Monday, June 22, 2020

Williams and Ohio United Prepare to Resume Season

Sole Williams 5'9" PG 2023 Cincinnati
Since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year, we’ve virtually disengaged from all things summer basketball.  However, this past Saturday we spent some time checking out some talented young ladies as they prepared to resume their 2020 travel basketball season with the first-year Ohio United program. Our primary goal was to gage the development of Sole Williams (5’9”/PG/2023/Cincinnati), a Buckeye Prep Elite Showcase alum who really impressed us at several of our elite showcases the past couple of years. 

What was crystal clear from the 2-hour practice we watched is the fact that Williams has continued to develop and is poised for a breakout season when she returns for her sophomore year with the Princeton Vikings. Not only did we establish that Williams has continued to get better, and is more than deserving of her multiple scholarship offers and high major interest from programs like Ohio State, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Xavier, Marquette, Pittsburg, Arizona, Akron (offers), Louisville, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Ole Miss and Arizona State; we also learned that her U-17 Ohio United (OU) squad is absolutely brimming over with talent.  In fact, OU’s roster has at least 15 players with D-I offers already in hand. 

Some of the big name players on the U-17 Ohio United roster include: Ayanna Patterson (6’4”/WF/2022/Ft. Wayne, IN), Alexis Hess (6’1”/WF/2023/Redding, PA), Maliyah Johnson (6’1”/W/PF2021/Columbus, OH), and Jordan Wright(5’7”/PG/2022/Detroit, MI).  Not only is the U-17 team loaded, Ohio Unity’s program has a number of younger players who are also elite. Some of those studs include: Charia Smith (6’2”/PF/2022/Columbus, OH), Abby Riddle (5’11”/CG/2023/Baltimore, OH), and Kamryn Grant (6’1”/WF/2024/Columbus, OH).

Although a majority of travel teams have shut it down for the season. Coach Richard Jeter’s squad is practicing a couple of times per week here in Columbus with plans to resume their season in July.  Depending on the information coming out of the NCAA, Ohio United’s plans include local and major tournaments around the country as well as elite college exposure events.  Based on the talent level in this program as well as some of the big names that are supporting the program (i.e., Mike Flynn), the future looks bright for this fledging organization.  We intend to keep an eye out for their progress.