We just happened to be in Cleveland, Ohio over the weekend attending the MAC Conference Tournament, and we had some time before the championship game so we zipped over to the Midwest Hoopfest/OBC Classic for a few hours to catch some 3rd grade games. We’re so glad we did, because we got our first look at Ohio Basketball Club’s Ron “RJ” Houston (4’10”/CG/2032/Euclid, OH). We first saw Houston in action when his Ohio Basketball Club [OBC] team faced off against the Y-Elite Superstars, and although Y-Elite would defeat OBC 34-21 in pool play, Ron Houston’s talent caught our eye.
When OBC matched up with All-Ohio Red in their second pool play game, we saw Houston go off for a game-high 25 points! Just when we thought Houston was just about getting down hill, absorbing contact and finishing at a high rate, he started knocking down perimeter jump shots. We were also really impressed with Houston’s ability to handle the rock at his size, and play with good pace and poise. Moreover, Houston is a linebacker on the hardwood who is just skilled enough to take seriously as a basketball player.
Bottom line, from what we saw, Houston was the most dominate kid on the court that included several highly ranked players (Ohio)! For now, we’ve slotted him just inside of our top 10 player watch list because his body of work is so limited, but he has the potential to be near the top if he comes down to our Buckeye Prep Invitational Tournament in 3 weeks and performers at the same level against the state’s top teams. Stay tuned folks! For the record, OBC defeated All-Ohio 43-41.
