Intro: Koreem Ozier (2018)

At the tail end of the summer of 2017, <strong>Koreem Ozier</strong> received one invitation he simply couldn't turn down. This wasn't, however, another ordinary tryout invite or a Park League game or a local All-Star game opportunity waiting in the wings. Fellow Racine, Wisconsin native and ex-NBA star Caron Butler asked the high scoring 6-foot-1 guard if he was interested in spending an intensified week of training out in the West Coast. Ozier jumped at the opportunity, without the slightest tinge of hesitation. "Caron flew me out to California and I was able to spend a week with him and it opened my eyes to how much of a perfectionist you have to be to get where you want to," said Ozier, who once played under Butler in AAU and has close family ties with the UConn legend. "He was always active in my community as a child. When I was old enough to get a relationship with him, he taught me a lot about the game." Ozier left a legacy at Racine Case (WI), emerging into a gifted all-around scorer with an innate nose for a critical bucket. He scored 1,405 career points during his stay at Racine Case, despite only playing significant minutes his junior and senior seasons. The combination guard averaged a County-best 30.4 points as a senior, his player underscored by a 50-point performance and a 35-point showing in a playoff game. Currently at Scotland Campus Sports (PA) under the fabled prep coach Chris Chaney, Ozier has assumed some ownership of a nationally-ranked team which employs an 11 and 12-man rotation. He took the prep route to shore up academic woes of the past. Ozier is now proving his scoring exploits in Wisconsin weren't against a bunch of duds. Ozier put his stamp on Scotland Campus Sports' statement 82-70 win over IMG Academy (FL) during the National Prep Showcase in New Haven, Conn. Turning in a performance indicative of the efficiency Chaney constantly preaches, Ozier scored 26 points (7-for-12 FG, 10-10 FT). He added 13 rebounds and five assists, recording game bests in each category. For both Ozier and Scotland Campus Sports, this game had considerable extra juice. This was before a crowd that included coaches from UCONN, Georgia Tech, St. John's, Pitt, Louisville, and several others. It was against one time Louisville commit and preps-to-pros prospect Anfernee Simons (21 points). Ozier has interest from New Mexico, Iona, and Grambling. "Coach enforces that we push the ball, make other teammates better, taken open shots with confidence, get defensive stops and play with poise," Ozier explained. "If we play harder than the other team and want it more, we are at an advantage." Scotland Campus reaped the opportunities of IMG's decision to sit in a zone. They hit outside shots with consistency, sparked by Barry Brown (14 points, four 3-pointers). When IMG transitioned to man-to-man, Scotland Campus utilized a massive frontline that includes 7-foot-1, 240-pound Center and Bradley-commit Aristide "Ari" Boya. "I used our bigs to set good ball screens to either stop and pop or find an open teammate or draw a foul," Ozier said. Chaney, who went 40-0 en route to a 2005 Wayne Otto U.S. Prep National Championship at now-defunct Laurinburg Institute (N.C.), has more career wins than any active high school/prep coach. He's molded the likes of Dermarr Johnson, Hassan Whiteside, Antonio Anderson, Joey Dorsey, Renaldo Balkman, Bobby Maze, and countless others throughout his career. A handful of Chaney's former players have told stories about the seasoned coach's adeptness at the free throw line. Many who have attended Chaney's clinics or prep programs have said to have witnessed the coach knock down 300+ consecutive free throws. Whether it is rumor or reality, Chaney's emphasis on making free throws certainly resonated in Ozier's 10-for-10 showing against IMG. "When I was able to draw fouls, I knew I was going to hit those free throws," Ozier said. "No question. They were going down."