Six 2024 Boys to Watch in Ohio
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Here’s a list of a few 2024 boys on the rise in Ohio F Luke Hanlon Luke Hanlon F Olentangy | 2024 State OH – Ohio Premier ECNL/Olentangy Hanlon is an electric forward with a wide range of skills. He’s…
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Continue ReadingHere’s a list of a few 2024 boys on the rise in Ohio
F Luke Hanlon Luke Hanlon F Olentangy | 2024 State OH – Ohio Premier ECNL/Olentangy
Hanlon is an electric forward with a wide range of skills. He’s a two-time all region selection in the ECNL and an all-state player in high school. The lefty forward is capable of playing on both wings while always staying in the play after passes. While playing on the wing, he sees the whole field and displays excellent confidence playing long balls and crosses to create plenty of scoring chances. Overall, he’s a player that truly makes the guys around him better and is a can’t-miss prospect.
D Thomas DeRoussel – Ohio Elite/Summit
At 6’3″, DeRoussel is a towering prospect that had shown he can play defense, midfield, and forward. But because of his size, I see him as a center back at the collegiate level. He shows excellent physicality in the defensive third while winning almost every 50/50 ball in his area. Outside of that, he has a really impressive touch in the midfield and has shown he’s more than capable of playing the #6 role when called upon. An impressive ECNL season earned him a spot on the Midwest/Ohio Valley Conference Cup Roster this summer. At the high school level, he’s shown plenty of productivity as a forward. Scoring a handful of goals and winning the Player of the Year award in his conference.
F Stefan Velickovic Stefan Velickovic F OH – Cleveland Force/GlenOak
Velickovic is another prospect who was named to the Conference Cup Roster this summer. He’s a fearless striker with plenty of confidence to shoot from long range. He also shows great speed with the ball and great awareness to see who’s open around him. Velickovic is capable of playing both a midfield or attacking role. I think he’s in for a big high school season this fall.
M Roman Girandola Roman Girandola M Walnut Hills | 2024 OH – Kings Hammer ECNL/Walnut Hills
He plays more of the #8/10 role, but also shows off the skillsets of a winger and forward. While watching him, I was a big fan of his ability to make the right off-ball runs in and around the box. Girandola is so good at finding the open spaces for teammates to play him. Often leading to easy goals. He also works well with crosses and accumulated a few assists off corners and switches into the box in ECNL play. The potential is undoubtedly there for Roman Girandola Roman Girandola M Walnut Hills | 2024 OH .
D/M Jordan Vais Jordan Vais D Bishop Watterson | 2024 OH – Barca Columbus ECNL/Watterson
Vais has all the qualities you want in a prototypical defender. He shows great speed down the field to stop 1v1 opportunities defensively. He also has great awareness in the open field to play long balls and through balls for offensive scoring opportunities. This shows he’s a very technical player too. Vais even makes runs into the box on set pieces to find and convert on scoring chances. Right now, he’s excellent as a center back. But I could see him as more of an outside back or CDM in the future because of his 5’10” height.
M Keegan Conley – Ohio Premier/Dublin Jerome
The 5’10” CM displayed outstanding technical work in the ECNL this season. Not only does he make all the right passes, but he knows exactly the right contact to make with the ball in any scenario. Conley also excels at changing direction and creating counter-attacking opportunities from the middle of the field. This gives him plenty of upside in a #6 role too.