Ken Kaminski 2012 Ohio Star in the Making

One of the best players I've seen in the 2012 class is without a doubt Ken Kaminski. This is a kid who is so good he's not going to be able to be referred to as overlooked or underrated for very long so the Hoops Mongrel wants to strike while the iron is hot.

The Mongrel watched Kaminski for the first time this spring playing for Team Pride. He's about 6'5 or 6'6 and extremely athletic. He not only can leap, he also has a little grace to it and some hang time which stands out at this age. And wow, the kid just throws up nice looking 3's with a quick release and Kaminski can flush the ball with authority. He plays with intensity and is really smart. Its hard to be more impressed with a kid in this age group the first time you see him play.

The forthcoming Mongrel is far from the only one noticing, however. The good gentleman the Mongrel sat next to during one of Kaminski's hoops explosions would interrupt stories about his top-secret inside information on Butler basketball's coming ascendency with secret recruits already locked up like Ben Brust and Austin Etherington with several compound words that began with "holy" but ended in ways best not described in such a friendly environment. Kaminski belongs in the same class as other elite 2012 players nationally that the good Mongrel has been fortunate to see such as D'vonte Smith-Rivera, Ron Patterson, Jaylen Beckham, Raphael Davis, Elijah Macon, and AJ Hammons.

Kaminski is from Medina, Ohio and plays AAU ball for an impressive Michigan AAU program by the name of Team Pride. The resourceful Mongrel found google very kind when looking for ooh's and aah's describing Kaminski's game. Saginaw area hoops guru Lou Dawkins is one of the sharpest knives in the drawer when it comes to Michigan hoops. Tubby Smith fans might remember Dawkins as a star for Tubby's Tulsa squads. He has a blog at http://www.botbscouting.blogspot.com/ that does some great event recaps and scouting and the grateful Mongrel will return to this well a time or two at least when doing our Michigan hoops homework. Look for Dawkins' event recaps in the May archive and you'll find an entry from the IPS Border Battle in which he refers to Kaminski as a "potential McDonalds All-American" and comfortably suggests he might be the best player in Ohio's 2012 class including Macon and (at that time) Behanon. Take a look at Kaminski and you'll be a fan. Quickness, skill, intangibles, range, hops, this kid has it all.