Alex Montgomery was a scoring machine during the Top Ten games, which earned her a spot in the All-Star game. She was scoring every way imaginable, shooting threes, mid-range jumpers, slashing to the basket and going coast-to-coast off a rebound. In one game she had 20 at half time and hadn’t missed a shot. During a bracket game in the TOC, she had 25 points in the second half, alone. Georgia Tech is getting a real player who is just starting to realize her potential. She’s very vocal too on the floor, communicating with her teammates ,which isn’t something you typically see in an all-star type of event.
Amy Jaeschke was being recruiting heavily because of her size alone, but after seeing her step out and hit the short corner and elbow jumper as well as being able to finish around the basket it’s no wonder she is one of the most sought after “bigs” in the class. For her size she’s pretty mobile, has good hands and touch. Even in the camp setting where the guards dominate the ball and posts are an afterthought she was able to make an impact scoring the basketball. She moved to open spots on the court as well as fought for position inside. If anything, she could be more aggressive in calling for the ball.
Danielle Robinson built on her success at the End of the Trail and brought that momentum to Atlanta. There may not be a better open-court point guard in the country. She advances the ball up the court as fast as anyone and finishes on the break. Her quickness bothers people and she plays the game with lots of energy and passion. Increasing her shooting range would add another dimension and make her a handful at the college level.
Jence Rhoads has been overlooked. Maybe it’s the throwback 80’s shorts her team, Tri-State Rock Solid, sports or her upright posture, but the kid is a big-time player and a coach’s dream at the point guard spot. She showed during the Top Ten and TOC that she can make good decisions, hit open jumpers, penetrate to the basket, knock down free throws, defend and she has a wicked pull-up jumper to boot. She reminds me a lot of Sue Bird and her attitude on the court is great. She never pouts at a mistake or does cartwheels for a great play. Something tells me that after this summer Vanderbilt and Wake Forest won’t be the only big conference schools after her.
Brooklyn Pope loves the spotlight and she showed her athleticism and scoring ability in the Top Ten games. Because the guards dominated the ball in the All-Star game we didn’t see Brooklyn score too much in that game, but in the camp games she was a scoring machine. She scored 10 of her team’s first 18 points in their first game. She is a left hand away from being scary good at the next level.
Glory Johnson is an amazing athlete who can start and finish the break as well as handle the ball from the wing or forward position. She looks like a track star and gets up to hyper speed even with the ball. She had the chance for a breakaway dunk in the all-star game but went up off of two feet and came up short. Needless to say she is a great athlete.
Nneka Ogwumike may have the best hops of anyone, sans Pope. She continued to show she is a monster on the offensive rebounds. She did a great job of creating space for lob passes when she was fronted by the defense. Unfortunately the perimeter players weren’t used to a kid who can jump as well as she can and she has some of the best hands you can find. Most of the passes were under thrown when really she’s a kid you over throw to and she goes and gets it anyways making you look good.
TOP TEN ALL-AMERICAN ALL-STAR BOX
Upperclass adidas All American All-Stars (48)
Underclass adidas All American All-Stars (64)
Chris Hansen is the National Director of Scouting for Women's Basketball at HoopGurlz.com and Scout.com. Chris leads the panel that evaluates and ranks girl's basketball prospects nationally for HoopGurlz, Scout.com and Full Court Press (www.FullCourt.com). Chris has been involved in the women’s basketball community since 1998 as a coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. He can be reached at chansen@scout.com.