September Skill Set Superlatives: Shooters

<p>Before the fall showcase season begins to kick into high gear later this month. Let’s commence a "pre-pre" season preview by looking at individual skill sets during month of September. As we get on the other side of the showcases I’ll have the more traditional (i.e frontcouts, backcourts etc) season preview. But we"ll start today with a look at some of the best shooters in the state. They just happened to fall neatly into positional categories. So I went with that in lieu of a traditional list.</p> <p>This is by no means meant to be comprehensive. Just emptying out the notebook. Defenders, ball handlers, and slashers soon to follow.     </p> <p><strong>PG- Shane Rykse 6-2 2024 Schoolcraft (pictured at top of article) </strong>Youngest player on this list and as a pure shooter might be the best of the bunch. Good size with a quick compact release. Also has excellent balance. Shoulders almost always seemed to be squared. Even on unorthodox looks and fadeaways. Had to do that often as he ran point for his United Persuit squad. Has in the gym range and that forces opponents to guard right past half court. Due to his age Rykse might have the highest potential ceiling of any player on this list.</p> <p><b>SG- [player_tooltip player_id="1211160" first="Aiden" last="Burns"] 6-0 2022 Battle Creek Pennfield </b>While Ryske’s was establishing himself on the United Persuit 2024 squad. Burns was solidifying his marksman reputation with UP’s 2022 unit. Has text book form with a trigger quick release. Makes up for lack of height with excellent elevation on his jump shot. Highly productive as he helped lead Pennfield to the Division 2 Final. With fellow backcourt returnee <b>[player_tooltip player_id="1211144" first="Luke" last="Davis"] </b>could be set up for a huge senior season. </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/53_Joe-FrancisPrepHoops-2.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1061843" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/53_Joe-FrancisPrepHoops-2-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a></p> <p><b>SF- [player_tooltip player_id="983494" first="Joe" last="Francis"] 6-4 2022 Adrian </b>Of the players on this list has the most unusual release but it sure is effective. With his center of the chest release point you would think it would be easy to block. I have yet to see that happen. What I have seen is that shot go in a whole bunch of times. Francis is more than just a shooter. Showed an excellent all around game with M&amp;M Boyz on the Prep Hoops Circuit. Also played well at the Lake Superior St Elite camp. Showed more strength than you would initially think from looking at his wiry frame. </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/157_Max-BurtonPrepHoops-2.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1061927" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/157_Max-BurtonPrepHoops-2-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a></p> <p><b>PF- [player_tooltip player_id="863935" first="Max" last="Burton"] 6-10 2022 Williamston </b>The recent Western Michigan commit puts the stretch in stretch four. Young man has been active on the grassroots circuit for a long time and simply never stopped growing. Now checking in at 6-10 but retains the smooth shooting stroke that he had as a 6-6 freshman. Added strength allowed him to have an excellent summer with the Grand Rapids Storm on the Under Armour circuit. More than just a tall shooter. Is an excellent ball handler and runs the court well for his size. </p> <p><b>C- [player_tooltip player_id="1076030" first="Andrew" last="Turnquist"] 6-8 2023 White Lake Lakeland </b>Earned this spot late with his performance at the Northwood elite camp in early August. In previous viewings with DTO Elite and REACH I saw the immense potential but not necessarily the pure shooting ability. That changed at Northwood. In the camp setting showed a very soft touch both from the mid range and around the basket. The next step will be stretching it out consistently beyond the three point line. If this happens he could follow a similar trajectory to Burton and find a good spot at the next level. </p>