Summer Recap 8th grade

At the 8th grade level two teams really stood out to me  The Timberwolves and Legends.  Both teams had great summers winning almost every tournament they played in but somehow managed to steer clear of each other all summer. If they played each other during the summer I must have missed it.  Maybe we could get a shirts and skins game together. Both teams fell a little short of the medal round in Orlando at AAU D2 nationals but both still had very solid summers.  For the Twolves Ben Weyer and Trent McGoveny had great summers.  I don't expect to see either one of them on a freshman team this winter.  Both should be solid contributors at the JV level.  For the Legends Jacob Smith gets better every time I see him.  He just gets things done on both ends of the floor.  Jacob will be pairing up with Weyer at Newport Catholic this winter. Andrew Arnold is another Legends player that made major improvements this summer to his all around game.  I seen Andrew playing with the Holmes varsity team this summer in some scrimmages. Andrew has a great motor to go with great size and speed.
At the Adidas tournament in Indy, Todd Downs put together a squad that included Thad Moss, Ethan Snapp and Carson Williams.  They made a nice run to get to that final four of the gold division.  This team  would compete against any team in the state with their size and solid guard play. I didn't get to see Moss play a lot this summer as he bounced between Down's team and the Celtics.  But I heard from several coaches that he has grown up both physically and mentally.  Can't wait to see him on the football field this fall.  Carson Williams is the best 8th grader in the state for what I have seen this summer.  His size, speed and jumping ability just overwhelms kids at his age.  Carson competed in the Fab Frosh Camp in Georgia were he finished in the top 20 of the camp.  Carson will be center of attention in Owen County for the next four years.
Rounding out the top players would be Ethan Snapp who played for about anybody that would give him a jersey.  I seen him with at least three different teams this summer.  But regardless of uniform color he was doing the same thing, scoring.  Ethan scores in a varieties of ways from off the bounce to the jumper.  The kid will pull the trigger.  Brady Walker for Crons, heady PG that is strong and gets to the rim and finishes.  At Twenhofel, Walker was true PG that look to distribute the ball, this summer in both AAU and the Scott freshman league he looked to get  his shot off.  Austin Sweeney for NK Bulldogs, a slasher with a good first step.  He impressed me with how easy the game seems to come to him.  Covington Catholic is getting a good one here. 

I know I have not mentioned a lot of very good players but some I didn't get to see.  I wanted to see Markel McClendon play but we were never in the same gym  He started out the season with the Legends and I was told he went to play with The Ville.  Overall I believe the class of 2016 group in NKY is very solid.  Good luck to them all.