June 15 was the first day of the live contact period for college coaches and Indiana wasted no time reaching out to a handful of talented class of 2022 prospects from around the country. Tinley Park (IL) forward AJ Casey was one of those coveted rising juniors who IU was in contact with and on Thursday, extended an offer to the four-star forward.
Casey is a 6-foot-8 hybrid forward and already holds offers from Iowa State, Purdue, Kansas, Illinois, Nebraska, DePaul, in addition to the Hoosiers, with interest from numerous other high-major programs. He averaged 22.0 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game last season.
Also playing his AAU season with Meanstreets (IL), he was teammates with fellow 2022 IU target Jalen Washington last year.
The Chicago native is a highly skilled forward who has a fast developing game fit for the wing. Already, his athleticism stands out on both ends of the floor and with his size, he is a load to handle on the offensive end. While he is still developing his jumpshot, he does have the ability to knock down shots from the outside. His strength is his ability to finish at the rim at will. With great touch combined with his athletic ability, Casey is nearly unstoppable once he gets in the paint.
He is still improving his ball handling, but already he has great catch and rip ability adding to his long strides that allow him to get by defenders on the perimeter.
On the defensive end of the floor, Casey is someone who can guard multiple positions and win that matchup more often than not. Because of his size and length, he frequently gets in the middle of passing lanes leading to easy transition buckets. That length contributed to 2.3 steals per game. What is so valuable is his off-ball defense, however. He has a knack for reading the play and is able to time his jump with the offensive player, winning the battle at the rim, which led him to averaging 3.1 blocks per game last year.
Casey is definitely someone who will be a high-impact player right when he steps on campus in a few years and that is due to his multi-dimensional game and improving skillset.
He is ranked as the No. 21 prospect in the 2022 class.
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