Recruiting Report: Hunter Strait (2018)
With still one summer left to showcase himself on the grassroots circuit, Ankeny Centennial point guard Hunter Strait is confident in his ability to pick up some scholarship offers.
Currently, the slick 6-foot-2 point guard has no offers, but his interest — Division I and Division II — has gone from lukewarm to hot since the start of the spring.
“Right now I’ve been talking a lot to Western Illinois, Air Force, Nebraska-Omaha, South Dakota, Drake a little bit, and I’ve been talking to IUPUI a little bit,” said Strait.
“And so far this spring for D2s, it’s been Northwest Missouri State, Truman State, Nebraska-Kearney and Hillsdale (MI) have all contacted me and like me a lot. They see me as a Division I caliber player but know I haven’t gotten the offers yet.”
Strait went into detail about the sort of contact he’s been receiving, and with a strong spring under his belt, the next step is to duplicate that success this summer.
“They all called me and they all really like me, a lot of them started getting after me during this season or during spring, and the next step is the have the head coach come watch me,” said Strait. “And they said if I play the way I did during the spring, their head coach will (like me a lot) too. It just depends on July and I feel like if I play the way I did, then I’ll be fine.”
There’s two schools in particular which the Centennial standout mentioned as possible first-to-offer schools.
“Probably Western Illinois, maybe Air Force,” said Strait. “I have a really good relationship with the coach from Western Illinois, we don’t talk about just basketball, we talk about real life stuff and it’s been good having contact with him. Same with the Air Force coach, I feel like we’ve established a really good relationship over the last couple months.”
Strait’s strong summer with Team Iowa 17U comes after a nice junior season with the Jaguars. He transferred into Centennial after playing his first two high school seasons (plus the start of his third) with Cedar Rapids Washington.
He averaged 16.9 points, 2.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 18 games for the Jags.
“During my junior season I worked on becoming more of a dynamic scorer. I’ve always been known as a pass-first guy and I’ve always been a good passer, but I needed to up my scoring ability with my high school and AAU team,” said Strait.
“I’ve been really working on my jump-shot, and it’s been a lot more consistent from the 3 and my mid-range. I’ve been working on my finishing and my strength, I’ve added about 10 pounds since basketball ended, and it’s helped me with muscling past opponents and finishing easier in the paint.”
Strait added: “I feel like it (my junior season) went really well, as a team it didn’t go how we wanted it too, we wanted to make it to state. Me, personally, I was very happy with the year. I feel like I got a lot better, especially with Coach (Bob) Fontana, he really pushed me to be a better player.”
He spent his spring with Team Iowa 17U, and thought it was an up-and-down April and May team-wise, Strait is happy with how he performed.
“We’ve had some inconsistency in our numbers, which has made it tough to gel and things like that. But I’ve been working on things I’ve wanted to work on,” said Strait. “I’ve been finishing a lot better, making better decisions with my passes, and my jump-shot has gotten a lot better. I’ve been hitting my 3s consistently.”
This summer will be a big one for Strait — Iowa’s 6th-ranked 2018.
“I just want to get that first offer, D1 or D2,” he said. “Obviously the goal is to go D1, and with the looks I have right now I think I’ll get some Division I offers this summer.”