Opening Salvo from Nike

Marah Strickland, representing Towson Catholic High in Maryland, was among the most impressive performers at the opening session of the 2006 Nike Women's Skills Academy. We take a look at each of the 16 participants.

PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON

BEAVERTON, Ore. - HoopGurlz.com is kicking off its summer hoops coverage at the 2006 Nike Girls Skills Academy where an impressive group of talented young ballers has been assembled for the second straight year. The field leans east, unlike last year’s crop which had a West Coast flavor with Jacki Gemelos, Jayne Appel, Angie Bjorklund and Morghan Medlock. Bjorklund is injured (stress fracture) and the others have graduated, opening the door for some new faces to make names or themselves against some of the best anywhere.

The first day of the academy was a shortened with a 2 1/2-hour session in the evening. Most of the kids initially were tentative, prompting the coaches to egg them on with comparisons to last year’s group and use of the word “soft.” Needless to say the intensity picked up right after that. With this in mind we give you first impressions from the 2006 Nike Girls Skills Academy.

2006 Nike Girls Skills Academy Participants:

Ashley Cimino (Portland, Me.)
A wing-forward tweener who has good length and isn’t afraid to raise up from three-point range. In this setting, her lack of strength is sticking out some. Her handle at full speed in the open court was a little shaky. It will be interesting to see how she progresses against the stronger bigs and the quicker perimeter players.

Cetera DeGraffenreid (Sylva, N.C.)
One of two true point guards at the academy; early indications have DeGraffenreid and Shela White battling each other all weekend. They had a very competitive matchup in Virginia back in April and they’re picking up where they left off, attacking each other.

Caroline Doty (Fort Washington, Pa.)
She looked solid in the one-on-one drills with some smooth crossovers. She had some trouble finishing with contact but being a 2008 some of the stronger guards are a year older. She was limited in the first scrimmage game with a minor injury; she returned for the second game.

Asia Hemingway appears to lose her head

Ayana Dunning (Columbus, Ohio)
She didn’t look her listed height of 6-3 but nevertheless battled inside with the other posts and had a good showing. She is strong and uses her weight well, rebounds and moves pretty well. In some of the drills she attacked the basket off two feet with a narrow base which may hurt her balance when contact is added in competition. She came up with a game-saving block in the second competition.

Nadexda Grishaeva (Russia/Philadelphia, Pa.)
Long and crafty with the ball she hit the game winner in overtime of the first five-on-five competition, a sweeping hook shot from eight feet away. Around the basket she could be stronger and have better balance and needs to keep the ball high where pesky guards can’t slap the ball away.

Iasia Hemingway (Newark, N.J.)
She brought energy to the floor, attacked the basket fearlessly in competition. She’s got pretty nice handle and during the drill work she kept a great attitude and looked like a leader lifting up the others at her basket after each rep.

Lynette Kizer (Dumfries, Va.)
Bigger and stronger than I remembered her, she held her own against the other posts. Much like Hemingway she was encouraging everyone with each rep and worked hard the entire session. She is very fluid with her strong hand but needs to continue to develop her left hand. She showed very good footwork and pivots.

Ta'Shia Phillips (Indianapolis, Ind.)
The biggest player in the camp plays like it, as she uses her size advantage well. She gets her body low and drives into the opposition. Phillips will be an interesting one to watch the rest of the camp as she appears to be noticeably improved from a year ago.

Jeanette Pohlen (Brea, Calif.)
She’s not the most athletic wing player but she still beat everyone to the ball and found herself in the right spots defensively and made a difference. She had some trouble in some one-on-one drills, but I don’t think anyone expects her to take DeGraffenreid off the dribble from 20 feet out. She used her strength to finish.

Brookilyn Pope (Fort Worth, Texas)
She’s an impressive athlete and the most explosive player here. She was elevating rim high on her offensive post drills. Her footwork and off hand are limiting her right now. She gets up and down the floor, rebounds and changes opponent’s shots. Pope has a very high ceiling and is just starting to figure out how good she can be.

Jeanette Pohlen freezes a defender with
a hesitation move

Kim Rodgers(Virginia Beach, Va.)
She was aggressive going to the basket despite struggling against quicker players some. She’s known as a pure shooter and is being pushed to build her handle.

Chay Shegog (Stafford, Va.)
She brought the camp coaches to their feet when she busted out her patented up-fake and step through in the second game of the evening. Her biggest challenge will be dealing with the strength advantage some of the other posts and it should be a good challenge she can build on throughout the weekend.

Marah Strickland (Towson, Md.)
She is the biggest scoring threat of the perimeter players. In the team’s come back win in the first competition she scored eight of her team’s 12 points with two three point bombs and wicked full up jumper. She’s a complete scoring package with good size to be effective on the defensive end.

April Sykes (Crawford, Miss.)
Her biggest asset right now is her strength. She’s not as quick as some of the other guards but is smooth handling the ball and uses her strength to get into the defender’s hips. The quicker guards can really help push her this weekend if she steps up to the challenge.

Jasmine Thomas (Vienna, Va.)
She’s one of the best athletes here. She showed off her crazy hops when she stopped on a dime and hit her pullup jumper in the one-on-one drills. Her passing was on point in the competition as well.

Krystal Thomas (Orlando, Fla.)
She looked like the quickest of the posts but much like Shegog, she’s going to be challenged by the strength of the other posts. She’s got solid footwork but will need to really focus on keeping her body low and strong.

Shela White (Portsmouth, Va.)
She displayed the best handle during dribble moves and open-floor drills, and seems poised to go tooth-and-nail with DeGraffenreid all weekend, reprising the matchup many observers thought she won at the Boo Williams Invitational.

We’re also expecting some surprise visits from some of the players returning from the FIBA Americas World Championship Qualifying Tournament later in the weekend. Note one of the confirmed invitees did not make it the Nike World Headquarters for undisclosed reasons. Sydney Colson of Houston, Texas was scheduled to be at the academy but is not in attendance to date.

Further coverage of the Skills Academy will be exclusive on HoopGurlz.com, the website that also brought you the most extensive coverage of this year’s top events for girl’s, including:

Boo Williams Invitational

USA Basketball U18 Trials

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Our Complete Nike Skills Coverage Menu:

Magnifient Marah
Marah Strickland has staked her claim as one of the nation's best '07 prospects.

Stanford Bags Another Big
The hot-recruiting Cardinal land a 6-feet-5 shooter.

A Krystal Clear Forward
Krystal Thomas has made it clear that she is an elite 2007 power forward prospect, and not a post.

No More Doubting Thomas
Jasmine Thomas picks up the pieces after not making the USA U18 team.

Opening Salvo
A look at the opening session of the Nike Women's Skills Academy.

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