Saturday, February 17, 2018

Buckeye Prep Girl’s 2023 Player Watch List Released

Mari Bickley, Margo Mattes, Mahogany Cottingham, Shelby Humphrey, Paris Gilmore,  Sole Williams & Taylor Stanley
Although we are still attempting to identify more of top middle school girls’ players in the state of Ohio, we feel good enough with our current 7th grade list to publish it now.  In terms of our methodology, we reached out to as many 7th grade/2023 coaches as we could find, and for the most part, we received a great deal of cooperation and feedback from the coaches we contacted.

What has become clear very early, the Cincinnati/Dayton area girl’s basketball scene is the most talented, organized and committed to preparing players to compete at the next level.  Consequently, of the 3 “Top Player Lists” we will publish over the next couple of weeks, Cincinnati and Dayton are considerably more represented!  Quite simply, the coaches in this area were much more cooperative and responsive to our requests for information!

We certainly don’t know all of the top girls just yet, but we have already identified a few players who are elite, and have already established reputations that have landed them on the radars of college coaches.  Arguably the top 7th grader in the state is Mauri Bickley (5’9”/WF/2023/Akron), who has already secured a D-I scholarship offer from Akron, as well interest from several high major programs. 

Also, Margo Mattes (WF/Cincinnati), Mahogany Cottingham (5’8”/PG”/Parma), Shelby Humphrey (5’1“/Post/Cincinnati), Grace Barnes (SG/Cincinnati), Kendall Braaten (5’8”/WF/Beria), Paris Gilmore (CG/Youngstown), Madison Green (5’5”/CG/Licking Heights), Margo Hunt (C/Tri-Village), Rylee Sagester (5’5”/SG/Tri-Village), Raeven Ray-Redmond (WF/Cincinnati), Abby Riddle (5’9”/WF/Cincinnati), Sole Williams (SG/Cincinnati), T'asia Hill 
(5'5"/SG/2023/Toledo) and Taylor Stanley (SG/Cincinnati) are all potential top 10 players.  Again, we know there are others, but these names have been presented to use from area coaches.

Morgan Hunt, Gracie Barnes, T'asia Hill, Kendall Braaten & Rylee Sagester
As is the case with any list of this type, we know there are a number of players who deserve inclusion.  However, in order to receive exposure, players must participate in elite events where they can increase their chances of being seen and evaluated. The list below is just our initial effort to identify the state’s top players.  We are still working with coaches around the state to help us with the process. 

At the conclusion of our March 10th elite showcase we will be updating our Watch Lists to reflect the results of the event.  We will also be updating are picture database so we will be able to develop and post individual player profiles and features going forward.  Please take the time to review our list and provide us with feedback about what you see.

If we have made any mistakes please email us at: taylorobe@aol.com with the correct/updated information and we will make the necessary changes ASAP!  Finally, every player on our list is invited to our elite showcase and they need only register using the link below.  If you’re not on this list and you feel you deserve the recognition, register for our elite showcase and make your statement!





1 comment:

  1. The event was full of talented young ladies which was great for a new event and had/has so much potential to be a great event. I say this as I watched 2023, 2024 and 2022 games, including all star games, possibly at least one game for every team with possibly seeing every girl in a game at least once.

    Some constructive criticism though for possible future events:

    Even playing time is great however it possibly prevents coaches to not coach and players to do whatever they would like, such as not passing the ball, not playing defense, not rebounding etc . I spoke to one coach and expressed my concern that if I knew this was a free for all, after numerous players chucked shots up and im not talking about open good shots, with only the highest scorer being rewarded I would have told my daughter to shoot more instead of encouraged her to be a team player. From the form that was posted online I believed judgement on players was suppose to be on defense, hustle, shooting,spirited, etc. Hence why I felt very positive that this event had set itself apart from any other. The coach responded their hands are tied because due to even playing time they cannot bench the player chucking up shots. So disheartening and I walked away after the event stating not that it was a bad event but that I would never waste my money on a event that is only rewarding scorers. I watched so many games that girls could have taken the shots but instead were trying to play team ball and make that extra pass of the ball so they could make an easy layup seeing once again for those that did that no reward but the one that finished the shot was rewarded. I feel the encouragement of team ball is so discouraged as their are no rewards. Also if you have 7th and 8th graders do not divide them or if you do make sure its only 7th graders that can play at a high caliber level to put with 8th graders as it truly takes away from the event. Its not just this event I see it at most events. I have been to one or two events where the head person speaks to the girls beforehand and states they are looking for players that pass, defend and shoot..complete players. These are the only times Ive seen team balls at this type of events. If this event or any future event is only about scorers please let parents/players know in advance so they know what type of player they need to reveal.

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