CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Six players? No problem. The Spiece Indy Gym Rats’ 17 Silver team showed that quality trumps quantity at USJN’s 11th annual Mid America Challenge. Despite having only six players available for Sunday’s bracket play, the Gym Rats knocked off Midwest Elite 17 Platinum 58-53 for the title in Pools A-D. “That’s when it’s fun,” 2015 point guard Darby Maggard said. “I love to play with this team. They’re amazing; they’re such great teammates.” Even if there aren’t many of them. The Gym Rats had seven players available during Saturday’s pool play, but six were in uniform on Sunday. Two of their top talents were unavailable. Erica Moore (2014), who has scholarship offers from several Big Ten schools, should return soon from a knee injury sustained during her high school season. Faith Suggs, rated 39th by Blue Star among the Class of 2015, also spends some time with the Gym Rats. As a result, guards Tiara Murphy and Maggard played two games Sunday without sitting out a single second. “We had five (players) last weekend and six this weekend,” coach Danny Reigo said. “The chemistry is just really good. It’s a special group.” The Gym Rats won a pool that included the Missouri Red Knights, with an Incarnate Word roster that included highly rated Napheesa Collier. Then they knocked off the Mac Irvin Fire 17 Godfather team led by Michigan State recruit Jasmine Lumpkin in Sunday’s semifinals. “This is always a really good event,” Reigo said. “The entire club is back home (in Fort Wayne, Ind.) running their own event. We wanted to come here to represent the club with our top team and support USJN and get the level of competition that we got. The Missouri Red Knights with Collier, Godfather with Lumpkin and crew, and Midwest Elite … To go 5-0 against that crew, I am really happy with our kids. We’re playing really well right now.”
Collier leads Red Knights
Collier attracts attention wherever she shows up these days. Perhaps less so at the Mid America Challenge, however, because it was a non-Division I evaluation weekend for NCAA coaches, and Collier is one of the nation’s hottest prospects in the Class of 2015. A long, versatile 6-foot-2, Collier can play nearly any spot on the court with dominance. And she does it with a grace and presence that is unmistakeable. This summer, however, the Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year from St. Louis’ Incarnate Word Academy has a few other things to tackle: boxing and yoga. Her father was once a boxer, and Napheesa figures it will help with footwork and upper body strength. Yoga will increase her flexibility. “It’s cool,” she said. “I haven’t really started too much yet, but this is our last tournament so I’m going to start now.”
Best Choice remains perfect
The Indiana Best Choice 15 squad played in its fourth tournament of the season. They’ve now won all four. Best Choice, with a roster comprised of 2016 players, won the top division in the 15U bracket at the Mid America Challenge, defeating Iowa Kingdom Hoops 14 in the final, 56-54. It wasn’t the squad’s best effort of the weekend, but it was good enough. Kaitlyn Poole’s layup at the buzzer from Sydney Shelton provided the winning points. “Until this last game, we were pretty solid,” coach Michael Shelton said. “Our closest game going into this last one was 14 or 16 points. The girls ran out of steam and (Kingdom Hoops) is pretty disciplined, and they make you pay for mistakes. “We missed a ton of layups in this game. If we would have hit half of the layups, we wouldn’t have been in the situation we were in.” Best Choice also won the USJN’s Windy City Classic in April, and it’s easy to see why. The roster is loaded with some of Indiana’s top 2016 players, including guard Sydney Shelton, who has attracted attention from Big Ten schools, and athletic slasher Tyasha Harris. “All seven have heard from Division I schools,” Michael Shelton said. “There’s not any one kid on this team that gets any more attention than anyone else does. “They’re all talented, and many of them are among the top freshmen in the state of Indiana. They’re all studs on their school team and when they come here they play unselfishly. That’s what makes them tough to beat.”
Defenders making big strides
The Illinois Defenders are in their second year on the club scene, fielding 13 teams after having seven a year ago. Two of the Chicago-based club’s older teams played in title games at the Mid America Challenge, including the 16 Black squad that won Pools Q-T in the 17-16U brackets. The Defenders’ 16 Black team features three holdovers from a year ago, including 6-foot Class of 2016 forward Claire McMahon, who has the length and versatility to factor into a low-major Division I prospect. Among the newcomers are 5-11 Victoria Stavropoulos (Class of 2016), who enjoyed a solid weekend. “Our first USJN event, we got our butts kicked (0-4),” coach and club co-founder Mark D’Apice said. “We went 1-2 at our next event, and then we went to another USJN and went 3-1. It takes a while to jell. A lot of these clubs have been together a long time. Our club’s only two years old.” This group is one to watch in the future. “We’ve got a big sophomore on our 17U team (6-0 Taylor Pate), and next year she’ll be on this team,” D’Apice said, referring to the McMahon/Stavropoulos group. “Putting a big on this team will be real nice.”
