Ohio State Tournament Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Prep Hoops Circuit comes to Columbus this weekend! With lots of talented in-state programs and a handful of out of state teams making the trip to Fieldhouse USA and Westland High School, in this article we'll preview some of the top teams and players to watch at the event. To view the schedule and brackets for the tournament click <a href="https://events.prephoops.com/e/973/register/ohio-state-tournament">here</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">17 U Bracket</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For any tournament, the 17 U action is going to be the most highly contested trophy and filled with the most talent. Our 17 U field is stacked with talent from top to bottom. Going in alphabetical order, Charging Elite has had a strong Prep Hoops Circuit showing with guard [player_tooltip player_id='2381886' first='Ellis' last='Appiah'] standing out this spring. DG Warriors brings a northeast Ohio group with a lot of new names. Elite Mentality was on our circuit last year and has GMC stars like [player_tooltip player_id='1580475' first='Cash' last='Ingram'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2054732' first='Nathaniel' last='Riep']. 2027 prospect Maceo Bronston also plays up with this group. Future prospects 2025 also has a 2027 prospect playing up in [player_tooltip player_id='2125764' first='Ty' last='Rohrer']. [program_tooltip program_id='2080539' first='Gem' last='City Basketball Club'] mixes Dayton area and southeast Ohio talent, guard [player_tooltip player_id='1958384' first='Jayce' last='Rothwell'] is the engine to their team. Grassroots Elite has a northeast Ohio based team with [player_tooltip player_id='2052131' first='Lorenzo' last='Staley'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1617867' first='Xavier' last='Vickerstaff'] as notable names to watch. [program_tooltip program_id='2075517' first='Hopson' last='Elite'] is another program familiar with Prep Hoops Circuit events, [player_tooltip player_id='2411710' first='Brandon' last='Ingram Jr'] has been a spring standout. Both Huntsman Select and Legacy Athletics are new teams for our writers to scout this weekend. Midwest Basketball Club Gilliland has been a team to watch for regional small college coaches. Players like [player_tooltip player_id='1432019' first='Eli' last='Roberts'], [player_tooltip player_id='1462535' first='Cam' last='Williams'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1888322' first='Bennett' last='Kayser'] find themselves in the top 40 of our 2025 rankings. Midwest Flyers Paige is another Dayton area squad to watch. Midwest Pumas Sayre/Maurer brings OCC talent like [player_tooltip player_id='1675747' first='Carter' last='Piatt-Brown'], [player_tooltip player_id='1970645' first='Garrett' last='Brown'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2405887' first='Will' last='Sims'] from the regional champs Delaware Hayes. NEBC Elite comes from Buffalo NY with a lot of talent to watch. Nova Village brings three groups, Legron and Twinam have been consistent faces on the Prep Hoops Circuit with [player_tooltip player_id='2437457' first='Jakob' last='Legron'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1429077' first='Nohah' last='Nichols'] being names to know from their groups. Their Under Armour affiliated team Nova Village Perkins brings top talents like [player_tooltip player_id='1480848' first='Devin' last='Brown'], [player_tooltip player_id='1480850' first='Tai' last='Perkins'], [player_tooltip player_id='1469018' first='Jaden' last='Calloway'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1432010' first='Micah' last='Young'] from our top 60 2025 rankings. NW Ohio Basketball features small town studs like [player_tooltip player_id='1837239' first='Wren' last='Sheets'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2436836' first='Blake' last='Sommers'], who have both been spring standouts. [program_tooltip program_id='2075761' first='Ohio' last='Buckets'] Black has a lot of small college talent including [player_tooltip player_id='1935949' first='Brayden' last='Olson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2203931' first='Justice' last='Thompson'] helping lead the charge. Ohio Saints has caught eyes at the Prep Hoops Circuit with mostly northeast Columbus area talent, [player_tooltip player_id='2412021' first='Jaxon' last='Dustin'] of Heath has had a nice spring on our circuit. Finally, Team XCel brings Mansfield area recruits with unsigned 2024 prospects [player_tooltip player_id='1494486' first='Elijah' last='Hudson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1942264' first='Marquis' last='Long'] as their top names to know.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">16 U Bracket</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We won't dive into every team like we did with 17 U but we'll still hit the heavy hitters to watch. [program_tooltip program_id='2075517' first='Hopson' last='Elite'] has a big 2026 group and Calian Hornbeak has already caught our eyes, maybe a couple more of their players breakout this weekend? Huskies 2026 comes all the way from North Carolina, the furthest travel distance for any team this weekend. Kentucky Storm Elite is a rare program with players from three states, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Midwest Pumas Useh has a nice group with [player_tooltip player_id='2205099' first='Jeremiah' last='Russell'] leading the way with Wheelersburg duo [player_tooltip player_id='2350192' first='Braylon' last='Rucker'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2294840' first='Landon' last='McGraw']. MR Elite 2026 brings [player_tooltip player_id='2109839' first='Griffin' last='Straub'], a new member of our rankings alongside Pennsylvania 2027 prospects Aj Tarpley and Brandon Martin playing up. Nova Village brings three groups in the 16 U bracket with [player_tooltip player_id='1869632' first='Jakhi' last='Calloway'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1943740' first='Marco' last='Mattucci'] as top 30 ranked prospects in 2026. NW Ohio brings two groups in 16 U with [player_tooltip player_id='2436889' first='Owen' last='Sensabaugh'] as a name to know from their program. [program_tooltip program_id='2078976' first='Ohio' last='Clamps'] has a Toledo based team with [player_tooltip player_id='1960913' first='Traden' last='Booker'] as their floor general. Phenom United brings two 16 U groups, Athens McGillis and [player_tooltip player_id='1888255' first='Jordan' last='Priddy'] are a guard duo to watch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">15 U Bracket</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Finally the 15 U bracket will mostly compete at Westland High School before some tournament semifinal and championship action at Fieldhouse USA. Starting with All Heart 2027, a Cincinnati based program that's already caught our attention this spring. CCB 2027 has a lot of Toledo City League talent to watch while Hoop Nation 2027 has greater Toledo area prospects. Midwest Basketball Club has seven 15 U teams in attendance, Midwest Daniels on the E40 circuit has some names to know across central Ohio. Mr22 Elite brings two groups with their 3SSB team being ranked at the top of the Adidas 3SSB standings. Le'Shawn Hill is the point guard for their 3SSB group that's had a ton of success this spring. They'll have a tough matchup with Nova's 15 U Under Armour group led by [player_tooltip player_id='2194389' first='Tony' last='Cornett III']. Finally, NW Ohio, Ohio Saints and Team XCel are also bringing 15 U groups, we've mentioned their older teams already in the article and are excited to learn about the younger groups this weekend. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->