Metro Fall League

Metro Fall League started Sunday night at Arlington High School and will run through the first weekend of November. There is a solid line-up of D1 commits and D1 prospects including Chrishawn Hopkins (Butler), Austin Etherington (Indiana University), Ethan Jacobs (Ohio University)along with prospects Khristian Smith (Pike), Neal Beshears (Winchester), Brad Hartman (Union County), Tyler Greathouse (Columbus North), Max Landis (Perry Meridian), Steven Jamison (Broad Ripple), and Demetrius Lawson (Zionsville).

Steven Jamison 6'5 Broad Ripple showed a full offensive game. He converted a few jump hooks over smaller defenders and also showed range to about 21 or 22 feet. Definitely a mid-major type of wing and maybe higher depending on the program.

Max Landis 6'0 Perry Meridian is vastly underrated right now. He is good with hesitation moves and was getting into the lane at will Sunday and finishing which is just important. There isn't a lack of 6'0 point guards though. I think he would be great at a low major school although he can probably play higher depending on his development.

Khristian Smith 6'5 Pike showed a little more athleticism than I thought he had on an alley-opp that was thrown too high and he went up and got it with 2 hands. It was very impressive. He, also, came over from the weak side to block some shots high off the glass. He has a good outside stroke when he is spotted up.

Austin Etherington 6'6 Hamilton Heights hit some big shots down the stretch in one of his games to lead his team to a win. It looks like he has added some muscle which will be key for his collegiate career. He can do everything on the court.

Chrishawn Hopkins 6'2 Herron blows my mind at how unselfish he is even in games like this fall league. He does take a lot of shots but he could shoot every time down the court and it would rarely be a bad shot because he can elevate over a defender for a shot, he can beat most defenders to the rim and then finish the play way above the rim. He is always screening and setting up teammates for easy baskets. Butler definitely has a good one with Hopkins.

Demetrius Lawson 6'2 Zionsville had a good night showing that he can finish at the rim and shoot the ball from the outside. I would like him to develop into more of a point guard, but he is good enough to play the 2/3 at most colleges. He uses his strength to get by people a lot right now which he probably won't be able to do at the next level.

Neal Beshears 6'6 Winchester looked really good playing against Austin Etherington. He did a good job defending him and really bothered Etherington with his length. I really think if he can add some muscle that his game will grow immediately.

Christian Ford 5'10 Ritter had a good first night. He is a solid spot up shooter that can create shots for people but struggles with shot selection. He is probably a D2 prospect right now heading into his junior year.

I didn't get a chance to see much of 2 teams. The team with Ethan Jacobs and DJ Ballentine was impressive but I did not get to see them play very much. I did not get to see much of Coach Stang's team play either which has Greathouse, Dodd, and Eric Harris. I hope to see them more this weekend.

Zionsville Open Gym

I've had a chance to see a couple of Zionsville open gyms this week as I will be coaching in their program this year. Here are some of the observations that I had during the open gyms.

Chris Welker 6'5 has great footwork in all parts of the offensive game. Welker is really strong, can shoot it well to 22 feet, is a great leader, and has a very good basketball IQ. He verbally committed to Army over the summer and is planning on sticking with that. If he decides to change after the coaching change is determined, I would get on him if I was a mid-major or lower.

Demetrius Lawson 6'1 is a strong, combo guard at this point but I think he can make the transition to point guard in the future. He has great form on his outside shot and is a good athlete. He plays the game very unselfishly. Lawson is a sleeper at this point, but will probably have a big year for a very good team.

Reed McLaughlin 6'5 is an inside/outside threat from the 3/4 spot. He is really good from 3 when he gets his feet set. He is a a good small college prospect. Right now, his favorite is Williams College on the east coast for their high academics.

Will Dixon 6'1 freshmen is long for his height, good shooter from the outside, handles it and creates well for others, good defensively for his age. A very smart player for a frosh.

Andrew Dakich 5'11 freshmen is a heady, crafty, smart player. He can shoot it a little bit but in a program of good shooters he can make them look good by creating for them at this point. I think he will be more of a scorer once he grows a little bit more.

Zionsville has a very good looking freshmen class. It will be interesting how they develop over the next few years.

Jack Isenbarger (mid-major recruit), Chris Roberts, Blake Luers (football recruit) all play fall sports.

Crews Out at Army

Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports is reporting that Jim Crews will part from Army. Crews played under Bob Knight at Indiana and also was the head man at Evansville for many years. Crews always used his Indiana ties to recruit Indiana. This summer he picked up a verbal commitment from Zionsville's Chris Welker. So, Welker's recruiting might re-open depending on the outcome of this situation.

Another player has transferred out of Indiana from the class of 2010. Power guard Kennis White from South Bend Washington has moved out of state. The 2010 class has been depleted from transfers and people moving out of state. Hopefully, this trend does not continue with future classes.

Jake Kitchell to Indiana State

The Indy Star's Kyle Neddenriep is reporting that Jake Kitchell of South Central has committed to Indiana State. I think it is a good fit for both parties. The 6'8 Kitchell will bring some toughness inside for the Sycamores with his rebounding and defensive toughness.

He has some work to do offensively to contribute, but I expect him to play early at Indiana State because of the other things he can provide. He needs to be more aggressive and assertive offensively. During AAU, he didn't even think about making a scoring move when he got the ball in the post against the solid teams. That should change when he moves to the next level.

Overall, I like the move by both sides.

Update

August and September are slow months for high school basketball. Recruiting is heavy right now with coaches being able to attend open gyms and work outs. College coaches also have to organize and conduct individual work outs while balancing time to hit the road and recruit. So, by no means is this time of the year slow for them.

I don't have much player news right now. The annual fall league that I coach is will be starting up in the next few weeks. If there are any players with college potential in the Indy area that want to play in the league contact me or just leave a comment.

I have been to a couple sets of individual work outs so far. I plan to attend more in the near future. D1 schools are allowed one hour of team work outs a week in the preseason and hopefully I will be able to make a few of those soon.

The season is fast approaching!

More Transfers

Well, two big names in Indiana high school basketball transferred to the same prep school this week. Justin Martin, the recent Xavier commit, and Ronald Ross transferred to Mountain State University Academy in West Virginia. They both have stated academics as the reason why they transferred.

All these transfers leave me thinking about the Indiana All-Star team for the class of 2010. It was already recognized as a below par class by Indiana standards, but now it is getting worse with all the transfers. It will definitely give some others a chance to fulfill a dream that many aren't able to do. It should be interesting to see how steps up and takes advantage of a great opportunity.

Out of State Transfers

Indiana has avoided prep school transfers better than most states. Indiana for the most part have kept their players in the state. This year it seems to be a little bit different. Dominique Ferguson will attend Hargrave Academy this year. Ferguson is one of the highest rated players in Indiana and recently committed to Isiah Thomas' (or Thompson as his President knows him by) Florida International. Last year, Evan Gordon transferred out of North Central to attend prep school as well. Most will remember Robert Vaden leaving Pike to attend prep school...a move that received him and Mike Davis a lot of flack from the Indiana fan base.

Xavier Jones of Gary West Side announced that he will not be returning to school there because of a lack of recognition. I find that hard to believe especially since he played for SYF this past summer. He has offers from multiple D-1 programs. He will not be transferring to a prep school though but instead just a school somewhere in Ohio.

Jan Maehlen, formerly of Lawrence North, transferred to Arizona but I believe that is less basketball related than the other transfers. Lawrence North lost a lot of height with Jeff Robinson (Xavier) graduating, Chris Read graduating, Ferguson and Maehlen transferring. It should be an interesting year and LN like it is most years.

Enique Mason, formerly of Brownsburg, is also said to be transferring out of the state. He is rumored to be attending a school in Ohio. An interesting note, all the players listed in this article (Mason, Maehlen, Ferguson, Jones) all played on SYF this past summer. It may very well be a coincidence but it is interesting to me.