Swish N' Dish: Easley makes it look easy

MEQUON, Wisc. – Sunday at the NY2LA Sports Swish ‘N Dish provided another opportunity to see several of the top teams and prospects that the upper Midwest region of the country has to offer. In particular it was a good opportunity to see budding underclass talents like sophomore combo forward Kevin Easley.

Only a sophomore, 6-foot-6 combo forward Kevin Easley of Indianapolis (Ind.) Lawrence North and the George Hill Rising Stars is no strangers to college programs. Having only completed half of his high school career, three-star already lists offers from Indiana, Purdue, Butler, Notre Dame, Xavier, Temple, Cincinnati, New Mexico State, Monmouth and Georgia State while Michigan and Maryland have showed interest.

Playing in the 16U Division, Easley looked solid and was productive. I’m not sure many more than a handful of prospects are worthy of that many offers at such a young age, but I can see a bit of where the coaches' heads are at with those early offers. Easley can stretch the floor with his shooting, he’s clever around the rim and he has a good natural feel for the offensive end. Where he goes from here is yet to be determined, but he’s one to watch close.

During the latest update to the 2017 Rivals150, 6-foot-6 small forward Jaylen Sebree from Hopkinsville (Kent.) Christian County just missed the cut. After seeing him with the Louisville Magic he will be in the mix again. A good athlete with a solid build, Sebree does a nice job attacking the rim and playing with physicality. Sebree listed offers from VCU, Manhattan, Samford, Xavier, Indiana, Marshall, Western Kentucky and Northern Kentucky to go with interest from Arizona State, Butler, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

Previous to this weekend, I knew nothing about 6-foot-5 wing Delonte Brown from Toledo (Ohio) Bowsher. Now I’ll be interested to watch him play the rest of the spring and summer with All Ohio Red. The junior is one of those guys who looks to be right on the edge of taking a big step forward with his game and recruitment. He’s athletic, makes corner threes and he plays hard. The three-star prospect has offers from Dayton and Toledo to go with interest from Ball State, Wisconsin, Xavier, Iowa, Eastern Michigan.

“I try to make winning plays,” said Brown. “I like Dayton and Toledo but Wisconsin is my favorite school, I’d have to look at things different if they offered.”

There’s the coach’s son, Patrick McCaffery. A 6-foot-5 freshman small forward at Iowa City (Iowa) West 2019, McCaffery is one that will definitely be on the radar. He didn’t score a ton of points but is a smooth athlete with ball skills and terrific size for a young prospect. The son of Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery, hoops runs in the family for Patrick. His older brother, Connor McCaffery, is a class of 2017 four-star prospect and already committed to play for dad at Iowa.

The No. 85 ranked player in the class of 2017, 6-foot-9 center Kaleb Wesson can be a load around the rim. Already committed to Ohio State, he was a force around the bucket for All Ohio Red’s 17U squad. A wide body with touch, Wesson also showed that he gets worn down in an up and down setting and that conditioning is going to be key for the Westerville (Ohio) South product as he moves forward.

There's no need to go into great detail about 2017 four-star point guard Markell Johnson again. But he does merit another mention. The King James standout was the most consistent performer we saw through the weekend and looks to be a bit under-ranked at No. 99 nationally

Committed to Michigan, four-star junior shooting guard Jordan Poole currently ranks No. 95 nationally in the class of 2017. The 6-foot-4 product of Milwaukee (Wisc.) King who plays for Playground Elite isn’t a high flyer, but he’s clever and has a dangerous jumper out to the three-point line. He’s smart and his best attribute is his ability to move away from the ball, which should eventually serve him well in Ann Arbor.

Don’t make the mistake of labeling Iowa commit Joe Wieskamp from Muscatine (Iowa) High as a jump shooter. The No. 43 ranked player in the class of 2018, Wieskamp can certainly knock down some shots but he’s more scorer than pure shooter. The rare prospect who actually looks bigger than the 6-foot-3 that the Iowa Barnstormers list him at, Wieskamp is a fine athlete who plays with some edge and is dangerous driving to the cup.

You can always count on toughness from the Wisconsin United summer program. They don’t always have players with huge reputations, but they send guards at you in waves and they all get after it. For their 16’s, 2018 shooting guard Tyrese Haliburton from Oskosh (Wisc.) North didn’t have a huge scoring game, but you can see some upside. Pushing 6-foot-4, he has a good looking jump shot and is a clever passer. He’s not yet gotten any offers but mentioned interest from Wisconsin Milwaukee, Green Bay and Drake.

The All Ohio Red program features a pair of players from the class of 2019 to watch in Samari Curtis and Taylor Currie. Curtis is a fairly explosive 6-foot-2 shooting guard from Xenia (Ohio) High with a nose for scoring off the dribble. A 6-foot-8 power forward from Worthington (Ohio) Christian, Currie is a smooth athlete with long arms who can run the floor and looks like he will be able to play pick and pop basketball.