Steele A Major Prospect In 2004

Point guard prospect Ron Steele from John Carroll (AL) High School is one of the top guard prospects in the Southeast for the class of 2004. However, due to his summer travels spent touring the 16 & under age group on the AAU circuit, you will not find him on many preseason top 100 lists.

Steele, 6-foot-2, 190-pounds, has long been on the minds of recruiting junkies in the state of Alabama. Last season, and despite playing out of position as a small forward, he averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds, 4.2 steals, and 3.9 assists per contest for John Carroll, who was the #1 ranked team in the 6A classification for most of the season.

This year Steele, who is rated a 4-stars and the 7th overall prospect in the Southeast for the 2004 class by RivalsHoops.com, is set to take over the reins at his natural point guard position for John Carroll head coach Marty Smith and the Cavaliers.

"This is his team now. Last year we had a few seniors and Ron sort of took a back seat to them. But this year he will run our offense and basically be an extension of the coach on the floor," Smith said. "He can really do it all and is the ultimate team player. He's our hardest worker in practice and is as fundamental sound as you will find on the high school level."

Even though he has not received the level of recognition as some of the South's more publicized recruits, college coaches have taken notice and several schools are in pursuit of the athletic scorer.

"I have had contact with a lot of schools. Alabama, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, and UAB are really recruiting me the hardest," Steele said. "Right now, I really don't have a top five but I like Alabama a lot and they are close to home."

Steele is an excellent student with a 3.2 core GPA and is expected to be a full qualifier.