Grit Region Memorial Classic-Sunday Standouts

<p>Five players that caught my eye during Sunday’s action at Grit Regional Memorial Classic in Columbus Ohio. All tournament team coming tomorrow. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="870304" first="Jackson" last="Ullom"] 5-10 2022 Monroe Central (IN) (pictured at top) </strong>Doesn’t pass the initial test as he does not have great size or blazing initial speed. What he does have is an intelligent floor game on a strong and sturdy frame. It is a cliche, but he is a consummate point guard who simply makes winning plays. Reflected in his teams overall performance. Led his Team Future squad to a 3-1 record on the weekend in a very tough division. Standout game that I caught was his final contest of the weekend. I was curious to see how he performed against a Nova Village squad with a large backcourt. Ullom didn’t miss a beat in the decisive 68-47 victory. Ullom used an accurate outside shot to keep defenses honest. When they ran him off the line used his strength to get to the rim and draw fouls. </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/95-Jackson-Twombly.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1070597" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/95-Jackson-Twombly-300x263.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="263" /></a></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="801592" first="Jackson" last="Twombly"] 6-8 2022 Frankfort (KY) </strong>Unlike our first Jackson, this young man passes the eye test with flying colors. Nice in between frame. Room to add strength and weight but not a bean pole. Plenty of length and broad shoulders. Runs the court well and appears to have lateral quickness. This was especially evident in pick and roll opportunities. Is a straight up post prospect but was able to handle the ball in transition when needed. Plays with a little bit of a mean streak which is good to see. Finished off the weekend in style with some emphatic two handed finishes on the break. Posted some pretty good regular season numbers in Kentucky’s capital city. As an outsider I’ll be interested to see how his recruitment goes. </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/Tyler-DeGroote.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1066729" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/Tyler-DeGroote-300x188.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="188" /></a></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="863986" first="Tyler" last="DeGroote"] 6-7 2022 Schoolcraft (MI) </strong>A key member of the Eagles deep and very successful frontline. DeGroote had an excellent weekend with Tipping Point Elite. Unlike a lot of players I was most impressed with his defensive acumen. On Sunday drew the tasks of defending Indiana Red Storm standout [player_tooltip player_id="1168168" first="Elijah" last="Mattingly"]. DeGroote used his mixture of size and quickness to keep Mattingly away from the basket in the 74-63 victory. If you saw Saturday night’s report you know this was no easy task. Like Ullom this is another player with some easily seen intangibles. Between his football and basketball participation at Schoolcraft this is a young man who has done a lot of winning. He carries himself like it. Highly competitive and not afraid of contact. Now I don’t want to make him sound like a grinder. He is very talented. Showed a nice mid range floater against the Red Storm. Athletic enough for an above the rim tip in as well. Averaged a double double of 15 points and 10 rebounds for a very deep team in a abbreviated regular season. Hoping he gets show off his skills in a full 20 game (or more) slate in the coming year. </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/A9C3DCAF-52D3-4629-A57E-7CA3E79A2635-rotated-crop-3024x1986-1622439195.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1204102" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/A9C3DCAF-52D3-4629-A57E-7CA3E79A2635-rotated-crop-3024x1986-1622439195-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a></p> <p><strong>Karim McCune 6-2 2022 Saginaw </strong>When I last saw this backcourt prospect he was skying for big dunk in transition at the Rumble in the Rapids. The downside, he was injured shortly after and out for the duration of the weekend. For Michigan kids who had such a short year this was disappointing to see. Fast forward a month and McCune was back to dunking only this time without the injury. Had perhaps the finish of the weekend. A huge one handed flush in transition. It wasn’t an empty point either. Was a huge momentum turning play in EAT Athletics victory over Dayton Elite. It goes without saying that he is an explosive athlete on break. But while he is not a knockdown shooter he does know how to pick his spots in the half court.  </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/7C31708A-04F8-40BE-8821-750585659054-rotated-crop-3024x1986-1622439315.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1204105" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/7C31708A-04F8-40BE-8821-750585659054-rotated-crop-3024x1986-1622439315-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a></p> <p><strong>Jaden Bradshaw 6-4 2022 Fayetteville Perry (OH)  </strong>Not the only player from that contest living at the rim.  A long and very explosive athlete with a lot potential. While this is a Sunday column. Bradshaw really grabbed my attention on Saturday. Scored 26 points in Dayton Elite’s win over Cave Gym Elite (KY). A few of those were of the highlight reel variety. Especially impressive considering Cave Gym had one of the tallest front courts in the field. Bradshaw will have to refine his perimeter skills a little to settle in at the two stop. But there is a lot of athletic upside to work with. </p>