Chi-Town Tip-Off: Ramsey's Saturday Notebook

<p>For a day consisting of 14 hours worth of games Saturday sure did seem to go by fast. That is what happens when you have excellent gameplay, talented prospects, beautiful venues, and a bunch of college coaches in the stands. The Prep Hoops Circuit Chi-Town Tip-Off had all of that on full display between the Wintrust Sports Complex at Buffalo Park and the Romeoville Athletic Center. Earlier we highlighted 10 top performers that stood out from the day full of action. Now, it is time to empty out the notebook with everything that is left to discuss. Let's dive on in.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Indiana 2025's Pick Up Wins to Start the Day</h2>   <p>As is typically the case, it took a little while to get things going at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Shots weren't falling and turnovers were occurring, but everyone ended up settling in to some strong play. In the second half of 94 Feet Elite 2025's game against Foundation Athletics 2025 it was [player_tooltip player_id='1297088' first='Marvin' last='Schindler'] (South Bend Riley H.S. 2025) that got it going. The dynamic 5'7" point guard would go on to score a game-high 18 points to lift 94 Feet Elite to a win.</p>   <p>Just one court away, a fellow northern Indiana squad came away with an impressive early morning victory. OPS 2025 Black got 21 points from athletic 6'3" wing [player_tooltip player_id='1749047' first='Dereon' last='Truesdale'] (Fort Wayne Carroll H.S. 2025) to hold on for a two-point win against Capital City Team Work 2025. Shaunnassey Hatchett (Lanphier H.S. 2025) was the standout for Team Work in the loss scoring 19 points.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Australian Prospects Continue to Turn Heads</h2>   <p>Simply having five teams from Australia make the commitment to come play on the Prep Hoops Circuit is neat enough. Then, they get to American and showcase that college programs from all levels should be recruiting many of their players. The AUSA program is full of prospects, all of which are unsigned current seniors, who are looking for an opportunity to play college basketball in the United States. Heading into a live period college coaches need to take notice and make it a point to attend The Stage in Indianapolis next weekend.</p>   <p>One of the first players to stand out was 6'8" forward Noah Pagotto of Holy Spirit College Bellambi who plays with AUSA Brook. He is a sure fire Division I prospect with real inside-outside versatile. Very physical and strong while possessing excellent athleticism and mobility. Projects as a definite low-major 4-man. His teammate with AUSA Brook, 6'8" forward Nevada Higgins of Hillcrest Christian College is a truly special athlete. He runs the floor like a gazelle, is super bouncy at the rim, and has the length to guard multiple positions. He is another one that I would recommend to low-major Division I programs. Finally, 7'0" center Harry Evans of St. Aloysius College obviously stands out of the crowd for AUSA Sepo. He is BIG, finished with both hands around the rim, and can disrupt shots on the defensive end of the floor. It would be worth low-major Division I programs taking a flyer on him.</p>   <p>There are several other standouts within the AUSA program and our Prep Hoops team will be breaking them all down in detail over the coming days, but those three big men need to immediately be on Division I radars going into the live recruiting period.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">94 Feet Elite 2024 vs. Pittsburgh Pioneer Elite 2024</h2>   <p>In arguably the best game of the day, at least that I watched, 94 Feet Elite 2024 held on to defeat Pittsburgh Pioneer Elite 2024 in overtime 63-59. If you are a Division III or NAIA coach you should immediately stop what you are doing, pull up these two rosters, and shot a quick text message to essentially every kid on both teams. 6'2" point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1879419' first='Keagen' last='Holder'] (Morgan Township H.S. 2024) led the way with 16 points in the win for 94 Feet. He impressed with his ability to handle the ball against pressure and finish around the basket through contact. 6'5" forward [player_tooltip player_id='1158224' first='Daniel' last='Garza'] (Hammond Central H.S. 2024) was excellent down the stretch as well showing off his versatility to finish with 12 points. Garza really improved his stock on Saturday with a pair of strong performances. Smooth left-handed athlete that made several catch-and-shoot three-pointers on the day.</p>   <p>For Pittsburgh Pioneer Elite 2024, it was Logan Golle (Taylor Allderdice H.S. 2024) doing Logan Golle things throughout the game. The 6'2" guard had it going from beyond the arc hitting three triples in the second half alone to try and pull out the victory. He finished with 20 points to lead all scorers. Again, both of these rosters are loaded with small college talent, and a few that could rise above that level.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Team Rose 3SSB Notes</h2>   <p>One nice thing, at least from a Prep Hoops Circuit standpoint, of the non-live periods is getting to have some shoe circuit teams join in on the action. Chicago based Team Rose sent their top 15u, 16u, and 17u programs from the Adidas 3SSB Gauntlet to compete in the Chi-Town Tip-Off. Here are some thoughts from watching all three of their age groups compete on Saturday.</p>   <ul> <li>For the Class of 2026 Team Rose bunch, it was a trio of guards that stood out the most in my time watching them. [player_tooltip player_id='1845363' first='Rajan' last='Roberts'] (Proviso West H.S. 2026) was probably the most consistently impactful on the day, but both [player_tooltip player_id='1845355' first='Latrell' last='Kelley'] (Farragut Academy 2026) and Mike Oliver Jr. (Cure H.S. 2026) flashed their dynamic playmaking ability as well. Roberts already picked up an offer from Northern Illinois recently.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>At the Class of 2025 level it was 6'7" wing [player_tooltip player_id='1434463' first='Brady' last='Sehlhorst'] (Niles Notre Dame H.S. 2025) that caught everyone's attention. He is so versatile with the ability to dribble, pass, and shoot like a guard while having excellent size and length for a perimeter player. Elsewhere, [player_tooltip player_id='1766497' first='Zion' last='Gross'] (Crete Monte H.S. 2025) consistently showcased his physical driving ability. He is really, really hard to stop with a head of steam going downhill. Additionally, [player_tooltip player_id='2105200' first='Derrick' last='Dowdell'] (Curie H.S. 2025) shot the ball well for Team Rose 2025 3SSB.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>In the 2024 class, 5'10" jitterbug point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1352590' first='Gianni' last='Cobb'] (Homewood-Flossmoor H.S. 2024) consistently got into the paint where he proved to be an excellent playmaker. He is a creative finisher both in the intermediate range or at the rim and can make any pass you want while moving at full speed. 6'3" guard Daniel Smythe (Orchard Lake St. Mary's H.S. 2024) stood out with his pure shooting ability. He is also a very high academic prospect.</li> </ul>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Leftover Notes From Saturday Night</h2>   <ul> <li>KJ Cathey (Bolingbrook H.S. 2024) and Josh Anciento (Bolingbrook H.S. 2024) both impressed with their playmaking ability for Flight Athletics 2024. Cathey was finishing at a really high level for a 5'11" guard while Anciento court vision and passing ability are on another level.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>Unsigned senior Colin McDonald (Evanston Township H.S. 2023) shot the ball very well from beyond the arc for Full Package 2024 Gold throughout the day. Any small college program still looking for a perimeter sniper should get on him now.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>For the second straight day, M14 Hoops 2024 Adidas Gold point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1285522' first='CJ' last='Savage'] (West Aurora H.S. 2024). He has a solid frame for a smaller guard, is really explosive off of the bounce, and has shown excellent passing ability. Pure point guard that should be playing his well onto the radar of several college programs.</li> </ul>

For a day consisting of 14 hours worth of games Saturday sure did seem to go by fast. That is what happens when you have excellent gameplay, talented prospects, beautiful venues, and a bunch of college coaches in the stands. The Prep Hoops Circuit Chi-Town Tip-Off had all of that on full display between the Wintrust Sports Complex at Buffalo Park and the Romeoville Athletic Center. Earlier we highlighted 10 top performers that stood out from the day full of action. Now, it is time to empty out the notebook with everything that is left to discuss. Let's dive on in.