Hoop City Classic: Day 1 Preview
The Hoop City Classic gets bigger and bigger with every year. The Corn Palace may even be called “the center of the holiday basketball universe” considering all the top notch talent coming to South Dakota this week. PHD has you covered each morning with previews!
Dominican (WI) vs Coronado (NV)
The Skinny: Dominican is off to a 6-1 start led by Alex Antetokounmpo scoring 21.4 points a game with over ten rebounds a night. Dominican has a tough frontline that is balanced and deep after Antetokounmpo. Coronado has played six different teams from six different states, most of which are top teams in the country (and they’ve won half the games). Coronado has three of the top 50 seniors in Nevada, three of the top 20 juniors in the state, and the best sophomore talent overall in Nevada (Jaden Hardy is the fourth ranked sophomore in the country overall by Prep Hoops, Jaden is the feature photo in this article).
Top Match-Up 1: Alex Antetokounmpo vs Jaden Hardy. Jaden is a 6-foot-4 wing that is nationally known building offers from Arizona, USC, Florida, LSU, Georgetown, and 20 other major conference schools so far. He has the resume of a superstar where asAlex is the 6-foot-6 junior wing brother of Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Alex is the 13th ranked player in a stacked class of Wisconsin talent. Alex has offers from DePaul and UWGB so far.
Top Match-Up 2: Delone Austin vs Max Howard. Austin is 6-foot-1 and scoring ten points a game as one of the better sophomores in Wisconsin. Howard stands 6-foot-4 at wing and is a top 20 junior in Nevada.
Top Prospect to See: Jaden Hardy. What makes Hardy special? He is one of the most complete backcourt players that you will see in high school basketball. Hardy isn’t just athletic, this guard can create baskets from many angles for himself but rarely forces his game choosing to create for others as well.
Prediction: Coronado has a bigger supply of talent in their starting five and on their bench. Domincan gives them a run for awhile, but losses by 15.
Lower Brule (SD) vs Mountain Brook (AL)
The Skinny: Mountain Brook has the best player in the state of Alabama (Trendon Watford) and the third best junior in their state (Colby Jones who has 7 D1 offers) as well. Sprinkled in with Watford and Jones are several top 100 seniors and juniors in the state as well. Lower Brule, the defending state champions, are 3-3 on the season. Lower Brule is in Birmingham, Alabama and is one of the more prestigious schools in their area.
Top Match-Up 1: Shane Sazue Jr vs Paul Stramaglia. Sazue is a 5-foot-10 point guard who ranks in the top 20 in the state of South Dakota among juniors. Shane scored 15 a game as a sophomore and has increased that as a junior. Stramaglia often is the distributor for Mountain Brook along with Alex Washington (when Watford isn’t on the ball).
Top Prospect to See: Trendon Watford is one of the elite scorers in the nation and he recently narrowed his list to Alabama, Indiana, LSU and Memphis. Watford is ranked 32nd in the nation by Prep Hoops and is likely moving up.
Prediction: To say this in the nicest way possible, Mountain Brook has the advantage and will win in a way that will allow starters to rest in half two.
DeLaSalle (MN) vs Findlay Prep (NV)
The Skinny: DeLaSalle and Findlay Prep are traditional opponents at this event. The Islanders from Minnesota have won six of the last seven Class AAA titles in Minnesota and are ranked number one in the state this year with a 4-1 record. Findlay Prep is likely the most famous high school basketball team in the nation in recent history and they are 8-1 to start the year. Findlay Prep doesn’t have the same type of stacked roster they used to be they are still huge, and talented.
Top Match-Up 1: PJ Fuller vs Tyrell Terry. PJ Fuller is an aggressive, attack minded off guard headed to TCU and ranked 72nd in the nation. Tyrell Terry is a true point guard with a pretty touch headed to Stanford and ranked 91st nationally. Fuller and Terry are very different players but both quite talented and highly productive.
Top Match-Up 2: Raymond Hawkins vs Jamison Battle. Hawkins is an unsigned big ranked 243rd in the nation overall at 6-foot-10. Hawkins is the third biggest player on the Findlay Prep nine man roster so he will likely play some four meaning he will fight with 6-foot-7 shooter Jamison Battle, the 317th ranked senior in the nation.
Top Prospect to See: PJ Fuller
Prediction: The Islanders have their share of D1 players with Tyrell Terry going to Stanford and Jamison Battle headed to George Washington but Terry is just coming off of an arm injury. Findlay Prep will have a familiar face to the Islanders as former Hopkins (MN) High School guard Blaise Beauchamp is at Findlay. DeLaSalle and Findlay Prep have the same number of upperclassmen with high major offers (two). This should be a good game. Findlay Prep will be better, and bigger off the bench leading to an eight point win.