Bayleigh Eisele
INDIANAPOLIS - The Brandon Clay Small Group Sessions are an extension of our All-American Camp and Showcase Series. Basketball development in Indiana has an organic intensity and pace that I have not seen anywhere else in America. My Small Group Sessions are designed to provide future college prospects with a monthly, highly structured and elite level learning environment in which to perform.
The latest workouts were held on Sunday. Here’s a set of takeaways from the two later groups:
Blum has improved tremendously in reading screening actions. She is comfortable feeling where her defender is and making her cut accordingly as a result. Blum’s ability to make the open shot once she makes the read is the key piece here. She’s had multiple seven plus 3-point games already this club season. Continuing to utilize pindown actions to free herself up for outside shots will only help her get to 10 made in a game sooner than later.
Curry has become a reliable shooting threat from the perimeter. She has the size to be effective at the forward spot but is spacing it well enough to be an option on the perimeter. For Curry, consistency in trusting her opportunities to be a shotmaker is key. This is especially important for a player like Curry who will be involved in all types of screen action where it’s on basketball or off of it.
Eisele continues to improve with every session. She is starting to out the basketball on the floor inside of screen action reads. As Eisele heads into high school, that’s a place where she can keep growing. For Eisele a combination of one dribble jumpers and touch floaters will help her be impactful on curl or straight cut reads that turn into shots over bigs at the high school level.
Justus Ellis: Shenandoah (IN)
Ellis has a fantastic upside given her disposition during the drill work today. She was locked in to improving her outside shooting. Ellis shot is at its’ best when she holds her followthrough with an extended elbow at her eye. Ellis shot consistently found the net when that was the result of her shooting process.
The growth in Hupfer’s game over the past 12 months has been noteworthy. She received multiple scholarship offers over the last two weeks. There aren’t many kids in Hupfer’s size range this side of the Mississippi River who can play in the pindown action as perimeter players let alone shoot the 3-pointer off a flare read.
Grace Lee: Shenandoah (IN)
Lee’s shot improved in just over a hour worth of work. Her shotmaking ability increased drastically when she held her followthrough for a full one second count. In that aspect, Lee is an emerging shotmaker with real speed. She has a great on-floor demeanor that should help her keep leveling up.
Miller played an entire tournament on Saturday night and Sunday morning before we trained. Her outside shooting is a major reason why pindown screen action is so important. Miller consistently makes good reads on where the defender is adjusting her cuts as a result. More times than not that results in a clean, outside shot for Miller that she buries from deep.
It had been a while since Morelli had been in the gym with me. Her shot and overall skill set are in a good place. Morelli is a player who can really benefit from staying in consistent motion without the basketball. Her skill lends itself to being in the right place at the right time when that happens. Morelli is a multi-sport athlete so conditioning isn’t an issue.
Catie Rosko: Roncalli (IN)
This was my first time on the floor with Rosko. Right away, her speed and quickness made her a threat in the actions that we were teaching. Rosko can be a factor on both ends of the hardwood inside of screening action. She has the mobility to fight over guard to big action while possessing the speed to get downhill if she has the basketball in the same action.
Brandon Clay is a national contributor for ProspectsNation.com and owns The BrandonClayScouting.com Evaluation Report, which is read by more than 200 colleges and universities nationwide. He also serves as the Executive Skills Director for the Brandon Clay Scouting Academy Series.
