Max's Opening Night Prospect Standouts

Seven of the prospects who stood out across the three opening night games I watched!    With [player_tooltip player_id='2631452' first='Myles' last='Zawacki'] currently out injured, Ladarius stepped up in a big way for Kingdom Prep. The lightning quick guard was electric on the ball, able to create his own shots, while also creating for his teammates. Ladarius can come off a screen tight and explode to get downhill to the rim. Mixed in some acrobatic finishes with outside jumpers for his scoring. When driving he did a great job of keeping his head up to see the floor, and had some nice pocket passes through tight gaps to set up his teammates with high percentage looks. Kingdom Prep fell behind big early on, but Ladarius helped them put together an impressive come-from-behind win.     Dahlke has an impressive blend of size, footwork, and shooting touch that made him a difficult matchup on Tuesday night. He was a key reason why FVL took Freedom down to the wire, and despite the loss he was one of the game's standouts. Caleb is a pick & pop threat from three, has a nice face up game, and can also use his strength to go to work when isolated on the block. Isn't going to stand out with elite quickness or explosiveness at his size, but stands out with poise and patience. Mixes in shot fakes to get defenders in the air before putting the ball on the floor. Even when guarded by a 6'7 D1 prospect at times, Caleb found ways to make plays and keep his team in the game.     Jayden is one of the top guards in the Milwaukee City Conference, and showcased his impressive pull-up jumper against Kingdom Prep. He showed the ability to create space off of limited dribbles, and gets impressive elevation on his shot, helping him score over longer guards. Hamilton had him running off a lot of off-ball screens to free him up, and Jayden was able to quickly get his feet squared to immediately get into his shot off the catch. Defensively he competes with a lot of energy, and was in the mix for just about every loose ball in his area.     Fox Valley Lutheran was able to slow Donovan down in the second half, but a big first half helped power his team to a win. When Freedom wasn't able to get much going on offense, it was Donovan using his length and agility at 6'7-6'8 to help create turnovers which led to easy transition buckets. Donovan was able to move his feet with ease against smaller wings and forwards in the half-court, and I can only remember one time where I saw him give up a bucket on the ball. He was a force on the glass as well, swallowing up every rebound he could get a fingertip on.     Cal was all over the floor coming up with stops for Freedom. Though often the smallest guy on the floor, Cal is lightning quick, and competes with a lot of toughness defensively. He was working hard to slide his feet and cut off opposing guards, came flying in for some rebounds among taller players, and was able to take a hit to draw a couple of charges throughout the game. Offensively he has a quick first step to get into dangerous areas, forcing the defense to collapse and create openings for his teammates.     [player_tooltip player_id='2398441' first='Cole' last='Betker'] has the green light to let it fly from deep this season. With Park graduating a handful of their key players from last year, they'll need some new names to step up in a big way. Cole has always been a catch-and-shoot threat, but against Waterford he showed a bit more aggression seeking out his own shots. Cole pulled up for some deep threes, created some second chance buckets with his efforts on the offensive glass, and was an aggressive on-ball defender. Helped lead Park to a win in their season opener.     Zare has some star potential for Racine Park over the next two years. He's a high flying athlete in the open floor, and that explosiveness translated to the glass where he was a strong rebounder on both ends. For a team that doesn't feature a lot of size, Zare helped his team out with 10 rebounds. Showed some shot creating ability off the dribble, and was a threat to pull-up from mid-range, hitting a number of jumpers throughout the game for his team high 18 points.

Seven of the prospects who stood out across the three opening night games I watched!