Northern Michigan Freshman Making Their Varsity Debut

As it is opening night for many Boy's Basketball teams across the state, we want to take some time to review and evaluate some rising stars in Northern Michigan. These freshman have all received the nod to participate on Varsity and should be setting themselves up for an excellent high school career. I think it's safe to say we likely have a couple of 1000-point kids on this list.    [player_tooltip player_id='2623271' first='Chase' last='Seeley'] will be making his varsity debut tonight against Newberry on a "next-man-up" St. Ignace team. The Saints are a completely reloaded team this year with a new coach, Bridger Buche, and an entirely new lineup. Chase plays with a very high level of intensity and plays lock-down defense. He is often an absolute menace to the opposing team's point guard. I've been watching Chase play basketball for quite a while and am always highly impressed by how he leaves it all on the floor. His quick feet and wide shooting range, paired with his recent growth spurt, will make him a difficult player for opponents to guard. St. Ignace will need a lot of leadership from their younger players to compete in a tough EUP Conference, and I think Chase should be able to fill that role nicely.     It is no surprise that [player_tooltip player_id='2758909' first='Collin' last='Rademacher'] was pulled up to varsity by Coach Johnson. He is an electric guard who is a complete package. He can shoot, play excellent defense, rebounds well, and can attack the basket with authority. I watched Collin at a grassroots tournament at Morey Courts and he put up over 40 points in the semi-final game that day. It seemed like a quiet 40 points, as he still was very effective at distributing the basketball and creating offensive space. He had almost 1/3 of those points from the charity stripe, so it's nice to see that he's not afraid to attack and draw contact. TC Central has a lot of talent this year and will have a deep bench, which I think will help 1st-year coach Luke Johnson have a very successful season.     [player_tooltip player_id='2517162' first='Max' last='Lamerson'] received the nod from Coach Bradford this fall to play on Maple City-GLen Lake's varsity squad. There is a lot of buzz around this program as they are very well-coached and have one of the best D3 starting lineups north of Mount Pleasant. Max is a very athletic kid and has great foot speed, which sets him up well to play excellent defense. Max should fill the role of small forward, but can also handle the ball well, so could see some minutes in the 2-guard position. He's worked quite a bit on his perimeter game, so we will look to see how his deep shot percentage progresses throughout the season. Throughout his freshman season, I'm sure Coach Bradford will be setting Max up to be the future leader of the Lakers.     [player_tooltip player_id='2758920' first='Coleman' last='Loebach'] probably has the biggest shoes to fill out of all the kids on this list, and he also enters our list as the only athlete with varsity experience, as he was tapped in 8th grade to move up. Coleman plays very mature basketball for his age and seems to make very smart decisions on the basketball court. He is very quick and he's a southpaw, which makes him very tricky to guard. He has spent a lot of time in the gym this fall and participated in [program_tooltip program_id='2075498' first='Great' last='Northern Elite']'s fall league, which got him some extra gym time against some tougher kids he may not usually see. Coleman's deep shot has traditionally been solid, so I would think this year we will see some high-scoring numbers in the stat column from him. Engadine athletics is definitely on an upward trend, and multi-sport athletes like Coleman have helped put the Eagles back on the EUP map.     Hudson McLean has been playing above his pay grade for many seasons. He is a strong, athletic kid who always shows up ready to play and ready to give 110%. Hudson usually plays the PF/C position, but one of the things that impresses me about his game is his ability to play all positions on the floor. This will transition well to the varsity level as now he may not be the tallest kid on the floor anymore. He will be tasked with coming in and playing solid minutes in the forward position, which I think he will more than excel at. Hudson plays smart basketball and is able to grind it out in the paint. He is also able to pivot and add a lot of touch and fitness to his game; paired with a great opposite hand, this makes him lethal within 15' of the basket.

As it is opening night for many Boy's Basketball teams across the state, we want to take some time to review and evaluate some rising stars in Northern Michigan. These freshman have all received the nod to participate on Varsity and should be setting themselves up for an excellent high school career. I think it's safe to say we likely have a couple of 1000-point kids on this list.