Ohio 2023 Summer Basketball Recap

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.

Midwest Live is huge success

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.

Ohio’s shoe circuit programs stand out

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 Devin Royal Devin Royal 6'6" | PF Pickerington Central | 2023 State #49 Nation OH , Dailyn Swain Dailyn Swain 6'7" | SF Africentric | 2023 State #81 Nation OH , George Washington III George Washington III 6'3" | CG Chaminade Julienne | 2023 State #92 Nation OH and Lawrent Rice Lawrent Rice 6'4" | PG Huber Heights Wayne | 2023 State #184 Nation OH . 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 Gabe Cupps Gabe Cupps 6'1" | PG Centerville | 2023 State #80 Nation OH , Rayvon Griffith, Lance Hayes Lance Hayes 6'4" | SG St. Vincent-St. Mary's | 2023 State OH , Donovan Hunter Donovan Hunter 6'7" | PF Spire | 2023 State OH and out of state studs Reed Sheppard and Maki Johnson. On the Under Armour Rise circuit, Nova Village was headlined by Illinois State commit Chase Walker Chase Walker 6'8" | C St. Charles | 2023 State OH and Ryan Nutter Ryan Nutter 6'3" | PG Dublin Jerome | 2023 State OH who claimed a recent Marshall offer.

Prep Hoops Circuit standouts

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 Deshawne Crim Deshawne Crim 6'0" | PG Fairfield | 2023 State OH was a huge addition. The Mid Ohio Pumas had multiple teams win their first game as Sliemers was headlined by Trenton Collins Trenton Collins 6'4" | SF Utica | 2023 State OH , who picked up a Delta State offer, and Colin Minerd Colin Minerd 6'1" | SG Canal Winchester | 2023 State OH . Mid Ohio Pumas Price was led by Jordan Edwards Jordan Edwards 6'2" | PG Olentangy Orange | 2023 State OH , one of the top stock risers in the entire state this summer, and Jack Ullom Jack Ullom 6'5" | SF Mason | 2023 State OH . We can’t forget about R4L who made a deep run, Julian Mitchell Julian Mitchell 6'5" | SF Lakota East | 2023 State OH is receiving a lot of scholarship interest with one scholarship offer from Taylor already on the table. R4L also had standouts like Cooper Matthews Cooper Matthews 6'1" | CG Hamilton | 2023 State OH , Lebron Bennie-Powell Lebron Bennie-Powell 6'2" | SG Lakota East | 2023 State OH , Ben Golan Ben Golan 6'4" | PF Mason | 2023 State OH and more all summer on the Prep Hoops Circuit. Finally, out of NW Ohio Hopson Elite and CLP Elite both had great summers as well on the Prep Hoops Circuit. Hopson Elite was led by Ayden Carter Ayden Carter 6'4" | SG Fremont Ross | 2023 State OH , Antwaun Hathcock Antwaun Hathcock 6'6" | PF Ponitz | 2023 State OH and some Michigan studs. CLP got production from Cale Rammel Cale Rammel 6'4" | SF Fort Recovery | 2023 State OH , Parker Davidson Parker Davidson 6'2" | SG Bradford | 2023 State OH and a group of shooters.

Who’s getting lots of offers?

Outside of the high major recruits, there have been a lot of other Ohio prospects with a battle for their commitment. Lance Hayes Lance Hayes 6'4" | SG St. Vincent-St. Mary's | 2023 State OH and Amire Robinson Amire Robinson 6'4" | SF Buchtel | 2023 State OH are two of the most highly sought after mid-major wing prospects in the Midwest. Solomon Callaghan Solomon Callaghan 6'0" | PG Wadsworth | 2023 State OH and Cody Head Cody Head 6'1" | CG Lutheran East | 2023 State OH each have multiple Division I offers at the point guard position while Kyler D’Augustino Kyler D’Augustino 6'1" | CG Albany Alexander | 2023 State OH has plenty of Division II offers and some Division I programs very interested right now. At the Division II level, Ayden Carter Ayden Carter 6'4" | SG Fremont Ross | 2023 State OH and Logan Beaston Logan Beaston 6'4" | SG Tiffin Columbian | 2023 State OH 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.

Hoop stars playing other sports in college

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 Cole Rhett Cole Rhett 6'7" | C Bishop Watterson | 2023 State OH (Toledo Football), RJ Mukes RJ Mukes 5'10" | PG Huber Heights Wayne | 2023 State OH (Ball State Football) and Charlie Russell Charlie Russell 6'5" | PF Bishop Ready | 2023 State OH (Air Force Baseball). Congratulations to these young men for committing to these programs.

Injuries already set to affect the high school season

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. Chico Johnson Chico Johnson 6'2" | SG Toledo Central Catholic | 2023 State OH of Toledo Central Catholic and Boubacar Djigo Boubacar Djigo 6'7" | C Lutheran West | 2023 State OH 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.