WESTFIELD, Ind. — The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League is one of the most competitive on the AAU circuit every spring and summer. A four-session league before the annual Peach Jam in July, hundreds of the top prospects in basketball get to showcase their talents in front of just about every major college basketball coach in the country.
From John Calipari to Roy Williams and Jay Wright to Tom Izzo, they were all in attendance at Session II at Jonathan Byrd's Fieldhouse two weeks ago to watch and scout prospects during the final April evaluation period.
We've already written a few stories from EYBL Session II on players Ohio State is targeting for the 2017 and 2018 classes. You can find those here:
Session III begins next weekend, May 13-15, in Hampton, Virginia. Before that happens, though, we wanted to empty out our notebook from Session II for players Eleven Warriors spoke with who have garnered some interest in relation to the Buckeyes.
Parker Stewart — 2017 6-foot-5 Shooting Guard — Union City, Tennssee
Since the beginning of March, Parker Stewart has added eight scholarship offers to his name — all from highly successful programs — with the last four offers coming from N.C. State, Baylor, San Diego State and LSU. He also holds offers from Georgetown, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Florida and others.
A 6-foot-5 guard currently rated as a three-star prospect — though that is likely to change soon — Stewart has ties to Ohio as he attended Pickerington Central High School until this past year when he moved to Tennessee after his father took a job as an assistant coach at UT-Martin. He does not yet have an Ohio State offer, but the Buckeyes would certainly be one of the favorites should one head his way.
"My whole life I was always seeing them on TV so I know a whole lot about Ohio State," Stewart said. "We'll see. I usually hear from there a whole lot, probably almost every other day."
Jaedon LeDee — 2018 6-foot-7 Forward — Houston, Texas
One of the top-rated prospects in the 2018 class, Jaedon LeDee picked up an Ohio State offer before Session I of the EYBL from head coach Thad Matta.
LeDee is a 6-foot-7 wing with seemingly unlimited upside so it's no surprise he's ranked as the nation's 13th overall prospect in the 2018 class, according to 247Sports' composite rankings. He already has offers from the likes of Kentucky, Arizona, Kansas and others, so the Buckeyes are somewhat of a longshot here, but LeDee has always had somewhat of an interest in Ohio State.
"I've been talking to them for awhile, since last year, my freshman year, and we just really had great interest and I've always liked Ohio State growing up," LeDee said. "D'Angelo Russell recently, just watching him and some other guys from Texas went there so just watching them. Good guys when I talk to them. Coach Thad, we talked right before the first session in Brooklyn and he offered me right before it."
Jay Jay Chandler — 2017 6-foot-4 Guard — Katy, Texas
Like Stewart, Jay Jay Chandler is another out-of-state guard who has ties to Ohio and thus interest in Ohio State. Chandler has family that lives in Ohio and he makes trips to the state every summer. Thus, he grew up watching the Buckeyes maybe a little bit more than the average kid from Texas.
A four-star guard in the 2017 class, Chandler is rated as the No. 61 overall player in the class. He's 6-foot-4 and can play either point or shooting guard. Chandler took an unofficial visit to Ohio State in 2015, but hasn't been back since.
Chandler, a native of Katy, Texas, said all of the Texas schools are heavily recruiting him, as are Oklahoma and Kentucky, but Ohio State — though it may be a longshot — is still in the mix.
"I like how they have their guards on the court and how they're able to play their game and show what they're able to do," Chandler said of the Buckeyes. "I just like how Coach [Matta], how he let D'Angelo [Russell] play at a young age and let him just show his talent and just keep working."
"My dad was from [Ohio] so he used to always tell them about them when I was little. I used to watch them when I was young when Jared and all them were there and then when D'Angelo Russell was playing. I've liked them ever since."
