a hurry.  Cat quick going from one end to the other.  Upside as a two way player at the next level.  He had a game high 21 points.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Jeremiah Dunklin (Rich Township – 2022)</strong></p> <p>Came away very intrigued with this 6’5” power forward from Rich.  Mobile four is super bouncy and active on the glass.  Finished a dump off and crashed the glass for second chance points.  Still a little raw, but is oozing with upside.  On the night he had 7 points.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="995979" first="Devonta" last="Blevins"] (Rich Township – 2021)</strong></p> <p>Blevins has plus size and athleticism at 6’4”.  At times in this game he was a bit wild with it causing turnovers.  The athletic gifts definitely pop with the way he flies in high pointing rebounds and runs up and down the court.  Was fouled on a dunk attempt that if it would have gone down would have been a poster.  Early on he struggled, but turned it up a notch in the second half.  He had 12 points.  High ceiling guy.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Noah Reynolds (Peoria Notre Dame – 2021)</strong></p> <p>Reynolds was fantastic in PND win over Normal Community.  Early on the 6’3” point guard was getting to the rim for three acrobatic finishes.  He has the euro step game going and can make difficult shots by twisting his body to get it up on the rim.  His pull up game was on point as usual knocking down several threes along with one from the corner off the catch.  Liked the feel for the game we saw out of him distributing the rock to his teammates with crisp dishes.  Defensively he was active and had some big deflections that turned into points on the other end.  Went for 17 points.  Low-majors should be on him.  He is not in the current rankings because he and his brother (below) briefly moved out of state, but he is a top 30 caliber player in the senior class.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Nelson Reynolds (Peoria Notre Dame – 2022)</strong></p> <p>The younger brother made the biggest shot of the night as he drained a corner three with 1.5 seconds left to win the game for Notre Dame.  No surprise as he has a clean looking shot that he can hit from both mid-range and three.  Mixes in some floaters in the lane.  He is really coming into his own as an overall point guard going for 11 points.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Lathan Sommerville (Peoria Notre Dame – 2024)</strong></p> <p>Sommerville is a 6’8” freshman post that is going to be one of the top prospects in the state’s freshman class.  Big bodied five that moves well for his size.  Had a blocked shot, finished a dump off pass, and connected on a deep two point jumper.  Lots of arc on his shot.  He had 5 points.  Has HM/MM potential.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="996062" first="Zach" last="Cleveland"] (Normal Community – 2022)</strong></p> <p>This was my first extensive look at Cleveland in a while and he more than impressed.  The 6’7” face up four fits the new age game with the way he can play inside and out.  Stretched the floor for three from distance with two coming from the corners.  Nice concise shooting stroke.  In the paint he displayed skill and athleticism.  Multiple spin moves in the lane, can take it off the bounce from the high-post, and slammed home a big dunk.  Was impressed with how well he rebounded.  Seems to have a good read on where the ball is coming off the glass and aggressively goes after it.  He had 26 points and 10 boards.  Will get a bump in the next rankings update after what we evaluated tonight.  D1 talent.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="996063" first="Trey" last="Redd"] (Normal Community – 2022)</strong></p> <p>Redd is listed at 5’11” with an angular build.  The lefty guard hit a pair of threes including one to close out the first half off movement.  His floater game was another area that seemed to shine for him as he used his quickness to get in the lane and then shot it over the defenders.  Crisp passer in the half-court that can dish crosscourt off live dribbles.  Acceleration with the ball in tight spaces and pushing in transition.  He had 10 points.</p>