I took a trip to watch AR Elite whose director is Anshel Roth. Coach Matt Shonder ran the practice session. Practice was at Trinity Lutheran Church and School in Lombard, IL. He has 8 players, which 6 of them were at this practice. The other 2 sat out because of injury. They did some drills, half court and full court work on offense and defense preparing for Made Hoops Midwest Showcase over this weekend. Team doesn't have a lot of size, but has shooters all over the court. They have to play at a fast tempo, get up a lot of shots, and hustle for rebounds by boxing out. Here's what I saw of each individual player. All are Class of 2026:
LUCAS JOHNSON, 6'3"wing, DeLaSalle Institute (Chicago): One of an impressive collection of players in this class for the Meteors. He's a slasher extraordinaire that has the ball handling to get to the basket with quick first step and leaping ability to get shot off at the rim. Wasn't converting at this practice session at the rim, but created open opportunities for himself at the rim. Only 15 years old. Good rim protector for his position. Good mid range shooter.
JEROME DELANEY, 6'5" point guard, Oak Park River Forest: Lefty can knock down shots from mid range and three point territory. Hit some three point shots in scrimmage off the catch. Did show some creation off the dribble to get to mid range jump shots. Found cutting teammates with nice passes and hit three point shooters right in their shooting pocket. He's another talent for the huskies.
NOAH JONES, 6'3" wing, Oak Park River Forest: He was scoring on drives to the basket and hit a couple of three point shots. Changed ends very well on both ends of the court. Defended his position very well. Hustled through the drills and played under control on attacks to the rim and on catch and shoot opportunities. Should be in line for playing time for the Huskies next season.
PHOENIX JONES, 6'3" combo guard, Central (Plainfield): He had his shooting hand taped because of a thumb injury. It affected his shot release but he still hit more than his fair share from three point range and two dribble pull-up jump shots. Played through it and never showed any visible pain when he got his hands on passes. Shot a decent percentage in the shooting drills.
XAVIER PORTER, 6'3" wing, DeLaSalle Institute (Chicago): He was the best three point shooter in this practice session. He was hitting them from all over the court in the drills off the catch and off the bounce. Mid range shot was going down especially early in practice. He cooled down on his shooting at the end of practice, but attacked the basket for a couple of layups. Should be in line for a lot of playing time for the Meteors next season.
JOSIAH DUCKSWORTH, 5'10" point guard, Romeoville: He was showing a slow release on his jump shot early in practice but picked it up with quick releases on bis three point shot the rest of practice. When this happened he was hitting them at a high rate. Made some good passes to set up teammates. Had a couple of steals and was vocal in telling his teammates where they needed to be on offense and defense. Should be in the rotation at Romeoville next season.
These players have good coaches one that currently coaches college basketball. They are getting good instruction and will have college ready players for 2026-2027 season.