Max’s Mid-Week Prospect Standouts

<p>Half-way through the week I’ve been able to catch two games as St. Paul Johnson defeated Como Park and Concordia Academy took down St. Croix Lutheran. Here are seven standouts from those matchups!</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="962239" first="AJ" last="Greene"] (6’ 2023 G, Concordia Academy)- </strong>The high scoring junior did it again last night as he went for 33 points in a win. He’s such an efficient scorer who didn’t force his own shot and showed he can hit at all three levels. AJ was creating some looks off the dribble, but excelled at moving without the ball to create opportunities for himself. He could run off screens to hit a three, or curl around the free throw line for a mid-range. Made some nice cuts to the basket as well to finish. Was a solid worker defensively he understands how to position himself to make plays. AJ is a really poised player and that’s a big reason he’s averaging 22.7 ppg this season.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1284114" first="Daejohn" last="Thomas"] (6’5 2024 F, St. Paul Johnson)- </strong>The numbers aren’t anything mind boggling, but Daejohn did a little bit of everything to help his team win on Tuesday night. He scored 8 points which he did by using his physicality to establish great position down low, or just outworking guys for offensive rebounds before going right back up. On both ends of the floor he was rebounding in bulk as he’s such a strong player and has the work-rate to find a guy to box out after every shot. Defensively he made some plays off the ball jumping passing lanes and getting on the floor for every loose ball he could find. Thomas also slid in to draw a charge. Perhaps most impressive is his passing ability. He has the vision to find guys from the block or throw ahead long outlet passes after a rebound. Daejohn also had a highlight play, diving for a loose ball and delivering an assist while on the ground.</p> <p><strong>Lorenzo Levy (5’9 2024 PG, Concordia Academy)- </strong>Perhaps the state’s best kept secret in the 2024 class, Levy does some of everything for this team. Nearly putting up a triple-double last night, he finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists. Despite standing around 5’9-5’10, he has some explosiveness and times his jumps perfectly to explode and rebound the ball at a high level. He’ll then turn around and speed up the floor the other way to create on offense. Levy has a shifty handle to gain separation for a three, or to shake his defender and get into the paint to make plays for himself or a teammate. Lorenzo has range well beyond the arc, has excellent body control to finish off some tough looks inside, and the passing ability to drop dimes at any given moment. Really impressive sophomore. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1184630" first="Donavan" last="Clinton"] (6’4 2022 W, St. Paul Como Park)- </strong>In a game with a lot of whistles, Donavan had to miss a lot of time in the first half, but still put up 28 points to nearly will his team to a win against Johnson. For Como Park’s first bucket of the game, Clinton caught the ball at the top of the key and then took off down the lane for a powerful dunk. That was followed up by some strong finishes inside and a contested mid-range jumper. Johnson didn’t have an answer for a player with his type of size, explosiveness, and finishing ability. In the second half he started off slow but towards the end of the game he was scrapping for offensive boards and put-backs. He’s been arguably the most dominant player in the St. Paul City Conference this season.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1284148" first="Jaden" last="Neish"] (5’10 2024 G, St. Croix Lutheran)- </strong>Jaden drained 11 threes last night on his way to a season high 33 points! The sophomore guard is an absolute sniper with an extremely quick release that allows him to get off his shot with limited space or with a taller defender guarding him. It got to the point where even the home team PA guy was getting excited as Jaden drained three after three. Throughout the game his range kept extending as he ended up hitting a few beyond NBA range. When he’s not knocking down deep shots, Jaden also has a tight handle on the ball and had a couple of nice passes throughout the game.</p> <p><strong>Ishmeal David (6’3 2022 W, St. Paul Johnson)- </strong>One of the front runners for conference player of the year this season, the versatile wing made plenty of plays in a win for Johnson. He’s extremely dangerous pulling up from mid-range, able to stop on a dime while moving at full speed and elevate into the air to get his shot off at an extremely high point. Because of that elevation it’s almost impossible to contest at the high school level, and he knocks it down at a high rate when he has a bit of space to step into it. I thought Ishmeal also did a nice job of getting into the paint off the dribble and showing his passing ability to dump it off to a teammate around the rim. David finished with 16 points while also making plays passing and rebounding the ball.</p> <p><strong>Luke Olson (5’8 2024 SG, Concordia Academy)- </strong>Luke has put up back-to-back games with impressive shooting numbers, and last night he was 5-6 from deep on his way to 15 points in the win. Playing with a good playmaker at the one, Luke does a nice job of relocating on the perimeter to get some kick out passes in open space. And last night all that was left for him to do was hit the open shots, which he did at a high level. Concordia has been known this year for their 1-2 punch of Lorenzo Levy and [player_tooltip player_id="962239" first="AJ" last="Greene"], but with Luke Olson stepping up this will be a tough team to beat moving forward.</p>