Commitment Report: Brock Bertram (2016)
October 29th We’ve said it a million times over but we will say it again. Brock Bertram has been putting up consistent numbers from his varsity basketball game. When used properly Bertram controls the low post and opens up the…
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Continue ReadingOctober 29th
We’ve said it a million times over but we will say it again. Brock Bertram has been putting up consistent numbers from his varsity basketball game. When used properly Bertram controls the low post and opens up the rest of the floor for his teammates.
Apple Valley has won two state titles with Bertram being a part of things in the middle. For the right fit Brock will be an excellent college center. Who thought he would be a perfect fit? There were several offers over time but it was Miami of Ohio and Buffalo who were the final options and the Buffalo program won out this week.
“Buffalo is a huge college town,” Bertram said to NHR. “I have a really good relationship with the coaches and teammates! I also felt like it had the most potentail and I could be the most successful at Buffalo.”
The Bulls are an excellent fit for Brock in the halfcourt set which is another reason he decided on signing with them in November.
“At Buffalo they really like to use their bigs in the half court sets. Their staff has a couple new guys but also two NBA veterans. They have put total trust into me.”
One of those coaches is former Minnesota Timberwolf and 15 year NBA veteran Donyell Marshall.
Brock now has his future college destination decided and can focus on giving the Eagles yet another 13 point/9 rebound or 14 point/10 rebound season that he has done for so long.
October 15th Update
Apple Valley center Brock Bertram has a couple MAC programs on him very hard right now as he has taken one visit and planned another. The 6-foot-10 Bertram has the size, hands, footwork, and touch to help a program quickly and he's in the middle of visiting schools at the moment.
“I liked my first visit at Miami of Ohio a lot”, said Bertram. “I'm taking another official visit to Buffalo on October 24th.”
It seems those are the programs on him the hardest but there were five D1 programs that spoke with Brock at Apple Valley High School in the past month.
“I had Miami of Ohio, Buffalo, George Mason, Texas Tech, and Missouri at open gyms this fall,” Bertram said.
Brock started his second game for the Eagles and hasn't looked back putting up strong low post numbers since day one. Now he is looking for his third state title medal.
“I'm very excited for the year to come. The biggest challenge will be how hard we compete on defense. Defense was the reason we made our goal of a state title last year.”
Time will tell. They are off to a good start winning a pair of games at the MBA event last weekend including a nice win over Hopkins who is considered the second ranked team in Class AAAA behind the defending champs.
August 11th Update
Brock Bertram played a couple years on the Adidas circuit and a couple years on the Nike circuit. He’s a pure center that has traveled around America and played against the best at a couple different age groups.
“Overall I liked (Grassroots basketball) a lot, it had a lot of good memories and improved my basketball game,” Bertram said.
How did his game improve this year as a 17U player?
“My mid range game improved and my physicality and toughness increased also,” Brock said about competing with the Pulley Panthers.
Now Brock is looking at finishing his high school career in style. In three years of varsity play he has two state title rings.
Brock and the Eagles have a career 88-5 record with him on the varsity team. Another big year awaits.
“I'm very excited for the high school season. We have one goal this season and we are working hard in the weight room and conditioning this off-season to accomplish that goal.”
Bertram has four scholarship offers: Texas Tech, LaSalle, Miami of Ohio, and Wisconsin-Green Bay. A visit has been set up for one of those schools.
“Right now I'm taking an official visit to Miami of Ohio in late August!
June 16th update
On Monday all the 2017s heard from college coaches from around the country. They made all the headlines and have grabbed the attention.
This month Apple Valley center Brock Bertram continues to hear from more and more schools as well. In fact in three years I’m starting to wonder what school hasn’t called on him.
“Auburn, Princeton, Lafayette, Oregon state, and George Mason are the new schools showing interest,” said Bertram.
Since I talked to Brock, Nebraska and Wisconsin-Green Bay also called. Not to mention Iowa, UC-Irvine, Texas Tech, LaSalle, Tulsa, Colorado, Wichita State, Creighton, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Northern Iowa have all been in contact in the past three months.
LaSalle and Texas Tech have offered and a LaSalle visit has been talked about between the two parties. He also has camps coming up.
“I go to the Minnesota team camp with Apple Valley in a couple weeks,” said Bertram. “And I go to Wisconsin team camp with pulley and we go to Chicago and Kansas City for tournaments.”
Brock is once again with the Pulley EYBL squad this spring and summer and he’s feeling like a better player after 17 more EYBL games.
“This season with Pulley, It's going good,” Brock said. “We've gotten a couple weeks off after the EYBL sessions. We’re working hard and trying to finish these last tournaments strong.
“Myself, I’m just trying to get stronger and more athletic! And trying to get more confidence in my jump shot.”
Brock’s career has been solid. He had 11.3/8.4 as a frosh, 11.5/8.7 as a sophomore, and 13.3 points/9.7 rebounds a game as a junior. Brock has two state titles and another year to play.
May 27th 2015
Apple Valley center Brock Bertram. He’s played with the best point guard in 2014 Tyus Jones and won a state title, and he’s played with the top shooting guard in 2017 Gary Trent Jr and won a state title.
Bertram has played with some of the best but he’s also offered some of the most consistent frontcourt production a high school player can give.
As a freshman, Bertram provided 11 points and eight rebounds a game. As a sophomore, Bertram produced 11.3 points and 8.6 rebounds a contest. This winter, as a junior, it was 14 points and ten rebounds a game on average.
Players at 6-foot-10 in the post rarely give that type of consistent production and that is what makes Brock different.
Bertram has two scholarship offers, one from Texas Tech and one from LaSalle. The LaSalle offer came a month ago and Bertram was excited.
“LaSalle called me today, told me they wanted me to come visit, and offered me a scholarship,” Bertram said a month ago. “I’m extremely blessed! I'm really excited to go out and take a visit soon!”
LaSalle isn’t the only new school calling the Eagle and Pulley Panther.
“Iowa texted me, UC-Irvine and Oregon State have also shown interest,” said Bertram.
Bertram is in his second year with the Panthers and he’s seeing improvements in his game.
“I feel like I'm getting stronger and more athletic,” said Brock. “That will help me in a lot of ways. And having a lot more confidence in my jumpshot!”
Bertram and the Pulley Panthers finished up EYBL play this weekend with a 7-10 record. Brock said “they were in a lot of close games and we need to learn to finish strong”.
The Panthers have some camp appearances coming up in June and then they will play three weekends in July.
Update from March 27th, 2015
As a freshman 7-foot-0 center Brock Bertram averaged 11.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game as the Apple Valley Eagles won a state title.
A year later he produced 11.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per contest with the Eagles sitting at number one in Class AAAA nearly the entire season.
This year Brock scored 13.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game once again for the state champions. He’s won two state titles in three years and as the numbers show, he’s one of the rare big men who have consistently produced game after game from a young age.
“Our season was very good!” said Bertram. “We all play as brothers and a family and it shows on the court and we were able to reach are ultimate goal in winning a state championship!”
The Eagles went 30-2 this season and they will return their entire starting line-up and be the number one team in state next year.
“Some of my our top moments were when we came together in the playoffs and fought for each other and played as a team/brotherhood instead of A selfish team,” Brock said.
Bertram shot 66 percent from the floor for the Eagles and now turns his focus to the Howard Pulley Panthers and EYBL.
“I'm extremely excited to play with Howard Pulley again,” said Bertram. “We have a lot of talents on the team this year an should have a great season.
“One of our biggest goals for Pulley is making the Peach Jam and going far In that tournament. It's the biggest tournament in AAU!”
At around seven feet tall and consistently putting up numbers Bertram of course has schools at the D1 level calling. Texas Tech has offered him a scholarship.
“I would say Texas Tech, Iowa, Minnesota ,Tulsa, Colorado, Wichita State, Creighton, Wisconsin, and Northern Iowa are showing the most interest,” said Bertram.
Update from 10/2/2014
True Centers. The true center position is becoming a rare item in basketball. Why? For one, there aren't very of them available on our planet, and two, a lot of bigs are moving away from the basket trying to be forwards.
Fact is, a dominating low post presence on offense can completely change games. Apple Valley basketball team coaches and players will agree, they have a 58-3 record with Brock Bertram in the post.
Brock has given the Eagles outstanding numbers through two years, which is also very rare. Most bigs take a lot longer to mature as players to even produce decent numbers at the varsity level but Bertram averaged 11.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks a game as a sophomore.
This was after putting up 11.0 points and 8.1 rebounds as a freshman. Brock shot 63.3 percent from the floor in 2013-14 and an impressive 71.4 percent from the foul line that is outstanding compared to most centers. Brock has scored 525 points in his career meaning he could hit the 1,000-point mark by the very end of this season or the start of next year.
It should come as no surprise that Brock has a long list of interested schools. Tubby Smith and Texas Tech have already offered a scholarship. In addition, Iowa, Colorado, Purdue, Xavier, Tulsa, Florida State, and Minnesota are showing interest.
Bertram recently took a visit to Iowa City, Iowa to see the Hawkeye basketball program as well as take in a football game. He talked with the top Iowa reporter in the business Tom Kakert and said the following:
“I visited Iowa the weekend that they played Iowa State and it was a really positive visit for me. I really enjoyed it.
“They took me on a tour of the facilities and the campus, I met with Coach (Fran) McCaffery and he is a great guy and a great coach, and I was able to watch the guys on the team play in an open gym and we went to the football game.”
This week Apple Valley Coach Zach Goring informed NHR that Iowa was back in the gym this week.
“Coach (Andrew) Francis came up and it was good to see him. He has been leading Iowa's recruiting with me and we have been building a really good relationship.
“He said they really like me and they want me to come down again sometime for a visit. He thinks I would be a good fit for them and the way they play.”
Coach Goring speaks highly of his center:
“(Brock has) great size with a nice touch and a workman attitude. He finishes on both sides and is a great free throw shooter.”
Bertram is the definition of a center and at 6-foot-11 he knows it.
“I am really a true low post guy. I like to control the paint, rebound, and I think I have a pretty solid set of post moves.”
NHR would agree with that. In fact, when it comes to low blocks players in Minnesota the only player that can compare with the low post repertoire that Brock Bertram possesses is Dan Jech, and he is a power forward.
Update from 6/25/14
It seems like Brock Bertram (#2 in NHR’s class of 2016 rankings) has been around the Minnesota varsity basketball scene for a while… and he just completed his sophomore year. He’s transitioning from being “that young 6-foot-10 kid” to a central piece in Apple Valley’s attack and a veteran leader.
And what better way to improve than by playing on the EYBL circuit? Bertram will continue playing with Howard Pulley’s 17U team in July, continuing to go up against the nation’s top talent.
“The EYBL pushes you to your limits every game,” Bertram told NHR. “It really has made me a better player all around just by playing against the top players in the nation. My toughest matchup was probably against E1T1. They had a kid named Tacko (Fall) and he was 7-foot-5… that was a pretty tough game.”
It’s a rare moment when Brock feels short on the court, but he did against Fall, the tallest high school player in the country. He and the rest of Pulley continue to grind, even in their time off during June; the AAU club has traveled to Northern Iowa and Wisconsin team camps.
With good size, strength and improving touch on the ball, this back-to-the-basket post player is getting attention from some large-conference programs to go with his offer from Texas Tech.
“Vanderbilt, Tulsa, Minnesota, Northwestern, UNI, Texas Tech all called me,” Bertram listed, also mentioning that he was told a Tulsa offer was coming soon. “I've been getting a lot of letters from Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, Kansas and Florida State.”
As far as the local Big 10 program, the Gophers have invited Bertram to take a summer visit; the date is yet to be determined. The red rivals to the east have already hosted the Bertram family in Madison, and they got to tour the campus and meet with the Badger staff.
Apple Valley will be at the Minnesota Gopher team camp this weekend.