05-30-2010, 01:30 PM
I spent some time today back in Lexington at the Wildcat Memorial Showdown at the KBA facility and several other locations around the town.
As much as I like the talent level in the state on the boys side, it's not even close the girls' have so much more high-level talent. It's a lot of fun to watch the elite girls compete.
The event runs Sunday and Monday. The schedule can be found at the following LINK
Here are some thoughts:
The Kentucky Premier 17s team is loaded with much of the state's top talent, including Makayla Epps, Kyvin Goodin-Rogers and Bre Elder all of Marion County. The trio of Lady Knights have all shown improvement since the high school season ended. Epps and Goodin-Rogers are both using their left hands a lot more and Epps seems more under control. The daughter of former Kentucky star point guard Anthony Epps said she recently picked up an offer from Rutgers and she's nowhere close to making a decision on where she'll attend college. Epps just finished her freshman season. Also a sophomore-to-be, Goodin-Rogers is the daughter of former Louisville star Tick Rogers and said "right now, I'm favoring Louisville," but she noted she's also not ready to make a commitment. Elder is solid and a perfect role player - getting loose balls, diving on the floor after balls and playing tremendous defense.
Rockcastle County senior-to-be Sara Hammond played like the No. 27 player in the country (ranked by HoopGurlz.com) for the Kentucky Premier team. She's physically so strong and has such a reach that she's a defensive force. Hammond cuffed one shot, came down with it and threw the outlet for an easy layup. She said there have been new schools coming onto her list, including Notre Dame and Georgia, but she still would like to make a decision around the start of the new school year.
One player on that Kentucky Premier team that was better than I had remembered was Pulaski Southwestern senior-to-be Danay Fothergill. She's got good athleticism, nice handles and can shoot or drive to the basket. She's an under-the-radar player for sure.
How stacked can one AAU team be? Well, lets just say you don't see anything like the Tennessee Flight Silver team very often on the boys' side of the AAU scene. The Flight squad is LOADED. The first game they won 77-15 or something like that and every kid on the team played a ton of minutes. I don't know all of the kids on the team but I would expect they are all future Division I players. Owensboro Catholic sophomore-to-be Rebecca Greenwell is on the squad and played a great first game. She has all the tools to be big-time. The best player on the team is Connecticut commitment Kaleena Lewis, a 6-foot-2 wing considered the No. 1 or 2 player in the country depending on the rankings. Post Isabelle Harrison (6-4) is ranked in the top 20 and point guard Ariel Massengale (5-7) is in the top 10. Both Harrison and Massengale are considering Kentucky. More on those two players later.
The Louisville Legends dropped a game to a solid team from Jacksonville (Fla.) but Manual's April Wilson is one of the best guards around. She's gotten stronger and you can tell that's really helped her game. I am a big fan of Ryle junior-to-be Jenna Crittendon and her improvement since the season. She's strong and athletic and while she plays down low on her high school team, fits in well at the wing spot.
Madison Central is going to have a solid team again next year if watching the Kentucky Premier B team is any indication. Ashton Feldhaus is really good and looks like she has grown some, while Jenna Cornelison is so underrated.
Had a chance to see a half of the Kentucky Crush older team and really liked the hard-nosed play of Harlan County's Miranda Davenport. Was also a big fan of Union County's Rachael Hodge and West Carter's Kristen Perry plays like she has been around the game for a while - and she has with her mother the former West Carter coach.
Former UK player and assistant coach Reggie Hanson has a daughter - Jaitesha Hanson - that is a member of the Class of 2013 and is very good. She attends Warton High School and has the skills and mindset to be a big-time player
http://jodydemling.courier-journal.com/2...wdown.html
As much as I like the talent level in the state on the boys side, it's not even close the girls' have so much more high-level talent. It's a lot of fun to watch the elite girls compete.
The event runs Sunday and Monday. The schedule can be found at the following LINK
Here are some thoughts:
The Kentucky Premier 17s team is loaded with much of the state's top talent, including Makayla Epps, Kyvin Goodin-Rogers and Bre Elder all of Marion County. The trio of Lady Knights have all shown improvement since the high school season ended. Epps and Goodin-Rogers are both using their left hands a lot more and Epps seems more under control. The daughter of former Kentucky star point guard Anthony Epps said she recently picked up an offer from Rutgers and she's nowhere close to making a decision on where she'll attend college. Epps just finished her freshman season. Also a sophomore-to-be, Goodin-Rogers is the daughter of former Louisville star Tick Rogers and said "right now, I'm favoring Louisville," but she noted she's also not ready to make a commitment. Elder is solid and a perfect role player - getting loose balls, diving on the floor after balls and playing tremendous defense.
Rockcastle County senior-to-be Sara Hammond played like the No. 27 player in the country (ranked by HoopGurlz.com) for the Kentucky Premier team. She's physically so strong and has such a reach that she's a defensive force. Hammond cuffed one shot, came down with it and threw the outlet for an easy layup. She said there have been new schools coming onto her list, including Notre Dame and Georgia, but she still would like to make a decision around the start of the new school year.
One player on that Kentucky Premier team that was better than I had remembered was Pulaski Southwestern senior-to-be Danay Fothergill. She's got good athleticism, nice handles and can shoot or drive to the basket. She's an under-the-radar player for sure.
How stacked can one AAU team be? Well, lets just say you don't see anything like the Tennessee Flight Silver team very often on the boys' side of the AAU scene. The Flight squad is LOADED. The first game they won 77-15 or something like that and every kid on the team played a ton of minutes. I don't know all of the kids on the team but I would expect they are all future Division I players. Owensboro Catholic sophomore-to-be Rebecca Greenwell is on the squad and played a great first game. She has all the tools to be big-time. The best player on the team is Connecticut commitment Kaleena Lewis, a 6-foot-2 wing considered the No. 1 or 2 player in the country depending on the rankings. Post Isabelle Harrison (6-4) is ranked in the top 20 and point guard Ariel Massengale (5-7) is in the top 10. Both Harrison and Massengale are considering Kentucky. More on those two players later.
The Louisville Legends dropped a game to a solid team from Jacksonville (Fla.) but Manual's April Wilson is one of the best guards around. She's gotten stronger and you can tell that's really helped her game. I am a big fan of Ryle junior-to-be Jenna Crittendon and her improvement since the season. She's strong and athletic and while she plays down low on her high school team, fits in well at the wing spot.
Madison Central is going to have a solid team again next year if watching the Kentucky Premier B team is any indication. Ashton Feldhaus is really good and looks like she has grown some, while Jenna Cornelison is so underrated.
Had a chance to see a half of the Kentucky Crush older team and really liked the hard-nosed play of Harlan County's Miranda Davenport. Was also a big fan of Union County's Rachael Hodge and West Carter's Kristen Perry plays like she has been around the game for a while - and she has with her mother the former West Carter coach.
Former UK player and assistant coach Reggie Hanson has a daughter - Jaitesha Hanson - that is a member of the Class of 2013 and is very good. She attends Warton High School and has the skills and mindset to be a big-time player
http://jodydemling.courier-journal.com/2...wdown.html