Top performers from early season action

<p>I’ve traveled to three individual games so far this season, checking out Dublin Coffman @ Westerville South, Pickerington North @ Pickerington Central and Hilliard Davidson @ Linden-McKinley. In this article I’ll be breaking down the top performers from these games.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1340559" first="Jadi" last="Cunningham Jr"], 5’10 PG Westerville South 2023: Cunningham was very impressive in Westerville South’s victory over Dublin Coffman. Westerville South runs a very big starting lineup as Cunningham is the primary ball-handler and the only non-senior in the starting lineup. Cunningham plays with good pace and picked his spots to attack well. Cunningham was a player I was unaware about prior to this game but certainly made his case to be added to the rankings after the next update.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1163465" first="Aiden" last="Schmidt"], 6’3 SF Dublin Coffman 2023: Schmidt got HOT in the third quarter against Westerville South, hitting some 3-pointers from the parking lot. After graduating one of the best shooters in the state in Nash Hostetler, Schmidt is next in line as a sniper for the Shamrocks. I’d expect Schmidt to get a lot of small college interest during this summer.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="867951" first="Devin" last="Royal"], 6’6 PF Pickerington Central 2023: Royal has completely transformed his body and became a totally different level of athlete from where he was last Winter. It’s night and day in terms of explosiveness for Royal, as he’s getting multiple dunks almost every game. Tip slams, alley-oops, you name it, and Royal is throwing it down. Royal is a no brainer high major target and has received a ton of interest from some of the best schools in the Midwest.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1138770" first="Lance" last="Pressley"], 6’6 PF Pickerington Central 2022: Pressley shot the ball well and gave Pickerington Central some much needed offense in the first half when Royal was on the bench with foul trouble. Pressley was left open by Pickerington North and made the Panthers pay each time he caught the ball with time and space to fire away. Pressley is an intriguing small college prospect with his run and jump ability, plus his shooting that he displayed in a big rivalry game. He doesn’t have the most in game experience as he’s been a bench piece for Pickerington Central, but I think he could really put things together and be a major contributor as an upperclassman under the right developmental program.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="921770" first="LA" last="Walker"], 6’5 SF Linden-McKinley 2022: Walker was a problem for Hilliard Davidson and despite the loss, was the most dominant player on the floor. Walker has nice size at the wing position and simply shot over defenders for a lot of 3-pointers all game. Walker ended with 34 points and simply couldn’t be stopped by any Davidson defender. Walker should be a target for JUCO’s looking for some shooting from the wing position.</p>