Friday Cardinal Couple -- Walz Elite Camp Report

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Walz skills camp has girls who are ready to play and go all day

Q&A with the coaches and players

The beauty of Skills Camps, like the one at the UofL SAC that was hosted by Jeff Walz and UofL is that you have 80 or so girls that are there to put it all on the line for 5-6 hours. It doesn't matter if they are highly regarded 2014 recruits or class of 2018 ballers...they go 100% of the time and are giving 110% in each scrimmage, drill and session.

That, friends...is fun basketball to view.

Plenty of parents on hand to watch their daughters

Coach Walz's latest camp on Wednesday was all of the above. I was fortunate to observe five hours of intense basketball action and enjoyed every minute of it. I came up with a baker's dozen plus one (14) of girls that caught my eye on the court. The list, by no means, indicates who was the best or brightest at the Skills Camp. It's just an indicator of some athletes who made me glance at my player roster and want to know the who, where and what about their year of graduation, size and high school

Here we go:

- Jordan Hankins (2015) 5'7" Lawrence North (Indy)
Nice outside shooting threat. Goes after the ball. Solid defender.

-Darian Huff (2015) 5'8" Elizabethtown, (Kentucky)
A nice spot-up jumper and is serious about defense. Involves her teammates in the offense. Very quick.

-Madison Raque (2014) 5'8" Louisville Eastern (KY)
Drives quite well to the basket and can finish with either hand. Will be a handful to stop her senior year.

-Jada Rice (2018) 6'3" Creekland MS (Lawrenceville, GA)
Great shot blocking skills for her age and isn't afraid to pound the paint and body up offensive post players.

-Brianna Porter (2015) 6'2" Univ. School of Nashville (TN)
Impressive moves around the basket on offense and goes to the boards for rebounds with aggression and smarts.

-Victoria Harris (2015) 6'3" Parkview ( Snellville, GA)
Runs the court quite well for a "big" and finishes impressively when on the receiving end of a fast break.

-Maya Benham (2015) 5'11" Douglas Co. (GA)
Loved the way she shot, passes, hustled and has a very dominating court presence. Drives in traffic to hoop well.

-Shavia Thompson (2016) 5'5" Louisville Eastern (KY)
Excellent outside shooting touch and can motor down court with the ball skillfully and quite quickly.

-Dominque Oden (2016) 5'8" Marist (Atlanta, GA)
Excellent point guard skills. Handles and distributes ball very well and is a speed merchant. Shoots well if needed.

-Tatum Rasdale (2016) 5'7" Mill Creek (Atlanta, GA)
Very smooth jumper and positions well in a set offense. Defends with tenacity and holds her ground.

-De'Andre Givens (2015) 6'0" Lafayette (Lexington, KY)
A ball handling whiz who is fluid, deceptive and finishes drives to the basket with buckets. A scorer and penetrates.

-Chelsea Nelson ( 2015) 5'11" Brentwood Academy (TN)
Absolutely love her pull up jumper and another that distributes well an isn't afraid to drive to the hoop if open.

-Amy Griffin (2014) 5'11" SW Atlanta Christian (GA)
Scores with ease inside and defends taller paint players with aggressiveness and skill. Goes to the ball and produces.

-Lamina Cooper (2015) 5'8" Lawrence North (IN)
My favorite player of the camp. Takes the initative to score and does it well. Steals on defense. Great passer, too.

Cooper dominated in the minutes she received in the session ending "All Star" game...scoring 12 points in a 35-22 romp by her squad for fifteen minutes. India Hall played well for the winners also. Erykah Davenport, Maya Benham and Amy Griffin paced the "black squad". Whether they played 15 more minutes or not, I can't say...the clouds were getting nasty outside and I left the SAC and headed for the car.

The UofL WBB staff and players were non-stop in their instruction, coaching and organizing. Asia Taylor as a referee is great to see. Her whistle never gets used. She needs to have a long talk with Dee Kanter or Bonita Spence about...wait...check that...never mind. Good job, Asia!  

And, there was a new Schimmel on the court. 8th grader Milan Schimmel was out mixing it up with the older girls and holding her own quite nicely. At 5'8", she shows some very good ball handling skills and is quite good at passing. Personal opinion here...she needs to work on her outside shot. But, I didn't see her miss a free throw all day.

She's an eighth grader. I expect her skills will expand exponentially by the time the class of 2018 rolls around.  

Sorry about so few photos today. I didn't take many. Was having too much fun watching hoops. I do love this game...

-Paulie

--