Northland’s King Kendrick ready for Nike Elite 100 camp after Ohio State team camp

At the end of the first week of June, King Kendrick had the opportunity to showcase his unique skills to the Ohio State coaching staff.

Before the end of the month, he will have another chance to make it on the national stage. Class of 2026 point guard Kendrick will attend the Nike Elite 100 Camp June 23-27 in St. Louis, Missouri.

“It feels good,” King said, standing near the Jerome Schottenstein Center’s main court after facing Massillon Jackson Friday morning at Ohio State’s team camp. “I worked hard to get this opportunity, so God gave me many opportunities to show my abilities and the way I play. It’s truly a blessing to have the opportunity to demonstrate this in a high-level camp.

Kendrick, 6-0 and 160 pounds, is Ohio’s No. 5 prospect in his class according to PrepHoops.com. Rivals.com ranks him as a three-star prospect. Ohio State benefits from the commitment of Garfield Heights’ Marcus Johnson, a five-star point guard and the state’s top player in the 2026 class according to 247Sports.com

Since a sophomore season that included a second straight City League championship at Northland, Kendrick said he’s been working on making plays on two feet and also watching film to learn how teams guard him and be better able to break opposing defenses.

At the top 100 camp, Kendrick said he hopes to show the full range of his game.

“I feel like I’m one of the best point guards in the country, so just to show that I’m a great point guard, a great defender, a great leader, a great scorer, all of that,” he said. he declares. “Show my abilities at all levels. »

He will also have the opportunity to show off his unique shooting ability. As a child, Kendrick said he began shooting basketballs with both his left and right hands, although he assumed that one hand would eventually become the most dominant.

Instead, Kendrick became an ambidextrous shooter who writes right-handed but throws a football and brushes his teeth with either hand.

“A lot of people don’t know how to protect that, so it’s always a home-field advantage,” he said. “Any ground I walk on, it’s an advantage because no one has seen it before or kept this before. Whether I change things, one way or the other, no one teaches me that. It’s a benefit wherever I go.

He showed that ability while playing a game in which Ohio State coach Jake Diebler, associate head coach Joel Justus, assistants Talor Battle and Luke Simons and director of recruiting Terence Dials were all in the stands. .

“I think (Diebler) is going to do a great job, and he showed that last year at the end of the season,” Kendrick said. “It’s his hometown, so obviously Ohio State is always great. I’ve been here so many times it feels like home. It doesn’t even look like a college gym, it just looks like a regular gym now that I’ve been here so many times.

The Buckeyes recruited him but did not offer him a scholarship. Diebler was his primary recruiter when he was associate head coach under Chris Holtmann and Kendrick said the two still speak, albeit less frequently now that Diebler has greater job responsibilities as head coach.

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Kendrick holds scholarship offers from Ohio, Kent State, Arizona State, Texas A&M and Dayton. The Flyers are the latest team to offer him a scholarship, with other high schools expressing interest.

“A lot of universities are looking at me right now,” he said. “Missouri, LSU told my coach a little bit about me, South Carolina.”

In addition to the top 100 camp, Kendrick said his summer will consist of playing AAU basketball for All-Ohio Red and participating in the Kingdom Summer League, a Columbus pro-am league entering its 10th season.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: King Kendrick ready for Nike Elite 100 camp after Ohio State team camp