Tony Roe, Travis Hines and I certainly provided our fair share of player evaluations this spring and summer, but we thought we'd give the guys who know the kids best a chance to be vocal: the coaches. Lefty Moore: All Iowa…
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Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log inTony Roe, Travis Hines and I certainly provided our fair share of player evaluations this spring and summer, but we thought we'd give the guys who know the kids best a chance to be vocal: the coaches.
Lefty Moore: All Iowa Attack Program Director
2016 Connor Murrell, Sioux City East, 6’4 SG
“I saw him this summer a lot, he did a good job, he’s about 6’3, or 6’4, he can make shots. He puts the ball on the floor a little better than I thought, he won’t take six or sevens dribble and create a shot, but he’s pretty good at shot-faking and getting to the rim, or one or two dribble and get to the rim. I think Connor had a good summer, he’s probably in my opinion a mid-level D2 guy. He’s kind of a specialist right now, he can shoot it and he’s a really nice kid, he works hard, plays hard.
2016 Canyon Hopkins, Earlham, 6’4 SF
We call him “Moose”, and “Moose” is unbelievable, he’s a really good kid, he’s kind of a streaky shooter, but if you looked at his frame you wouldn’t think of that, he’s about 6’4 and probably 215 pounds, he’s a pretty big kid. But he can shoot it, he has a pretty good post-up game, he can push you around under the basket, he ‘s been with us for awhile and has been solid. I think “Moose” is like Connor in that Division II, NAIA level, I think he’d be good at that level.”
2016 Kolby Jensen, Ballard, 5’9 PG
“He’s another kid that grew up in the program. Kolby is a really smart player, for his size he takes care of the ball pretty decent, he can guard you OK and works hard on defense, I saw him frustrate a lot of guys this summer. This year he actually got a little bit better at taking the ball to the rim and finishing in the lane. He’s got to work on his shot and become a little better shooter, but he works really hard and he’s pretty solid. Kolby’s one of those guys that if he's playing with a lot of other great players, he’s great, he’s a complimentary player.”
2016 Gatdoar Kueth, Roosevelt, 6’6 G/F
“He might have been the most improved player from the beginning of the summer to the end. He had some moments where he played really hard, he played well, and then there were moments when he took some plays off during the game. I think he’s just starting to realize how much upside he has because he’s 6’6, 6’7 and he's long and really athletic. He’s got to get a little bit stronger and put some weight on, but I think he’s going to have a really good season with Roosevelt. I think he saw some things this summer that made him realize that he could probably play this game after high school.”
2017 Collin Hill, South Hamilton, 6’5 SG
“In my opinion he really didn’t get healthy until July, and you could tell how he was moving in July compared to April and May. I thought he had a really good summer, I know UNI and Drake and a lot of those Missouri Valley schools were at a lot of our games watching him play, and I know they really, really like him. And I think he can play at that level, I think he’s a Missouri Valley Conference player. I mean he’s 6’5, he’s long, he can shoot it, he’s way more athletic than a lot of people realize — you could see that in July when he was going down the lane dunking on people. I like him a lot, I think he had a really, really good summer. He just needs to get stronger, but he’s probably going to average 25 points per game at South Hamilton High School. I think he’s a mid-major kind of guy.”
2017 Connor Kasperbauer, Centennial, 6’4 SG
“He’s another really long guy, and 6-foot-4. Obviously he can really shoot it, but now he can go up and dunk with two hands and do all that kind of stuff. Connor’s got to work hard on defense and make sure he’s locked in all the time, but that team was so small that a lot of times we had him guarding the other team’s biggest player, so that took a lot out of him. But offensively he’s great, he can make shots, comes off screens well, he’s got good size for a wing player. Hopefully this year he’ll have a chance to step out of the shadows of all those guys from last year’s Centennial team and I expect him to have a big year with Centennial.”
2017 Trey Washington, Dallas Center-Grimes, 6’ PG
“He really is athletic and he really is quick. The thing with Trey is he really didn’t have a good basketball IQ because at Dallas Center-Grimes he could get away with just his athleticism and quickness, but he was really receptive to being coached this year, and he did everything we talked about. In all honesty he has no idea how good he can be, he could be a Division I basketball player pretty easy with his athleticism and his quickness and stuff like that. Does he have the mental makeup to do that? I don’t know yet, the verdict is still out on that. Hopefully he’ll take the stuff that he learned this summer and he’ll apply it to his work ethic and try to become a better basketball player. I tell him all the time you can’t just be a 6’1 freak of an athlete and get away with it at the next level.”
2018 Jake Anderson, Iowa City West, 5’10 PG
“I thought his game evolved a little bit this summer, I thought he evolved with his midrange game, he can shoot the 3 OK, not great, he’s got to get a little bit better at that. He’s always been able to get to the basket, he’s pretty quick and he’s athletic too. Jake’s just got to keep working man, I like him a lot, and to be honest I don’t know if he’s going to grow a whole lot anymore. He works so hard, and he wants to be good so bad. Right now, in all honesty I would project him as a D2 kid right now, but you never know things could change with him. He’s in a tough situation with Iowa City West man, he’s got Devontae (Lane), and all those guys there, he’s going to have to wait his turn. Hopefully it won’t stunt his growth any if he doesn’t get to play varsity, even though he would on just about any other school in the state. But I know Jake and he’s got a positive attitude and a positive outlook on things, he’s a good kid, a really good kid.”
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