Recruiting Report: James Betz (2019)
Last summer on the grassroots circuit, G-H-V forward James Betz was one of the more dominant and versatile players we saw from Iowa. Now, he’s well into his sophomore season with the Cardinals, Betz his finding his way as a…
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Continue ReadingLast summer on the grassroots circuit, G-H-V forward James Betz was one of the more dominant and versatile players we saw from Iowa.
Now, he’s well into his sophomore season with the Cardinals, Betz his finding his way as a post with his high school team, and has helped them to an 8-2 start behind 11.2 points and team bests 6.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
And despite the less than astounding numbers this season, Betz is currently our 4th-ranked 2019, and two Division I programs seem to agree with that high regard.
“UNI and South Dakota have come to our open gyms, and that’s about it so far,” said Betz.
“They can’t really talk to me yet, so they just came to watch pretty much. And they both came and watched me last summer.”
The 6-foot-6 stretch-four is self-aware, and says before he’s ready to potentially play Division I hoops, he’s got a lot to work on.
“I’d like to play Division I basketball, that would be a lot fun,” said Betz. “But there’s a lot of stuff I have to work on still…a lot of stuff.”
Right now, he says that ball-handling and his outside shot — though he did shoot 46 percent from 3 last season — are things he’s working to improve, while also honing his skills in the block.
“I’ve been working a lot on my ball-handling, and I’ve been working on my 3, but it hasn’t been falling as much as it did last year,” said Betz. “For my high school team I pretty much need to get down and be on the block and post up pretty much.”
“Most of the (college) coaches I’ve talked to have said that I’d be a four.”
As his sophomore season wears on, Betz mentioned to PHIA that he’ll continue to work on being more assertive — that’s his primary focus.
“I’ve been playing pretty good. I’ve had to work at looking for the ball more; I need to step up a little bit more. And defensively I feel like I’ve been playing pretty good,” said Betz.
“But stepping up and being a leader, that was my goal at the beginning of the season.”