The Final Countdown: 2017’s 50-41
- Niko Gosnell (Lone Tree)
After a major growth spurt heading into his senior season, this Kirkwood-bound post recorded dominant numbers for Lone Tree. At 6’7 and with some nice length, he was bound to be one of the best centers in 1A, but just look at these numbers from last winter; 17.8 points on 63 percent shooting, 46 percent from deep, 2.8 blocks and 9.5 rebounds per game.
- Jailen Billings (Sioux City East)
This quick scoring guard started his career with Sioux City North, and starred in the state tournament with that team as a sophomore. He transferred to Sioux City East before his senior season, and again played in a state tournament. He knows how to win, we’ll give him that. Billings will play at NAIA Mount Marty next season.
- Joey Kern (Dowling)
We got up a recruiting report on this Dowling standout once, and it was very clear then that not only was he a standout point guard, but highly intelligent as well. We figured he’d land with a prestigious academic school after college, but didn’t know if he’d play ball too. He did, and he is; Johns Hopkins, nuff said.
- Max Smith-Drahos (Cedar Rapids Prairie)
Smart and skilled, this kid played the game the right way, and Division III Wartburg nabbed one of the state’s most efficient players. As a senior he scored 17.5 points on a whopping 62 percent field goal percentage, also 46 percent from deep. Oh, and he led the team in steals too, snatching away just north of two per game.
- Kolby Molinsky (Carroll)
When we were doing our initial scouting of the 2018 class in the spring of 2014, this was one of the first kids we identified as a top talent. He was playing with All Iowa Attack then, and stayed with Attack throughout his career, starring with them for the past three summers. A skilled all-around guard with decent size, Molinksy will play at NAIA Morningside next season.
- Chris Kroll (Sergeant Bluff-Luton)
Just based upon his statistics alone, we knew this Sergeant Bluff-Luton guard was one of 3A’s best players. Then we got a chance to see him play this past March at the state tournament, and he was sensational. Even at 6-foot, he’s able to have his was offensively, and is adept at both getting to the rim to score as well as canning 3s. Defensively, his quickness and instincts are both fantastic. He committed early to NAIA Northwestern College.
- Parker Lange (Storm Lake)
From his freshman season through this past winter, Lange was putting up nice numbers for Storm Lake. He put Tornadoes basketball on the map, and in his offseasons was always loyal to Martin Bros. His points per game by season were; 7.4, 17.5, 19.2, 16.3. The 6-foot scoring guard is headed to D2 Upper Iowa next season.
43. Christian Kyles (Siouxland Christian)
Originally a Des Moines East product, Kyles transferred to Siouxland Christian Academy, and it’s there he would star for his final two high school seasons. He was putting in work last summer with South Dakota Attack and ended up nabbing some NAIA interest because of it. He’ll play JuCo at Iowa Lakes next season.
- Drew Johnson (Waukee)
A fantastically solid combo-guard from Waukee, Johnson is a kid we saw get exponentially better right in front of our eyes. He’s quick, highly skilled and plays smart. On one of Iowa’s best 4A teams last winter, Johnson was the leader the Warriors is scoring, steals and 3s made. Grand View is getting a good one.
- Jacob Rau (Waukee)
Like the aforementioned Christian Kyles, Rau will spend at least the next season of his basketball career at Iowa Lakes Community College. At 6’7 and with some nice big-man fundamentals, Rau will be looking to nab some D2 or maybe D1 offers after his stint with the Lakers. He averaged 11.9 points on a whopping 67 percent shooting as a senior, and nabbed 10.1 rebounds per for good measure.