NY2LA Top Ohio Performers

<p>Louisville was one of several cities hosting high level AAU programs this past weekend and brought together several teams from the Nike EYBL and UAA, as well as multiple teams on the NY2LA Circuit. Among the hundreds of teams participating in the event, several Ohio teams played and impressed during the 3-day event.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="616810" first="Sean" last="Jones"]</strong> (All-Ohio Red) 5-11 PG- Jones in my opinion was the hands down top Ohio prospect on display during the weekend. The 5-11 native of Gahanna Lincoln ran the point for a loaded AOR squad that defeated UAA Atlanta Xpress in the game I watched. Jones has unreal speed and control of the ball when playing more up-tempo style of play. He doesn’t have to be the primary scoring threat with the guys he has around him, but Jones did find the rim off the bounce as well as scored in the midrange/perimeter game. Showed a soft touch shooting floaters over 6-8 and taller defenders. As a result, Jones picked up an offer from Virginia Tech this weekend. He is a HM prospect hands down and will continue to add offers over the next few months.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="809624" first="Elmore" last="James"]</strong> (All-Ohio Red) 6-3 2G- James has a style of play that would worry any opponent that has to defend him on the perimeter. Physicality wise, he is ready to compete at the next level. Combining his incredibly strong frame with his 6-3 height makes James a prospect college coaches will enjoy scouting. Has great control with the ball and with pressure. Utilizes his frame to score through and into contact. Overall he’s such a hard worker and will go up against anyone tasked with defending him. His biggest adjustment will be finessing his jump shot as he has unorthodox motion and mechanics with his release. Nothing that should scare LMs looking to add the physically ready guard.</p> <p><strong>Aaron Odum</strong> (Cincy Lakers 17U) 6-0 PG- Odum and his Cincy Lakers were tasked with facing a good PCH Nightrydas team out of South Carolina. What surprised me most on Odum is he’s only a 2023. Playing up a level, Odum was forced to defend and dual with PCH’s <strong>Julian Keitt. </strong>Odum from the tip looked comfortable running the point even against a spread out halfcourt defense that stretched out to come defend the Lakers. He has great court awareness and really makes it a priority to not dribble to areas where he could be trapped. He lets the double teams come to him but keeps consistent space to see the floor. Creates the space and creates for teammates. The fact he’s playing up and he handled himself against a team full of college scholarship players is proof this is a player schools should be watching.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="867951" first="Devin" last="Royal"]</strong> (All-Ohio Red) 6-6 WF- AOR 16U is loaded with scholarship athletes and Royal is one of their better players. The 6-6 Wing impressed me against Team Temple with his size, composure, and consistency. Royal beat defenders on the bounce while also using his size to post up less physical Team Temple guys. AOR exploited this by posting him up consistently. Very soft touch at the rim allowed Royal to finish over these smaller defenders. One thing I will look for in future evaluations is where his midrange shooting is at. Due to the nature of the game, I didn’t get to see this due to practically minimal midrange shot attempts.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="918965" first="Amarion" last="Dickerson"]</strong> (C2K Elite) 6-7 WF- Dickerson might have had the most athletic series of plays this weekend. On back-to-back plays, he threw down a two handed dunk over the JH1 Elite team they were facing. Dickerson brings to the table elite athleticism and the ability to see plays like these consistently. Showed great body control and shiftiness at the rim when facing direct pressure on shots. Really took advantage of his athleticism off the drive and had his eyes on the rim every time. Similar to [player_tooltip player_id="867951" first="Devin" last="Royal"] from AOR, I didn’t see enough of Dickerson’s midrange/perimeter shooting to know how good of a shooter he is at the next level. With his bounce and scoring abilities though, I could see a LM taking a chance on him.</p>