In 2014 at the NC Phenom 150 camp, Ian Steere came into camp without much fanfare or attention. We stated the following, “Ian is just scratching the surface on his potential and upside. He is physically gifted and has tremendous bounce. He is both quick and explosive and plays above the rim. What makes him dangerous is his ability to step out and knock down the 10-foot elbow jumper. Ian has all the tools and ingredients to play at a high major level. He just needs to continue fine-tuning and enhancing his skill set. The sky is the limit.”
For Ian Steere, he always had all the physical attributes. No one ever questioned his elite level athleticism. In speaking with Steere, he stated the following. “I’ve matured in my mental approach to the game. Once I decided I could be the best player on the court, it all seemed to come together.” We had countless opportunities to watch Steere play throughout high school and in the travel ball circuit with Team Charlotte. At the NCISAA semi-final game, we wrote the following. “Look for his stock to explode. We’re talking about a physically mature player with the explosion and athleticism to play at a high major level. His game is evolving and once his offensive skill set catches up to his size and athleticism, watch out!”
At the inaugural Queen City Showcase back in April, we got another chance to watch Steere play five games. It was evident that the transformation had taken place. His overall skill set was improving and he had matured mentally in realizing how good he is and how good he could become.
The proverbial “light switch” was turned on and now he was becoming the player many thought he could become when first watching him back in 2014. Steere stated he is now 6’9 with a 6’10 1/2 wingspan and currently wears a size 17-size shoe.
Prior to the NCAA live period, Steere sported offers from Charlotte, High Point University, Houston Baptist, Appalachian State, Hampton, North Florida, Georgia Southern, Florida Atlantic, ODU, and St. Joseph. However, that list has quickly changed and you can now add schools like Tennessee, Florida State, Texas Tech, Clemson, Georgia, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, UConn and Pitt to the list and we expect that list to grow even longer. With the shortage of athletic bigs, it won’t be long until the traditional blue bloods to get involved. While Steere hasn’t measured his standing vertical in a few years, he did state his standing vertical shortly after this eight grade year was an amazing 38 inches. Since then, he has only gotten bigger and stronger and we can only imagine his standing vertical has increased. With Steere, he is definitely a “buy now” stock and in our opinion is still in the infant stages of his long term upside and potential.