Ohio 2023 Summer Basketball Recap

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Summer basketball has come and gone and now it's time to rest up and get ready for the high school basketball season in the winter. With that being said, it's important to look back on what went on during the busy months of June and July.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Midwest Live is huge success</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>June was headlined by Midwest Live, a three-day event hosted at the Cedar Point Sports Center in Sandusky, Ohio. This event featured one hundred high school programs from Ohio or Michigan. This event drew many of the coaches from the Big 10, MAC and colleges from every level of college basketball. (Division II, III, NAIA and JUCO) This event helped dozens of players get new offers and hundreds to be seen by college coaches that weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Ohio's shoe circuit programs stand out</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":1446755,"width":412,"height":257,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/05/Chase-Walker-Nova.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/05/Chase-Walker-Nova-1024x636.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1446755" width="412" height="257"/></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ohio has programs on each of the major shoe circuits and there was a lot of success between them. All Ohio Red had one of their best 17 U seasons in recent memory, qualifying for the Peach Jam after finishing above .500 in EYBL regular season play. That squad is headlined by [player_tooltip player_id='867951' first='Devin' last='Royal'], [player_tooltip player_id='922605' first='Dailyn' last='Swain'], [player_tooltip player_id='1043600' first='George' last='Washington III'] and [player_tooltip player_id='867949' first='Lawrent' last='Rice']. Midwest Basketball Club was also one of the top Adidas 3SSB programs in their circuit, finishing near the top of the regular season standings before being knocked out of the 3SSB finals on a buzzer-beater. Midwest Basketball Club is headlined by [player_tooltip player_id='867934' first='Gabe' last='Cupps'], Rayvon Griffith, [player_tooltip player_id='867938' first='Lance' last='Hayes'], [player_tooltip player_id='1052781' first='Donovan' last='Hunter'] and out of state studs Reed Sheppard and Maki Johnson. On the Under Armour Rise circuit, Nova Village was headlined by Illinois State commit [player_tooltip player_id='1052782' first='Chase' last='Walker'] and [player_tooltip player_id='922602' first='Ryan' last='Nutter'] who claimed a recent Marshall offer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Prep Hoops Circuit standouts</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":1439377,"width":497,"height":330,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/04/Ayden-Carter-1.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/04/Ayden-Carter-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1439377" width="497" height="330"/></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Prep Hoops Circuit wrapped up last weekend but the headline event for the Ohio prep hoops circuit squads was the Grit Region Finals. This event had the top Prep Hoops Circuit squads from the midwest battle it out for a championship. Cincy Fire Elite made the deepest run of any Ohio program as [player_tooltip player_id='867933' first='Deshawne' last='Crim'] was a huge addition. The [program_tooltip program_id='2078641' first='Mid' last='Ohio Pumas'] had multiple teams win their first game as Sliemers was headlined by [player_tooltip player_id='1165508' first='Trenton' last='Collins'], who picked up a Delta State offer, and [player_tooltip player_id='1470338' first='Colin' last='Minerd']. [program_tooltip program_id='2078641' first='Mid' last='Ohio Pumas'] Price was led by [player_tooltip player_id='1467907' first='Jordan' last='Edwards'], one of the top stock risers in the entire state this summer, and [player_tooltip player_id='1285267' first='Jack' last='Ullom']. We can't forget about R4L who made a deep run, [player_tooltip player_id='1225049' first='Julian' last='Mitchell'] is receiving a lot of scholarship interest with one scholarship offer from Taylor already on the table. R4L also had standouts like [player_tooltip player_id='1271102' first='Cooper' last='Matthews'], [player_tooltip player_id='1225050' first='Lebron' last='Bennie-Powell'], [player_tooltip player_id='1285273' first='Ben' last='Golan'] and more all summer on the Prep Hoops Circuit. Finally, out of NW Ohio [program_tooltip program_id='2075517' first='Hopson' last='Elite'] and CLP Elite both had great summers as well on the Prep Hoops Circuit. [program_tooltip program_id='2075517' first='Hopson' last='Elite'] was led by [player_tooltip player_id='1183906' first='Ayden' last='Carter'], [player_tooltip player_id='1324901' first='Antwaun' last='Hathcock'] and some Michigan studs. CLP got production from [player_tooltip player_id='1456985' first='Cale' last='Rammel'], [player_tooltip player_id='1456984' first='Parker' last='Davidson'] and a group of shooters.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Who's getting lots of offers?</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"left","id":1525780,"width":358,"height":235,"sizeSlug":"full","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/05/Solomon-Callaghan-Buckets-crop-4386x2880-1658852349.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/05/Solomon-Callaghan-Buckets-crop-4386x2880-1658852349.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1525780" width="358" height="235"/></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Outside of the high major recruits, there have been a lot of other Ohio prospects with a battle for their commitment. [player_tooltip player_id='867938' first='Lance' last='Hayes'] and [player_tooltip player_id='867950' first='Amire' last='Robinson'] are two of the most highly sought after mid-major wing prospects in the Midwest. [player_tooltip player_id='976068' first='Solomon' last='Callaghan'] and [player_tooltip player_id='867939' first='Cody' last='Head'] each have multiple Division I offers at the point guard position while [player_tooltip player_id='976070' first='Kyler' last='D'Augustino'] has plenty of Division II offers and some Division I programs very interested right now. At the Division II level, [player_tooltip player_id='1183906' first='Ayden' last='Carter'] and [player_tooltip player_id='867930' first='Logan' last='Beaston'] are two of the hottest wing prospects, both coming from NW Ohio. Many Division II programs have also used the summer to evaluate and will be having prospects on official visits in the fall where some schools prefer to offer when players are on campus.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Hoop stars playing other sports in college</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While Prep Hoops Ohio is focused on getting the top high school basketball players in Ohio to the next level, we also evaluate kids who excel at multiple sports. Some of the most notable two sport athletes to commit are [player_tooltip player_id='1165506' first='Cole' last='Rhett'] (Toledo Football), [player_tooltip player_id='867947' first='RJ' last='Mukes'] (Ball State Football) and [player_tooltip player_id='1225047' first='Charlie' last='Russell'] (Air Force Baseball). Congratulations to these young men for committing to these programs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Injuries already set to affect the high school season</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":1525781,"width":309,"height":203,"sizeSlug":"full","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/Chico-Johnson1-crop-3128x2054-1658852456.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/Chico-Johnson1-crop-3128x2054-1658852456.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1525781" width="309" height="203"/></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the worst parts about summer basketball is that kids will get injured playing so many games and two of the top players in OHSAA Division II went down with serious knee injuries this summer. [player_tooltip player_id='867942' first='Chico' last='Johnson'] of Toledo Central Catholic and [player_tooltip player_id='1352454' first='Boubacar' last='Djigo'] of Lutheran West both have their senior season already in jeopardy over injuries suffered this summer. Hoping for a speedy recovery for both players and health for the rest of the athletes competing this fall around the state.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->