Two entertaining games at SJJ Friday night in the Toledo City League finals for Freshmen and JV. SJJ wins the freshmen title with a 58-44 win over Central. Titans finished the season 20-0 and had only one game all season closer than 9 points. Central won the JV title by 4 points. Since this is a freshmen thread, I'll mention that four of the area's higher-ranked non-varsity freshmen played in these two games.

Last night was a good chance for some of us to finally get to see some of the freshmen who don't play varsity this year. Speaking of just the 9th graders who played last night at St. John's:

--Freshmen Deonte Cole from Central hit several 3's at key times to help lead his team to victory, and sealed the win with two free throws with just a few seconds to play. Cole and teammate CJ Bussey (mostly played point for Central JV) are among the PrepSpotlight Magazine Top 70 Freshmen in Ohio. Bussey had a good game as well but sat quite a bit of the first half with foul trouble. The other JV frosh listed in the magazine is SJJ's Tony Harper, who has been a key player and starter all year for the Titans. Both CCHS and SJJ have some other quality freshmen playing on their JV teams.

--In the freshmen game won by SJJ, Central has a good-shooting guard Zachary Pacer who looks like he could be a player down the road for the Irish and Darnell Moody who is athletic and has some handles. SJJ looks to have several promising prospects, led by Scott Hicks (quite athletic and a good slasher) and point guard Austin Gardner who is one of 10 Northwest Ohio frosh in the PrepSpotlight "Ohio Top 70". Some people around me agreed that Gardner looked to be one of the better players in either game -- leading scorer and passer but also very good defense. It was reported that the SJJ frosh went 20-0 this season. If that's true it doesn't surprise me getting a chance to watch them last night (saw most of their game and all of the JV game).

Bottom line is both SJJ and Central have some real potential for the future. Both programs return key varsity players and have some talent coming up right behind at the freshmen and sophomore levels. Which program is better prepared to stay on top? Hard to answer, but its pretty clear both will be battling the TCL title for years to come.

irish_buffalo wrote: Dont be surprised if two of those kids profiled in The Blade today are playing at SJ next season.

Rossford, I thought the same thing. Nigel has tremendous talent and upside and is a great kid (4.0 student says a bunch) but to say that you are going to North Carolina and then after two years going to turn pro? He didnt even say that is what he'd like to do, he said that is what he is going to do.

I hope that all happens but he needs a ton of work before ever making it to that level. I do like the confidence though.

Its gotta be tough when your always told how great you are.

I've seen several young talents come through the TCL, play as freshman, and not be much better as seniors.

Yes, Nigel would like to go to either North Carolina, Kentucky or Ohio State and after two years, go pro. The confidence that he's taught to always have, comes out when he speaks. He knows he has three more years of high school and his mind could change again like it already has. I wouldn't say he needs a ton of work, but there are 3 areas that he knows he needs to get better in and 1 area that will come with maturity. If he busts his butt on those areas, by next season, he'll be fine and he'll show how much better he is as a sophomore than he was as a freshman.

When anyone entrusts his/her child with someone, and the expectations fall short of what was promised, what do you do.....? All you can to do is pick up the pieces and move forward to get everything back on track.

Nigel gladly and humbly takes constructive criticism, as well as compliments, especially when it's coming from people who know what they're talking about and who really have his best interest at heart. Until he's inducted into Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, being told he's great goes in one ear and out the other.
Maybe next year at the games when my husband sees you, you guys can chit chat.

Not sure how to interpret all of that last post. So is the family going to split up and Nigel go to another school next year? Does "picking up the pieces" mean something else? Not required of course for any of us to know for sure, but just thought I'd ask for more clarification.

ross ford81 wrote: Not sure how to interpret all of that last post. So is the family going to split up and Nigel go to another school next year? Does "picking up the pieces" mean something else? Not required of course for any of us to know for sure, but just thought I'd ask for more clarification.

No, picking up the pieces means doing what he needs to do to fill in for what he's not getting in high school to become a complete player.

OK thanks. I understand where you're coming from.

ross - How's this years 8th graders look outside of Glover Jr. I've seen him play and am very very impressed...

Two things: There are several 8th graders that appear today to be top notch talents with great potential. But I candidly don't know the 2014 class all that well. I'm told by Toledo City and Northwest Ohio observers that the 2013 class (from guard play through posts and power forwards) might be the best class in a long, long time -- only say might because at this young age I hate to act as though anyone's future is guaranteed, but the potential is unreal. Our area is probably the best freshmen class regionally in the entire state. The 2013 class is also far better than the 2012 class. This year's juniors (2011) is fairly strong especially at the wing and point guard spot. That's a quick analysis for now...maybe more later.

It will be interesting to see how things play out with the budget shortfalls in Toledo now.

More kids and more talent and the number of schools and options getting smaller leaves more talent at any given school. If Libbey closes (they have several very talented juniors on top of younger kids) and if the rest of the TPS schools cut athletics it will be interesting to see where everyone winds up.

Not saying I like it, but it is what it is.

Glover Jr.? Dad go to Scott?

ross ford81 wrote: Two things: There are several 8th graders that appear today to be top notch talents with great potential. But I candidly don't know the 2014 class all that well. I'm told by Toledo City and Northwest Ohio observers that the 2013 class (from guard play through posts and power forwards) might be the best class in a long, long time -- only say might because at this young age I hate to act as though anyone's future is guaranteed, but the potential is unreal. Our area is probably the best freshmen class regionally in the entire state. The 2013 class is also far better than the 2012 class. This year's juniors (2011) is fairly strong especially at the wing and point guard spot. That's a quick analysis for now...maybe more later.

Well the class of 2013 has to top the class of 1996, right? Tate, Coleman, Howard, numerous others as the best class from NW Ohio that I can remember.

irish_buffalo wrote: Glover Jr.? Dad go to Scott?

Father and son from what I've been told...

Bialorucki: Better than 1996? Maybe. Potentially. But that's why I referenced "might" as we often put too much hype of 15-year olds when so much (good and bad) can happen in the high school years.

Mr. Russell wrote: Who are the top freshman in the state this season? Don't even list freshman or JV players.

Brandon Smith-Sandusky Perkins 6'2 Guard, this kid averaged double digits 12 or 13ppg and 5 rebounds and 3 assists with 15 turnovers the whole year, a true talent

Mr. Russell wrote: Alex Bates from Smithville is going to be a star.

Canton McKinley's freshman big man was very impressive in the two games I saw this year as well.

Is it true that Bates will turn 17 on March 12th. If that is true he will not be able to play when he is a senior.

Mr. Russell wrote: Alex Bates from Smithville is going to be a star.

Canton McKinley's freshman big man was very impressive in the two games I saw this year as well.

Mr. Russell wrote: Mike Mills is the name I couldn't remember yes.

Bates is a 6'2 point guard scoring 8+ points, 5.5 boards, and 4 assists for the Smithville Smithies.

Is it true that Bates is going to turn 17 on March 12 ?

Somebody will probably be able to confirm whether that is true of Bates or not. If so, he should be classified as a sophomore for basketball eligibility purposes. There is another player with precisely the same birthday in Ohio who is in a similar position as Bates (too old to finish his senior year) if this is true of Bates.

All Star-type camps are already underway for high school players in Ohio. There is a report on the Buckeye Prep Report website from Saturday's "Showcase" at Ohio Dominican listing the top freshmen players from the camp and there are camps scheduled the final Sunday of March (28th) in Columbus as well.

Checked into the situation, Bates turned sixteen that date, not seventeen.

Which means he is fine to participate all four years of high school. By the way, Hidden Gems has an all-star type camp at Harvest Prep on Sunday, and I thought All-Ohio's program also had a camp in Columbus as well. Any reports from these camps would be interesting, especially for purposes of this thread if any freshmen do well or stand out (hard to do at camps with seniors and juniors who are working on college scholarships).

Kyle Wilgus, a SG from Ready, should be a good one.

Ohio High school Hoops top freshman:
OHSH All-Freshmen Team

Danny Monteroso- St. Clairsville- 6’1- 21.5 ppg.
Marc Loving- Toledo St. John’s- 6’7- 12.8 ppg.
Demonte Flannigan- Cleveland VASJ- 6’7- 13.1 ppg.
Devin Williams- Cincinnati Withrow- 6’7- 11.9 ppg.
DJ Wingfield Jr.- Cincinnati Country Day- 6’3- 17.7 ppg.
Maurice O’Field- Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin- 6’5- 13.5 ppg.
Nigel Hayes- Toledo Whitmer- 6’7- 14.2 ppg.
Tony Farmer- Garfield Heights- 6’7- 8.5 ppg.
Jordan Lauf- Napoleon- 14.4 ppg.
Jaaron Simmons- Kettering Alter- 5’10- 10.7 ppg.
Jake Phillis- Zanesville Rosecrans- 5’9- 12.1 ppg.
Marcus Ball- Westerville South- 6’3-
Evan Bradds- Jamestown Greeneview- 6’6- 15.0 ppg.
Mark Williams- Cleveland Benedictine- 6’7
Isaac McGlone- Bloom-Carroll- 6’1-

Did the kid from St Clairsville actually avg 21.5 ppg for varisty? That has to be some kind of record for a freshman. How come I have not heard that much about him. That is alot more than Geno Ford or Mike Powell avgeraged as freshman and look where they are on the all time Ohio scoring list!

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/player?recruitId=106219&season=2013&action=login&appRedirect=http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/player%3frecruitId%3d106219%26season%3d2013

He is already on the college recruiting front, so he must be pretty legit.

Mr. Russell you sound like a true parent! Alex is a good player with a bright future, but I wouldn't list him as one of the tops in the state. He wouldn't have started on a good team that plays in a tougher conference than the Wayne County League. This is why you shouldn't exclude other freshmen that only played freshmen or JV. Kids get better at different rates, so there may be some from within Wayne County that end up better than Alex Bates. The Wooster Generals had a couple of good freshmen players who started JV, Stokes and Blair, that could be considered better players than Bates. If they would have went to Smithville they may have started and did just as good if not better than the "Future".