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

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

Spring Recap Series-II

Continuing on with my recap from the spring season so far I will be listing my surprise players so far. Today will be from the class of 2010 in Indiana.

Chrishawn Hopkins 6'2 SG Indianapolis (Manual)-Combo guard that is a true combo and not just a shooting guard in a point guard's body. He can handle it efficiently, good quickness...laterally and first step, great springs (can jump out of the gym), consistent outside range. Very few people know about him and he doesn't play on good teams (high school or aau) so it's hard to criticize him for forcing things when he is the only option. He is a mid-major prospect in my eyes.

Brad Karp 6'2 SG Valparaiso-Consistent, good motor, does all the little things that help teams win. I don't think he is quite athletic enough for D1, but low D1's and D2/NAIA should take a look. Karp isn't flashy, but is a type of player I would want on my team.

Greg Miller 6'6 PF North Miami-Although I haven't seen him on the AAU circuit (I don't believe he is playing),Miller impressed me greatly at the Top 100 workout in April. Strong, skilled, good motor. Played very well against Travis Carrol at the work out.

Daniel Turner 6'6 PF/SF Mt. Vernon-Tweener, but strong and athletic enough to play the 4 spot at the low D1 level I believe. Good touch around the basket, worker, good rebounder.

Ronald Ross 6'3 SG-I like what I have seen from Ross so far but would like to see more of him before I have a good grasp on his capabilities. Strong body, athletic, finishes well in the lane, unsure of his range and ball handling...that's why I would like to see more of him.

Aaron Bluitt 6'1 PG Indianapolis (Chatard)-Flashes of a great player, but also will be lackadaisical at times and make poor decisions. Bluitt is more of a SG that can handle the ball right now and I would like him to get to the point where he is a PG that can score when he wants to. Ball handling against pressure and decision making against that pressure are my concerns about him being a PG at the D1 level. I think he can make that improvement if he works at it.

Erik Fromm 6'8 PF Bloomington South-I'm putting Fromm on here because I had not seen him a bunch before this spring and I'm really impressed with his footwork and skill around the basket. I rank him slightly higher than Donnie Hale which is crazy in some people's eyes but he is just so fundamental he rarely makes mistakes. He should fit into Butler's system very well.

Donnie Hale 6'7 PF New Albany-Athletic, solid motor. I wish he had a right hand (he is left handed) if he was able to score with his right hand then he would be higher than Fromm in my opinion but at the next level he will get a lot of shots blocked if he can't use both hands around the rim. He looks to be transitioning to more of a 3 but in order to do that he needs to be able to use both hands equally and he cannot right now. Other than that, I have no complaints about his game.

Ethan Jacobs 7'0 C Tipton-Jacobs was having a solid spring in both school work outs where college coaches were coming to watch him and on the AAU circuit. 7 footer with a good stroke is hard to find. He could be a star at Ohio before his career is over...it literally is up to him how hard he wants to go after making that a reality.

Spring Recap Series

With the break from AAU in the month of June, I wanted to recap some of the happenings that have transpired so far. I'm hoping to get to a team camp or two during June but my schedule may not allow that.

I'll start with some recruiting recap and news.

Dee Davis 5'9 PG Bloomington South has been picking up some solid offers early in the AAU season from Xavier and Purdue. He continues to impress me with what he accomplishes despite his small frame.
Justin Martin 6'5 SG Lawrence North has de-committed from the University of Louisville. He is a top 50 ranked player nationally and rumor is he may be looking at Arizona now although all options are open.
Donnie Hale 6'7 PF New Albany has reportedly picked up interest from Oklahoma State according to Jody Demling of Courier-Journal.com. I think that would be a stretch by Oklahoma State but not a crazy move if they were to offer.
Dominique Ferguson 6'9 SF Lawrence North de-committed from his verbal to University of Kentucky after the coaching change. Ferguson is a top 10 player nationally in his class and might have one and done potential.
Ethan Jacobs 7'0 C Tipton made a somewhat shocking commitment to Ohio University. Shocking because it was quick and his stock was really starting to rise. Plus, he had the July evaluation period coming up and big-time offers may have been there.
Marquis Teague 6'2 PG Pike has pushed back his decision date after originally saying he was going to decide by June. He says he will now wait until the July evaluation period to decide.
Jesse Berry 6'1 PG Lafayette Jeff picked up an offer from Kentucky after rumors were starting to appear that he was close to committing to Butler.
Rafael Davis 6'4 SG Fort Wayne North became the first 2012 commit from Indiana and he chose Purdue.
Erik Fromm 6'8 PF Bloomington South made his decision to go to Butler. Should be a good fit in the Butler system.

AMC Report-Recap

Now that I finally got all my player reports written up here is my recap of players.

Impressive List

Marcus Crider SYF-Looked great this weekend...really athletic and can also shoot. I like those types of players. Also, he has good size at 6'5ish.

Dee Davis Team Indiana-I have been a fan of Davis for years, but I have always wondered if he will be able to do it at the mid-major or higher level because of his height. This weekend he started to prove to me that his lack of height will not matter. He will find a way to get it done.

Tony Springmann Spiece Select-Springmann had a dominating performance over the wealth of height that Team Indiana has on their team. If he adds a face-up game (he has range to 16 feet), then he will be a high-major player. Right now, I would say he is a high-major football recruit.

Mitch McGary SYF-First weekend of the spring for McGary and he looked great. Quick for his size, good range to about 17 feet, ability to finish around the rim with both hands. Big potential if his grades don't hold him back.

Griffin Mckenzie Eric Gordon-Mckenzie showed his full range this past weekend. Hitting a handful of 3's, but he is not soft like a lot of big guys that can shoot. He is more than willing to bang inside and has decent athleticism.

Keith Appling Michigan Mustangs-Appling is ridiculously explosive. Also showed that he can shoot at least at the mid-range. Michigan State has a good one here.

Ray McCallum Jr. Team Detroit- Quicker than I remember, long for a point guard, smart as a coach's son, and also displayed his range behind the arc. Great weekend for Ray.

Terrone Johnson Eric Gordon-Johnson had a very solid weekend. He displayed his full game...driving, mid-range, 3pt. range. He is better than what I saw from him during the high school season.

Those would be my most impressive from the 16U and 17U age groups. I didn't see enough 15's to have a list for them. Also, Erik Fromm ended up committing to Butler University this week.

Spiece Memorial Day tournament this weekend in Fort Wayne. No Indiana Elite teams will be there. I will get a catch to see Spiece Indy Fastbreak who were not at the Adidas May Classic.

Take Your Pick-Round 2

Here is part two of my take your pick series. Look for it in a paper(the thing old people read) near you soon.

Donnie Hale or Erick Fromm?

Both very similar to each other. Each at about 6'7 and both post players first and foremost. Hale is a little bit more athletic than Fromm. Fromm a little more skilled with a bit more range. I would go with Fromm in this debate.

Who is the better college prospect...Justin Gant or Austin Burgett?

Both 6'7+ with perimeter skills. Burgett is better handling the ball and Gant is a better outside shooter at this point. Gant is a year older than Burgett though. At the same stage, Burgett is better but Gant improved a lot over the last year. I will still go with Burgett by a nose in the match-up.

Better college prospect...Chris Welker or Neal Beshears?

Welker is very good in the post, but he won't be playing the post much if he goes D-1. He could take smaller guys inside, but he will probably be more on the perimeter. Beshears is ridiculously long which with work could make him unreal on the defensive end. He needs work on that part of his game though. Beshears is a better slasher. I think Beshears' game translates very easily to the college level and Welker's does not. I'd take Beshears here.

Better prospect...Jesse Berry or Terone Johnson?

Johnson verbally committed to Purdue is obviously a good prospect and a great shooter. Berry is an explosive scorer and a great athlete. There are a lot of questions about Berry's attitude and problems. Berry would be better if he had no questions swirling about his head. I'll take Johnson but Berry could easily be better if he gets his head on straight soon. That is one huge IF!

More at a later date...I can't think of any good, close comparisons right now.