Basketball in the Summit City kicked back up over the weekend with the Ballin Under 1 Roof tournament that was held, of course, under two different roofs. Games were played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at both Parkview SportOne Fieldhouse and at Turnstone.
Yours truly took in games over the weekend to watch some of the Northeast Indiana talent and am ready to present a few player takeaways from guys who caught my attention for one reason or another during the weekend.
Will Shank
TPE 2021 – Canterbury
It wasn’t the best results of opening weekend for Total Package Elite, who ended up 2-2 in their first play of 2020. But the team was competitive in both victory and defeat, honestly playing some of the most intriguing games that I watched on both Friday and Saturday. Shank was a major offensive catalyst in both games, working as both a facilitator and primary scorer. On Saturday he was 7-of-7 from the field with 22 points in a pool play win. His impressiveness was in his decision making, when to be passive and when to attack with having to play more point guard than usual. When he got to the basket, he did so tough and through contact.
Preston Barker
TPE 2021 – New Haven
A shoulder injury slowed Barker, who went down hard late in Friday’s loss. But while he was in the game, he was multiple times a game saver defensively. He looked a tad out of the flow on Friday offensively and that isn’t out of question with his long in-game layoff he has had. But on the other end, he controlled the rim and blocked several important shots. Barker looks like he is going to really build this summer on a reputation of being a strong interior defender and that is something that he can hang his hat on during the last season for this iteration of TPE.
Zach Castator
Gym Rats 2022 – Carroll
After a really good end to his high school season, being one of the SAC’s best breakout names late, watching Castator was a priority for me over the weekend. He has good length at 6-foot-4 and really flies around the court freely. On Friday, he was important in the rebounding game in a close win over Indiana Game Select. He is almost sneaky in how he can move around on the interior and gets his hands in on a lot of plays. His build also looks to be improving, more muscle added to his frame.
Jacob Lambert
CSB Elite (Character & Skills Basketball) – North Side
On Friday, Lambert did a solid job of controlling the post, moving his defender off of his own hip and creating a seal. I would love to see Lambert get the ball rotated down to him more to see how his post offense has grown consistently, but being able to be so physical with his large frame on a basketball court goes a long way. A football player too, Lambert is going to get plenty more time to use his physicality and that is good. He has the right size and this weekend showed that he is really ready to use it. He left me impressed with his willingness to throw his weight around.
Naylon Thompson
Indy Heat Red 2021 – Bishop Luers
After he recently got his first Division 1 offer from Cleveland State and then I was able to see Thompson again in person over the weekend, I only have to question where the other offers are. Thompson was smooth in taking over games over the weekend, particularly on Saturday morning in a 20-point win over MAC Basketball. There were a handful of players on the team sharing the big moments but Thompson really seized control any time that he wanted to. MAC had no answers for his slashing as he read and controlled any and all gaps in their defense. Thompson was a high caliber finisher all weekend.
Joe Reidy
Indy Heat Red 2022 – Woodlan
The change in Reidy’s frame since last high school season is the immediate thing one has to notice about him when he gets onto the court, with easily 15 pounds of muscle added to his body. Reidy garnered an offer to Indiana Tech on Saturday after impressing against Illinois Stars UA Rise. Reidy rebounds strong on a long team, but his biggest standout continues to be how he moves like a guard and is expanding his range shooting. Indy Heat Red 2022 does a really good job of spreading out the floor too, which gives him the chance to go into an “Iso Joe” mode of his own and use his force to get to the basket hard off the perimeter.
Aidan Lambert
Indiana Elite Summit City 2022 – Snider
Of all of the guys I saw this weekend who will see their contributions substantially raise on the varsity level next year, Lambert was clearly the most impressive. Watching him get up and above the rim during warmups on Saturday morning brought on an approving nod, watching him get up and slam the ball later in the night off an oop from Leo’s Brody Hiteshew showed that Lambert’s pregame antics were no joke. Lambert is very comfortable in taking over games in a spread offense, but also played well in a tight setting near or at the rim. He had really strong, intelligent moves off the drive and jump stop throughout the weekend.
Austin Jordan
Indy Heat Red 2021 – South Side
Jordan’s return to the court over the weekend was notable to see how he moved. Returning from an ACL injury isn’t easy and very rarely does the player look so much like himself game one or two or three. Jordan, for the most part, did look back to form. He was comfortable controlling the tempo as a true point guard and had a great bounce in his step. This was an important weekend for him to get back at it and on a team full of impressive play, Jordan was still able to stand out thanks to his movement that wasn’t lacking from my perspective compared to guys who have come back from similar issues.
Related: South Side’s Austin Jordan back on the court after December ACL tear
Will Jamison
TPE 2024 – Homestead
I didn’t take in a lot of the younger teams during this particular weekend, but I did want to watch the newest iteration of Total Package Elite, this one made up of freshmen-to-be. TPE 2024 had some first tournament growing pains, but still some standout moments and no more of a standout player than Jamison. He was aggressive with the ball, moved strongly off screens and was able to split defenders intelligently on his way to the rim. He is a strong finisher and adequate offensive rebounder. It is still early for him, but certainly left an impression weekend one of TPE 2024’s existence.
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