Spire Institute Prospect Notes

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spire Institute came to the All Ohio high school hoops showcase and dominated the defending OHSAA Division I state champions in a 78-51 blowout that was never competitive. In this article we'll give thoughts on the top prospects from Spire as many of these players are new to Ohio and this was my first opportunity to scout many of these players.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>[player_tooltip player_id='1052781' first='Donovan' last='Hunter'] shines in return to Columbus</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1052781' first='Donovan' last='Hunter'] transferred to Spire, leaving Westerville Central. In his return to Columbus, Hunter was locked in, looking engaged on both ends and was knocking down shots from different spots on the court. Hunter fits better alongside talented scorers where he can focus on providing floor spacing from the forward position. Hunter also punished smaller defenders in the post when Pickerington Central tried playing three guards at the same time defensively. Hunter had one of the better performances I've seen from him and looks to be improving in the prep school scene.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Explosive Spire guards shine</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I was really impressed with James Madison commit [player_tooltip player_id='1677076' first='Tyshawn' last='Archie'] and unsigned 2024 combo guard [player_tooltip player_id='1677084' first='Xavier' last='Tubbs-Matthews']. Both prospects had a lot of juice with the ball in their hands and the Tigers couldn't stop them from getting where they wanted to go. Archie had maybe the highlight of the game with an alley-oop slam dunk that showed off his bounce. Archie also had some impressive moments creating for himself with the ball in his hands. [player_tooltip player_id='1677084' first='Xavier' last='Tubbs-Matthews'] just has a spark and I was excited whenever he was ready to make a play. I want to watch both of these players again but off my first impression I was impressed with each prospect.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>NBA Academy Africa Sophomores show potential</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spire has two 2025 prospects from the NBA Academy Africa and both had some flashes that made me intrigued with their game. [player_tooltip player_id='1677089' first='Abdou' last='Yadd'] has a great body at 6'8 and looks like he has the potential to shoot it from the outside in the future. Yadd has the potential to wind up a high major level prospect and will be high in the 2025 rankings when they get updated this winter. [player_tooltip player_id='1677090' first='Djiby' last='Ly'] is the other prospect and the 6'3 SG has some development to make in the half-court but defensively he made a big impact and had some transition buckets that showed off his athleticism. Ly looks like a Division I prospect at some level, with more scouting that level will become clearer. Expect to hear more about both of these prospects throughout the next couple years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Impressive athletes show depth of Spire's roster</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spire had a lot of prospects who were high level athletes and a few of these players are already committed to Division I prospects. [player_tooltip player_id='787335' first='Ma'Shy' last='Hill'] didn't play very much but you could see the potential with his rebounding and shot blocking talent. Hill has good physical tools but missed a couple close layups, looks like he'll be a developmental project for Abeline Christian that will hopefully pay off down the road. Another Division I commit is [player_tooltip player_id='1677077' first='Jonathan' last='Ogunfuye'] who is committed to Mount St Marys. Ogunfuye struggled with foul trouble early but had some highlight plays in the second half with his impressive athleticism. [player_tooltip player_id='1677085' first='Eltramon' last='Smith'] is another forward who can jump out of the gym, the 2024 prospect holds one offer from Morgan State but has interest from other Division I programs. The last prospect I want to highlight is [player_tooltip player_id='1677078' first='Christian' last='Burnett'] who knocked down some jumpers from the outside and showed some touch on floaters. I also was impressed with his athleticism in transition.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->