Top 100 Showcase gives Indiana players chance to be seen
Teams & Players | Colleges in Attendance | Photo Gallery | Return to regionroundball.com
by Region Roundball Review

Indianapolis - The second annual IBCA/IHSAA Top 100 Showcase was held at Ben Davis High School for the second year running, giving over 100 of Indiana's top rising seniors, juniors and sophomores an opportunity to be seen by a bevy of college coaches.

For those players not on the top AAU teams or members of the "exposure event only" teams, such as Glen Shepherd's Indiana Force, this was an unparalleled opportunity to get on the radar screen of coaches from over 50 colleges in attendance.

With the NCAA observation period shrinking on what seems to be an annual basis, college coaches are stretched to the limit in both time and resources.

As explained to us by one mid-major head coach, events such as this one are good for the local mid-majors, as they do not have the budgetary means to charter flights from event to event from one side of the country to the other. There is a lot of great talent in Indiana, and the Top 100 Showcase provides a unique opportunity for Indiana players and Indiana colleges to cross paths during the all-important summer recruiting period.

Activities got underway fairly early at 8:00 with registration and introductions starting at 8:35. After stretching and warm-ups, players were sent to drill stations in nine-minute intervals. A twenty minute presentation by a sports psychologist preceded the start of games, which began at 10:35 a.m.

Teams of nine players were paired up in games with 10-minute quarters and a running clock. Although players were assigned by position and height, it seemed that a couple of the teams were pretty well stacked. Team Black was made up of a strong guard contingent including Leah Phillips of Castle, headed to Indiana State, Melissa Lechlitner of SB St. Joe's, verbally committed to Notre Dame, Junior All-Star Core member Kahla Roudebush of Hamilton Southeastern, and impressive senior Kara Kramer of Tippecanoe Valley. They lacked the height needed to completely dominate, but if  North Central junior Amber Harris (6'5 F) had been able to make an appearance, this team would have been unstoppable.

Team Forest was probably the most dominant team we watched during the day, although scrappy Team Red, led by Indiana recruit Tara Miller of North Harrison, almost took one away from the trees. Made up of a superior post contingent, including Valparaiso senior Cassie Kerns, Gary Wallace junior Sharon Houston, and totally talented sophomore Jessica Wolfe of Plainfield, the appropriately-named Team Forest was hard to stop. Add a backcourt that included super quick junior Fahkara Malone of Evansville Memorial and senior Isabell Rhenwrick of Gary West Side, and most teams had a hard time competing with this group.

After the first round of games, it was lunch and then at 1:00 p.m., all players rotated through another four skill stations. The last two games began about 2:00 p.m.

It seemed that most games were pretty competitive throughout, although the last round of games were starting to wear on a few players at the end of a long day of activities. As one of the last events during the NCAA observation period, many of the seniors-to-be  were showing fatigue from several weeks of traveling around the country to other exposure events. What many do not realize is the mental toll this takes along with the physical toll, but it is tremendous preparation for college basketball where the season is longer, where there is little time to recoup from injury and where a LOT of travel is involved. (Not to mention trying to stay up with homework and missed classes!) The grueling summer circuit is a good correlation of how players must bring their "A" game no matter how tired or physically beat up they may be. Those that can handle the pressure of the recruiting season and still perform game after game will be able to handle college level basketball.

All in all, this was a very well run event and the college attendance was very good considering there were a number of other high-level exposure events going on around the country, including the Junior Nationals in Washington, D.C. Some players not in attendance opted for the D.C. event instead, which is also extremely well covered by colleges. Kudos to the IHSAA, the IBCA and the ICGSA for putting together a worthwhile event for both players and coaches. Although there was a bit of early grumbling on our message board with regard to player selections and invitations to high-level players already verbally committed, the planning committee for this event has the right idea. It is good for college coaches to see players perform against already-committed elite players in order to measure the skill level of those still not committed.

We did our best to get around to watch all of the teams play during the day, and we have some thoughts on some players who left a very positive impression upon us. This doesn't mean that there weren't other players who had great performances during the day, it just means we might not have caught those top performances.

Class of 2005
Cassie Kerns from Valparaiso (right) is simply a player. She has continued to improve each time we see her, and will no doubt end up at one of premier colleges in the country. Cassie is very athletic and has a variety of post moves that make her difficult to defend in the post. She showed a lot of versatility with her range, shooting often from the perimeter and will no doubt make an outstanding three or four on the college level.

Another who plays extremely hard but makes it look effortless is Leah Phillips from Castle (left). Sorry folks, although she wasn’t named to the Junior All-Star team, this kid has All-Star written all over her. She is an excellent leader who sees the floor extremely well. Indiana State head coach Jim Wiedie knows how to pick his point guards. Leah will have a great mentor when she moves on to ISU in former Indiana All-Star Mel Boeglin (Terre Haute South).

We were also extremely impressed with the play of Kara Kramer from Tippecanoe Valley. She plays extremely hard and leaves all she has on the floor. Even on a team that had two Division I recruits in Lechlitner and Phillips, her skills, and definitely her hustle, were impressive.

Kahla Roudebush from Hamilton Southeastern is also a top collegiate prospect. She has a take-no-prisoners attitude and can score from anywhere on the floor. She’s also very strong and can rebound with the bigger players. Her star is rising after a huge performance in the Junior All-Star win over the Indiana All-Stars last month.

Others who left us with a positive mark include Mara Freshour of Brown County, Kim Roberson of Indianapolis Cathedral, Jerri Taylor of South Bend Washington, Tara Miller of North Harrison, Trish Bennett of New Albany and from the Region, Isabell Rhenwrick from Gary West Side.

Class of 2006
Melissa Lechlitner of South Bend St. Joe is the cream of the crop. The Notre Dame recruit continues to elevate her game and will no doubt dominate at the high school level for the next couple of years. She has excellent court vision, a knack for putting the ball in the hole and raises the level of players around her. Lechlitner plays with a great deal of maturity and will be an asset to ND from the first day she steps on campus.

Also at the top of this class is Beth Marshall from Hamilton Southeastern. She’s a deadly outside shooter. We saw her play last season against East Chicago and we liked her perimeter game then, but she showed more of an all-around presence at this event. A small scrapper with a big basketball heart, look for big things from Beth her junior year.

Audrey McDonald of Kokomo, a player with good size and good quickness, stood out on Team Maroon. We saw her take it to the hole against some of the top post players and not only survive but score. Her outside shooting and ability to penetrate and score is what makes her the central piece of the Kats offense.

From the Region, Erica Simpson from Gary West Side had a great day. She played extremely well throughout and may have left quite an impression with a few of the college coaches in attendance. Also, Sharon Houston (right) from Gary Lew Wallace had a coming out party. The most common comment we heard about Houston throughout the day was, "Who’s that?" This relatively unknown player should become one of the top post recruits in the state by her senior year if she continues to develop her overall game. The Region’s best, Dee Dee Jernigan of East Chicago, rolled an ankle before we had the chance to see her play. However, we’ve seen her play several times before, and there’s no doubt Jernigan is one of the top 2006 recruiting prospects in the nation.

Others who turned heads from the Class of 2006 include Susan Lester of Pendleton Heights, Fahkara Malone of Evansville Memorial and Julie Seiss from Warsaw.

Class of 2007
Watch out for Plainfield super soph Jessica Wolfe (left). This one is going to be good. She has the height and physical presence to dominate in the post, and if she adds a perimeter shot, watch out. She plays beyond her years and was as dominant on defense as she was on offense. Watching her, it was hard to believe that she was just a rising sophomore. On a team that featured some of the best senior and junior post players in the state, she held her own.

Also impressive was Megan King from Fort Wayne Canterbury. Megan is the sister of former Indiana All-Star Rachel King (FW Luers). She has more height than her sister, however, and can flat out shoot the ball. We expect her to continue to dominate on the 1A level.

From the Region in the Class of 2007, Becca Bruszewski of Wheeler is the one to watch. She has the size of a post player and ball handling ability of a guard. We saw her play a few times last year and expect her to be one of the rising stars in the state this year.

Players by Team (not in attendance*, rising juniors, rising sophomores, verbal commitment)
 

Colleges in Attendance (in order of check-in as of approximately 2 p.m., D-I in bold)