Holloway Already Ahead of the Game

Askia Holloway Jr 2029 PG Dayton

From what we hear and what we see in the mixtape below, Askia Holloway Jr. (2029/PG/Dayton) is already ahead of many players in his class.  Not only is his handle elite for his age (8), his ability and willingness to find open teammates is nothing less than spectacular.  Moreover, he already changes speed and direction and understands how to create space at a high level.  But that’s not all; he also defends well, and just when we thought he was just all about dropping dimes, we learned that he’s offensively gifted as well, with his ability to get to the cup create space shoot from deep. 

This past winter, Holloway played in the local Dayton Metro League and averaged about 18-19 points per game, and in the summer, he ran with All-Ohio Red, where averaged about 9 points per game. This summer, he will play for his father and the Cincinnati-based Bates Fundamental. We hope to get a closer look at Holloway later this summer.  Shout out to T3TV for keeping us updated on the top young talent in the state! T3TV and his team will be covering the Buckeye Prep Invitational Tournament March 27th-29th.

Askia Holloway Jr. Mixtape 

Warriors End Season with Championship

New Birth Warriors-6th Grade Presidents Day Cup Champion

This past weekend, Coach Bradley’s 6^th grade New Birth Warriors team capped off the 2019/2020 winter season with a 4-0 run and a title at the MWX Presidents Day Cup Tournament in Cincinnati. With wins over Crossover Elite (86-5), Kentucky Show (by 17 points), Team Breeze Elite (57-45) and Cincy Shock (57-42), New Birth ran their season long record to an impressive 33-1.  According to Bradley, despite being shorthanded and down 2 players, one of which was a starter, his team…”played strong, with tempo and pressured all weekend.”  Standouts for the Warriors included Darek Whitfield, Alex Campanili, JR Bates and Khani Thomas.  Congrats to New Birth for a great season!

R4L Pioneers Take Down #1 to Claim Title

R4L Pioneers KBC C2C President's Day Tourney Champs

With their 5-0 run at the KBC C2C President’s Day Hoops Palooza in Lexington, KY this past weekend, the Cincinnati-based 2027 R4L Pioneers brought back a championship to the Buckeye State.  On their trek to the title, R4L had to take down 2 nationally ranked teams, including the #15 ranked Memphis Basketball Association in the semi-finals (41-35) and the #1 ranked Indy Premiere in the championship game (52-50).  In their other wins, R4L defeated Team Rise (40-11), Team Sac (50-15) and KBE Academy (52-33).

Having combined with Mike Hill’s Cincinnati Elite organization for this tournament, R4L arrived in Lexington with added firepower. However, according to Assistant Coach Carlos Davis, despite competing a combined team, “the team played very well together.” Standout performers for R4L included Joshua Tyson (2027/G/Cincinnati) and Bryce Curry (2027/WF/Cincinnati).  You can catch R4L in action at our Buckeye Prep Invitational Tournament scheduled for March 27^th-29^th.  Congratulations to both organizations for the win!

Buckeye Prep 2029 Watch List Released

Clevenger, Stewart, Blackmon, Sam & Postell

Below is our initial list of some of the top players in Ohio’s class of 2029.  This list represents our initial shot at identifying the top 3^rd graders in the state. As you would expect, because it’s so early for this class, we are nowhere near having a complete list.  As the 2020 travel season unfolds, we will be adding names to the list on almost a weekly bases as we find about standout performances at various tournaments, camps and showcases. To reach our goal, it’s vital that we receive feedback and input from the top coaches in this class.  In fact, we always invite credible and non-biased information from those who are closer to the action.

Fortunately for us, we’ll get a chance to see most of this class at our March 27^th-29^th Buckeye Prep Invitational Tournament here in Columbus.  As always, if you have any information about players and can help us with our list, please email us at: Buckeyeprep@yahoo.com and we will make updates.  Let the debate begin!

3rd Grade/2029 Watch List

COBBA League Championship Tournament Results

Pickerington-3rd Grade COBBA Champions

On Sunday, we had the opportunity to spend some time at Reynoldsburg HS checking out the action at the Central Ohio Boys Basketball Association’s (COBBA) season ending championship.  In the first game we watched, Reynoldsburg’s 3^rd grade boy’s team defeated Olentangy by a final score of 31-21.  In the game, Reynoldsburg jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never really looked back. Leading the way for Reynoldsburg was Steve Blackmon (2029/G/Reynoldsburg), who went for a game-high 9 points.  Right behind him in scoring was Michael Sellers who added 7 points.  Running the point for Reynoldsburg was Tyler Postell. We were also impressed with the play of Olentangy’s Ashland Hanna, who showed a great skill set and feel for the game.

In the 3^rd grade championship game, Reynoldsburg faced off against Pickerington who they had faced 2 other times earlier this season, This rubber match game (1-1) started off tight, as the lead changed hands several times in the 1^st quarter.  By the end of the first period the game was still relatively close at 15-14 in favor of Pickerington.  However, by mid second quarter, Pickerington started flexing their muscles and was ahead 21-14 at the 1:30 mark.  The game was out of hand by the end of the 3^rd period (40-18), and Pickerington would go on to win the title by a final score of 52-23.  Pickerington was led in scoring by the dynamic Dallas Stewart (2029/G/Pickerington) who dropped a gaudy 20 points in the win.  If you will recall, we published a feature on Stewart several weeks ago, and his play today did not disappoint.  This kid has a chance to be good!

Tucker, Stewart, Blckmon, Hanna, Postell & Hopson

In other action, Reynoldsburg’s 4^th grade team took the 4^th grade title with an easy 57-23 win over Olentangy.  In the contest, we were super impressed with the play of Gabriel Tucker (2028/G/Reynoldsburg), who dropped a game-high 22 points in the win.  We’ve seen Tucker in action on several occasions and have him as one of the top 5 players in the state in the class of 2028.  We also have to give a shout out to the Renaissance Seminoles for winning the 3^rd grade girl’s championship with an 18-11 victory over New Albany.  In terms of standouts, we were impressed with the play of Sarai Hopson (2029/G/Columbus), who impressed us with her poise and play at the point. All in all, it was a great afternoon of basketball! Congratulations to all of the teams and players for a great run.

Photo Gallery

Basketball Spotlight to Cover Buckeye Prep Invitational

As further proof of our commitment to provide maximum exposure at all of our events, in addition to our own in-house media coverage, we have contracted with Mike Melton’s Basketball Spotlight organization to provide even more extensive media coverage of our Buckeye Prep Invitational Tournament, which is currently scheduled for March 27^th-29^th.  

As most youth basketball fans know by now, Mike Melton and basketball Spotlight are one of the nation’s most prominent authorities on youth basketball.  Not only will team and player related stories and features appear on the Buckeye Prep website and social media platforms, there will be full coverage on Basketball Spotlight’s website and social media as well. Basketball Spotlight's partitipation will provide more broad coverage on the east coast and beyond. 

As our motto states, we provide “Elite Competition and Maximum Exposure! Parents, tell your coaches you want the team to participate in the Buckeye Prep Invitational!  Registration is open now!

Basketball Spotlight Link

Information Page Link

Registration Link

Johnson Commits to Big Ten

Sonny Johnson Jr. 5'10" PG Garfield Heights 2022

Because we always track the players that participate in our events, we would like to give a shout out to Buckeye Prep Elite Showcase Alum Sonny Johnson Jr. (5’10”/PG/Cleveland/2022) for his recent commitment to Penn State.  We have watched Johnson excel for years at our tournaments and elite showcases so it comes as no surprise to us that the Peen State coaching staff has recognized his talent.  A highly skilled PG, Johnson can either score himself or create opportunities for teammates. Despite an ACL injury that cut short his sophomore season, Penn State remained committed to Johnson, who will return to Garfield Heights for his junior season.  With his commitment to Penn State, Johnson will now join his cousin, Meechie Johnson in the Big Ten. We can’t wait to watch both Johnson boys light up the Big Ten in a couple of years.