2010 Power Forward Rankings

The power forward position is a deep one for the 2010 class. Led by Deshaun Thomas who has a chance to break the legendary career scoring record of Damon Bailey.

H=High major H- = High major Stretch
M+ = Mid-major, higher possibly, M=Mid-major, M- =Mid-major stretch
L+ = Low major, higher possibly, L= Low-major, L- = Low-major stretch
D2=Division 2/NAIA /High Level D3
D3=Division 3


1. Deshaun Thomas 6’7 Bishop Luers H Complete inside game, developing range, solid handles. Weakness=quicks as a 3 in the Big Ten, Height as a 4 in the Big Ten. Commit to Ohio State
2. Erik Fromm 6’8 Bloomington South M+ Fundamental footwork, strong, finishes very well inside. Weakness=range although improving. Commit to Butler.
3. Donnie Hale 6’7 New Albany M+ Quick, athletic, good rebounder, good shot blocker. Weakness=right hand and perimeter shooting Commit to Purdue
4. Jake Kitchell 6’8 South Central M- Good motor, solid athlete, can rebound out of his area. Weakness= not polished offensively. Commit to Indiana State
5. DeArmond Davis 6’7 Mount Vernon L Okay motor, good athlete, but not a great athlete, raw. Improved since the summer still a lot of skill development to do
6. Greg Miller 6’6 North Miami L- Good motor, strong, smart, range to 16 feet. Weakness=Height and doesn’t play AAU. Commit to Grace College
7. Mike Kibiloski 6’7 Elkhart Memorial L- Solid in the post, good motor/toughness, limited athleticism Commit to IPFW
8. Jake Browne 6’6 Hamilton Southeastern D2 Solid springs, pretty long, has a mid-range jumper, rebounds well.
9. Thomas Anderson 6’7 Terre Haute North D2 Solid frame, decent inside
10. Pete Nicksic 6’6 Andrean D2
11. Reed McLaughlin 6’5 Zionsville D2 Good set shooter, good rebounder
12. Patrick Cutter 6’6 Harrison D2 Great mid-range jumper, long, good weak side defender
13. Zach Vega 6’5 Munster D3 Aggressive rebounder and good defender
14. Billy Clark 6’5 Andrean D3

IPSAC Midwest Basketball Challenge-Detroit Country Day/Luers

The main event of the IPSAC Midwest Basketball Challenge...Detroit Country Day against Fort Wayne Bishop Luers. Ray McCallum against Deshaun Thomas. Two potential All-Americans.

Well, the team match-up didn't live up to the hype. Ray McCallum certainly did. McCallum finished with 36 points including 3 dunks that made the crowd go crazy. He was impressive. Great quickness, crafty moves, superb shooting from the outside, tough rebounds, strong defense. McCallum was good in every phase of the game. He should definitely be an All-American candidate.

Deshaun Thomas was met with double and triple teams right from the tip. Detroit Country Day didn't let him catch the ball and if he did then they made sure he had no choice but to pass. DCD decided to make another Luers player beat them other than Thomas. No Luers player was able to step up.

DCD stretched their lead to 30 points in the third quarter. I believe the final margain was 17 points. Thomas did most of his damage in the final minutes of the third quarter and in the fourth quarter. He ended with 33 points by my count.

Ken Mullen 5'9 junior point guard impressed me with his quickness. He was able to get around DCD defenders and into the lane most of the night. He finished with 22 points on 9-12 shooting. He never looked for his outside shot until the game was decided. He is probably a stretch for mid-majors, but definitely is a D1 player.

Amir Williams 6'10 junior center controlled the paint and boards for Detroit Country Day. He was really impressive with his outlet passes. He started most fast breaks for DCD. He allowed the guards to leak out and he could hit them on the move with a 40 foot outlet pass. I had him down for 10 points and 9 rebounds.

2010 Power Forward Rankings

2010 has a good group of power forwards. DeShaun Thomas can broke Damon Bailey's Indiana state scoring record which is unbelievable but with another deep run in the state tournament it is within reach. Fromm and Hale are both very good players who will play their college basketball within the state.

2010 Power Forwards

1. DeShaun Thomas 6’7 Bishop Luers H Complete inside game, developing range, solid handles. Weakness=quicks as a 3 in the Big Ten, Height as a 4 in the Big Ten. Verbal commit to Ohio State
2. Erik Fromm 6’8 Bloomington South M+ Fundamental footwork, strong, finishes very well inside. Weakness=range although improving. Verbal commit to Butler.
3. Donnie Hale 6’7 New Albany M+ Quick, athletic, good rebounder, good shot blocker. Weakness=right hand and perimeter shooting. Verbal commit to Purdue
4. Jake Kitchell 6’8 South Central M- Good motor, solid athlete, can rebound out of his area. Weakness= not polished offensively.
5. Greg Miller 6’6 North Miami L- Good motor, strong, smart, range to 16 feet. Weakness=Height and doesn’t play AAU.
6. Jake Browne 6’6 Heritage Christian L Solid springs, pretty long, has a mid-range jumper, rebounds well.
7. DeArmond Davis 6’7 Mount Vernon L Okay motor, good athlete, but not a great athlete, raw. Weakness=Rawness
8. Thomas Anderson 6’7 Terre Haute North L- Solid frame, decent inside Weakness=athleticism

2010 Power Forwards

The 4 spot in the 2010 class is pretty solid. Especially if you take some of those "tweeners" and place them in the power forward position instead of the small forward category.

1. DeShaun Thomas 6’7 Bishop Luers H Complete inside game, developing range, solid handles. Weakness=quicks as a 3 in the Big Ten, Height as a 4 in the Big Ten.
2. Erik Fromm 6’8 Bloomington South M+ Fundamental footwork, strong. Weakness=range.
3. Donnie Hale 6’7 New Albany M+ Quick, athletic, good rebounder. Weakness=right hand and perimeter shooting.
4. Jake Kitchell 6’8 South Central M- Good motor, solid athlete. Weakness=not super aggressive rebounding or offensively.
5. Greg Miller 6’6 North Miami L- Good motor, strong, smart, range to 16 feet. Weakness=Height.
6. DeArmond Davis 6’7 Mount Vernon L Okay motor, not a great athlete, raw. Weakness=Rawness
7. Thomas Anderson 6’7 Terre Haute North L- Solid frame, decent inside Weakness=athleticism

McDonald's Game

The McDonald's All-American game is about to start. It is a little strange to have zero all-americans going to The Big Ten. I know the ACC and Big East are the hot conferences right now, but you would think a couple would chose the Big Ten. I think the game has dropped off a little bit recently due to a few factors. I think now it is based more off of potential and in the past decades it was based off of accomplishments first and then potential if they have some recommendations.

Another thing is there are no players from Indiana in the game this year. Mason Plumlee did make it and he technically lives in Indiana but spent his high school career at prep school in North Carolina. So, he really does not count. I think Derek Elston would have made a run at it if not for his knee injury last summer. I'm guessing the selections are based off of summer play more than high school seasons for good reason and he missed all last summer.

Next year, I would hope DeShaun Thomas and Dominique Ferguson make it from Indiana. I think both should be locks unless they get injured or do something stupid off the court. The 2010 class in Indiana is definitely better than this year's class and 2011 should potentially be better than both of them. 2012 class is also looking strong early in their high school careers. There is hope for the Big Ten and state of Indiana in the near future.