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2015-16 Men’s Basketball Player Profile: Joey Lane
Ken via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
(Photo courtesy Daily North Shore)
The Ohio State men’s basketball season is right around the corner. The upstart Buckeyes will take on Walsh in exhibition play on November 8th. To help get you ready for tip-off, The Buckeye Battle Cry will be bringing you Player Previews leading up to the beginning of the season. Today, we profile freshman Joey Lane.
Joey Lane joins the Buckeyes as a walk-on player. Thad & Co. must see something special in this young man, since he joins a freshman class loaded with Guards; 4 of them, including Joey). With RS-SO Kam Williams being the “senior” member of the position group, it’s not out of the question that Lane will get shot to get into the Guard rotation.
Here is some backstory (Chicago Tribune) from Deerfield coach Dan McKendrick:
“When the season ended and our summer team began playing, I made the choice to take our players to a camp at Ohio State University rather than have them play in a tournament somewhere more local.”
“Honestly, Joey was the reason why I picked Ohio State. His mom went there. A whole bunch of his extended family members went there. I never knew how big of an impact my decision to take the team there would have on him at the time. When we were at Ohio State, we went 4-0 the first day, and were unbeaten at 8-0 while we were there. When we went undefeated, Ohio State’s basketball staff wanted to know who our top player was that made that happen.”
Per young Mr. Lane:
“I went up there again on April 19-20 of this year. I met with them at the Buckeyes’ spring football game, and they told me, ‘Joey, we want you on the team as a walk-on.’ No tryout, no anything. It was a dream come true, literally. Going to Ohio State and playing in the NBA have been my two dreams since I was a little kid, like 5 years old. My whole room was already decorated with Ohio State things. It’s just amazing how it all went down so quickly and unexpectedly.”
Is this a good story, or what?!
Joey Lane
Hometown: Deerfield, IL
High School: Deerfield
Position: Guard
Year: Freshman
Height: 6′-1″
Weight: 175
High School Awards
– Averaged 12.0 points and 3.0 assists as a Senior
– Was team captain, All Conference CSL (Central Suburban League, All-Area and All-State
Strengths
Based on a small sample (this video) a couple things strike me about Joey’s game. First, he looks like a “point and click” shooter. He is squared up when he receives the ball and he loads and fires in one smooth motion. At his height, being able to get off his shot quickly is an asset. The other thing appears to be his sharp “game/situation” awareness. On defense, he anticipated where the next pass would be and intercepted it. On offense, he set up his defender to execute a quick back-door cut.
At Joey’s size (6’1″, 175) he won’t overpower opponents. However, his guile and basketball sense are substantial assets.
Oh, another strength is his “I need to earn this” attitude.
“I know I’m going there to be someone who prepares the guys with scholarships for games, but that’s a very important role, much like when I was on the scout team at Deerfield before I was a senior getting those guys ready,” added Joey Lane. “But even though I may be the 10th or 11th man on the bench at Ohio State, I’m going to keep the mindset that one day I could be on the floor or in the lineup. Because if you work hard enough and put your heart into something, you just never know.”
It’s good to see a lad appreciate opportunities earned & given.
Weaknesses
I’m pretty hard pressed to come up with a weakness right now. If I have to guess (Joe tells me I’m contractually obligated to do so) I’ll go with Joey likely getting caught up in the wash on defense. Bigger, more physical guards may overpower him. A year or so of strength and conditioning may solve that issue.
We’ll have to wait to see what develops.
Role on the Team
I agree with Joey’s self-assessment that he’ll start out on the scout team. He may get some mop-up playing time, but Joey will earn his stripes by playing against OSU’s starters this season. Although his offensive numbers pale in comparison to one of our favorite Buckeyes, his physical stature and determination do remind me a bit of Jay Burson.
The post 2015-16 Men’s Basketball Player Profile: Joey Lane appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...
Ken via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
(Photo courtesy Daily North Shore)
The Ohio State men’s basketball season is right around the corner. The upstart Buckeyes will take on Walsh in exhibition play on November 8th. To help get you ready for tip-off, The Buckeye Battle Cry will be bringing you Player Previews leading up to the beginning of the season. Today, we profile freshman Joey Lane.
Joey Lane joins the Buckeyes as a walk-on player. Thad & Co. must see something special in this young man, since he joins a freshman class loaded with Guards; 4 of them, including Joey). With RS-SO Kam Williams being the “senior” member of the position group, it’s not out of the question that Lane will get shot to get into the Guard rotation.
Here is some backstory (Chicago Tribune) from Deerfield coach Dan McKendrick:
“When the season ended and our summer team began playing, I made the choice to take our players to a camp at Ohio State University rather than have them play in a tournament somewhere more local.”
“Honestly, Joey was the reason why I picked Ohio State. His mom went there. A whole bunch of his extended family members went there. I never knew how big of an impact my decision to take the team there would have on him at the time. When we were at Ohio State, we went 4-0 the first day, and were unbeaten at 8-0 while we were there. When we went undefeated, Ohio State’s basketball staff wanted to know who our top player was that made that happen.”
Per young Mr. Lane:
“I went up there again on April 19-20 of this year. I met with them at the Buckeyes’ spring football game, and they told me, ‘Joey, we want you on the team as a walk-on.’ No tryout, no anything. It was a dream come true, literally. Going to Ohio State and playing in the NBA have been my two dreams since I was a little kid, like 5 years old. My whole room was already decorated with Ohio State things. It’s just amazing how it all went down so quickly and unexpectedly.”
Is this a good story, or what?!
Joey Lane
Hometown: Deerfield, IL
High School: Deerfield
Position: Guard
Year: Freshman
Height: 6′-1″
Weight: 175
High School Awards
– Averaged 12.0 points and 3.0 assists as a Senior
– Was team captain, All Conference CSL (Central Suburban League, All-Area and All-State
Based on a small sample (this video) a couple things strike me about Joey’s game. First, he looks like a “point and click” shooter. He is squared up when he receives the ball and he loads and fires in one smooth motion. At his height, being able to get off his shot quickly is an asset. The other thing appears to be his sharp “game/situation” awareness. On defense, he anticipated where the next pass would be and intercepted it. On offense, he set up his defender to execute a quick back-door cut.
At Joey’s size (6’1″, 175) he won’t overpower opponents. However, his guile and basketball sense are substantial assets.
Oh, another strength is his “I need to earn this” attitude.
“I know I’m going there to be someone who prepares the guys with scholarships for games, but that’s a very important role, much like when I was on the scout team at Deerfield before I was a senior getting those guys ready,” added Joey Lane. “But even though I may be the 10th or 11th man on the bench at Ohio State, I’m going to keep the mindset that one day I could be on the floor or in the lineup. Because if you work hard enough and put your heart into something, you just never know.”
It’s good to see a lad appreciate opportunities earned & given.
Weaknesses
I’m pretty hard pressed to come up with a weakness right now. If I have to guess (Joe tells me I’m contractually obligated to do so) I’ll go with Joey likely getting caught up in the wash on defense. Bigger, more physical guards may overpower him. A year or so of strength and conditioning may solve that issue.
We’ll have to wait to see what develops.
Role on the Team
I agree with Joey’s self-assessment that he’ll start out on the scout team. He may get some mop-up playing time, but Joey will earn his stripes by playing against OSU’s starters this season. Although his offensive numbers pale in comparison to one of our favorite Buckeyes, his physical stature and determination do remind me a bit of Jay Burson.
The post 2015-16 Men’s Basketball Player Profile: Joey Lane appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...