NHR Commentary: Success stories of the NHR Combine
When it comes to fall combine season, nobody does it with the professionalism and detention to detail like Northstar Hoops Report and the Prep Hoops Network. You have all seen the videos and a good majority of you have been in attendance in the past. The Stock Risers Combine and the Primetime Prospects Combine are second to none. And getting better with every event.
A year ago the amount of talent that emerged at this event was eye-popping. Here is a reflection on 2014:
Zack Baker. This summer the Minnesota Heat brought out a lot of the potential of Baker on the court. Last October the standing vertical and other scores showed the local basketball community that Baker has the potential to do what he did this summer.
Kevin McKiernan. Before the Primetime Prospects Combine McKiernan was thought to be a nice shooter and ball handler. A steady player. At the combine Kevin showed he was more than that. His scores in the vertical, sprinting, and agility drills let schools know that he’s more than a skill player, Kevin is an athlete. Kevin is a college basketball player that many schools would want.
JoBriel Powell. The Washburn guard was solid throughout his high school career but his attacking production during the open run was the first view to what he was capable of the upcoming winter, and ultimately helped him connect with a college basketball program.
Steffan Musoke. When Steffan showed up at the NHR combine he was a known guy, a known prospect. What he showed at the combine was that he was more than an athlete. Steffan’s performance in the skill drills grabbed a lot of attention showing he was more than just physical specimen.
Ben Scherer. This summer Ben was getting NSIC scholarship offers. Last summer few knew who he was. The first time Ben grabbed metro wide focus was his low post dominance in the open runs and the low post skill drills at the NHR combine. Nobody at this event could stop Ben from having his way on the block. It opened many eyes to what Ben could be.
Quinton Siebenahler. Quinton was always getting numbers in the paint as a young player. But when he damn near hit his head on the rim during the vertical tests and was flying around the floor during agility drills, it was clear that he has the physical athletic edge on just about every big in the state. The testing part of the combine opened the world of college basketball to what “Q” is physically capable of.
Brian Sitzmann. The Prior Lake scorer was running all over the court putting up numbers in the open floor team runs. At this point nobody knew who he was. This recent spring and summer when guys took the floor versus his Magic team they had an idea what he could do and the first time the metro saw his scoring ability was at the NHR combine.
Carter Brooks. The Lakeville North Panther is trying to decide amongst scholarship offers right now. Twelve months ago there was no indication that this would be the case. Until Carter showed up at the NHR combine and was smoothly gliding baseline to baseline for production on both ends. Right then and there NHR started talking to schools about what Brooks can do. The length of this young man caught everybody off guard.
Eli Cave. Eli didn’t really blow anybody away until this past spring. However, at the combine you saw the height, length, and effortless run up the floor. At this point we didn’t know that the light would come on just months later but Cave’s name was written down as a potential prospect after the taken measureables.
Cedric Boone. When Boone came to the combine and knocked out jumpers in the drills and open runs the thought was “he is too good to play JV at Hopkins”. It wasn’t longer before he was moving into the Minnetonka district and starting for the Skippers. Boone now has offers to play basketball in college and the NHR combine is where his creative touch caught our eye.
Owen Chose. Owen was known but never had anybody seen him lead older players metro wide until the combine. Owen led his team to several short game victories guiding talent that was two or even three years older. He’s one of the top clutch leaders out there and our first viewing of this was at the NHR combine.
Trenton Krueger. When people asked NHR about Trenton before this event we said “a nice four man who is exclusive to the post” and after the NHR combine we said “this is a forward prospect with a nice face-up game and increasing range that could bring him D2 offers”. What does TK have now? D2 offers.
Jimmy Vollbrecht. The Jordan big eared all 16U status this year and was one of the top Comets in the program. A year ago it was thought that he was a solid complimentary big but then at the combine he showed skills and a double-double work rate that really for shadowed what came later.
These are just a few of the stories from last year’s NHR combines that previewed things to come in the next dozen months. Is NHR trying to take credit for their success? Of course not. That’s all the kids and the work they have put in. The NHR Combine did give the players a forum to display what they can do and NHR will once again do that better than anybody on October 17th, 2015. Be there.