Buckeye Prep Winter Showcase Recap

Jaydin Arnold, Taylor Bacon, Donte Ingram, Trent Lloyd & Shelby Humphrey

Despite the winter storm that had moved into the greater Cincinnati area on Saturday, die hard basketball fans made the trek to Woodward High School to participate in the inaugural Buckeye Prep Winter Showcase. Approximately 100 players participated in this 2-day event that attracted a number of talented players from the southwest area of the state. The event wrapped up on Sunday with a series of all-star games in three divisions.

One of the best players we saw on Saturday was one of the youngest players. Jaydin Arnold is a highly skilled 3^rd grader with big game. He handles the rock superbly, and doesn’t mind sharing it with open teammates. He’s young, but this kid can really play.  We were also really impressed with Taylor Bacon (4^th grade PG ), who like Arnold, has excellent ball handling skills.  Bacon is quick; is always in attack mode and can really score the ball. We plan to keep an eye on Donte Ingram Jr. (4^th Grade PG) who almost single handily kept his squad in games. Ingram pushes the rock from base line to baseline with great speed and excels at getting to the cup. Joshua Brown, Jeremiah Henderson, Trent Lloyd and Shelby Humphrey were also standouts on day-1 of the event.

In the 5^th/6^th grade division, no one dominated more than big Will Sizer, Sizer, a 6’0 center from Cincinnati, is a horse in the paint. Sizer, a 6^th grader, is strong and is more than capable of finishing close the cup with defenders draped all over him. Sizer has nice hands and decent footwork for a player so young.  Oh yea, if your not careful, Sizer will drop 30 on you and make it look easy. The biggest surprise of the day was the play of Osean Anuford, a 4’10 PG from Cincinnati.  We had not seen him before, but Anuford’s dynamic game was quite impressive. Anuford is an elite score who can score at all three levels, but can also set up teammates with a drive and dish.  From what we saw, Anuford needs to be mentioned among the best in the state in the class of 2021! We also really liked Aaron Davis II (5’4 WF 2021 Cincinnati). Davis shoots the trey ball well and is an able and willing passer.

 

Will Sizer, Paul McMillan, Osean Anuford, KK Bransford & Aaron Davis

Not only are we convinced he is one of the most elite point guards in the state, everything we saw in Cincinnati on Saturday indicates that Paul McMillan IV (5’4 PG 2022) Cincinnati should get more respect nationally. McMillan has the ball on the string, has great vision and passing skills and is an élite shooter from deep.  Like most elite floor generals, McMillan plays with great pace, makes good decisions with the rock and rarely turns that thing over.  Because he has good size, McMillan can play more physical.  He can also create his own shot Very impressed with the kid! Remember this name, KK Bransford, a 5’1 PG from Cincinnati will be playing major college basketball for a lucky D-I program in a few years. She may be a female playing with the boys, but you would never know it by her game. Advanced skills, tough as nails and relentless best describe her game right now.  We know she has had success in past events, but Saturday was really the first time we had enough to watch her play and appreciate her game. Big upside potential!

Darrion Henry, Dontae Mosley, Dare Moffit, Ronald Hampton & D'Marco Howard

The 7^th/8^th grade division featured several big time players as well. One of the most impressive performances we saw all day included Darrion Henry (6’3 PF 2020 Cincinnati). Henry has good size, is strong, athletic and rebounds in bunches.  Henry also runs the floor well and does not mind doing his work in the paint.  Dontae Mosley (6’3 PF 2021 Cincinnati) also has good size, but also has the skills to be productive further away from the basket.  Mosley can knock down the open shot; he defends well and can also get up and down the court well. We got our first look at Dare Moffett (6’1 PF 2019 Cincinnati) and we liked what we saw. A good athlete who shoots it well from the mid range and off the bounce, Moffett has good upside potential. D’Marco Howard (5’8 SG 2019 Fairfield) and Ronald Hampton Jr. (5’7 PG 2019 Huber Heights) both logged in solid performances.  All in all it was a great first year event that gave us an opportunity to evaluate players who we had not seen before.  Congrats to Paul McMillan for making the event happen!

Top Performers:

3^rd/4^th Grade Division

Jaiden Arnold (3^rd)

Taylor Bacon (4^th)

Trent Lloyd (4^th)

Donte Ingram Jr. (4^th)

Joshua Brown (4^th)

Jermaine Matthews (4^th)

Jeremiah Henderson (4^th)

Shelby Humprey (4^th)

5^th/6^th Grade Division

Will Sizer (6^th)

Osean Anuford (6^th)

Dillon Britton (6^th)

Aaron Davis II (6^th)

Kelvin Turner (6^th)

Antonio Lowe (6^th)

Paul McMillan Jr (5^th)

KK Bransford (5^th)

7^th/8^th Grade Division

D’Marco Howard (8^th)

Mario Freeman (8^th)

Ronald Hampton (8^th)

BJ Bransford (8^th)

Shubh Khandhadia (8^th)

Brad Colbert (8^th)

Dontae Mosley (7^th)

Darrion Henry (7^th)

Prophet Johnson (7^th)

Dare Moffett (8th)

Top Performer Pictures

All-Star Teams

Photo Gallery