17U Summer - Top 5 2021 Stock Risers (D1)

What Minnesota 2021 talents at the top of the class had the best summers in terms of building a quality resume in the eyes of college coaches? NHR breaks it down today. ***As usual I added one, especially since one of the players is now going to a prep school [player_tooltip player_id="532569" first="Andre" last="Gray"] of Grassroots Sizzle (Minneapolis North). Our phrase for [player_tooltip player_id="532569" first="Andre" last="Gray"] the past two years has been "the top shooting guard prospect in his class" and this summer Andre not only backed it up, I would say he was the top stock riser of the summer at the D1 level. Troy, Detroit, and Western Illinois have offered so far and when the video continues to circulate of the way Gray has played especially in August, more options will come. There is a confidence in his shooting touch right now that has him playing like a true go to guy. Andre is as physically gifted as they come guard wise and defensively he's been well taught. When you add a jumper that can be made from several angles to what he can physically do going at the rim, and physically do defensively, you have one exciting prospect. [player_tooltip player_id="774748" first="Broden" last="Lien"] of D1 Minnesota (International Sports Academy, OH). With Broden, everybody has been aware that he can play. Nobody ever questioned that. It was just, could the scoring we are seeing against Class A teams in northern Minnesota be translated to the top level of 17u ball? The answer is a resounding yes. Kind of stinks that we won’t see him be the top guy in Class A basketball this year but his move to prep school will help him as well (would of been a top 5-7 player in his class overall in Minnesota). This year with D1 Minnesota, Lien was a hungry scorer playing with alphas and he produced his points consistently with the shooting touch squared to the rim, and in active buckets finding space within the offense at the cup. He has a Dusty Rychart scoring feel and that is why the offer list includes South Dakota, North Dakota, South Dakota State, Wyoming, Milwaukee, and others so far. [player_tooltip player_id="567044" first="Francis" last="Nwaokorie"] of Minnesota Fury (Champlin Park). Coming into the summer I was not quite sure that [player_tooltip player_id="567044" first="Francis" last="Nwaokorie"] could be that anchor for a low major division one program, a guy that the ball is entered to anyplace in the paint or at the top of the key with the offense going through him. I am now convinced he can be that guy. Francis can rebound at a high level against top bigs, Francis has a better face-up touch out to 17 feet than I was aware, he is certainly quicker getting into space with his back to the basket than we knew, and the results against the state’s best big were positive. I think Francis deserves some options as a D1 post as his passion, touch, and work rate have earned it. [player_tooltip player_id="774755" first="Noah" last="Paulson"] of Playmakers North (Duluth East). The name [player_tooltip player_id="774755" first="Noah" last="Paulson"] is starting to float around at the D1 level. At 6-8/6-9 the Duluth East big man has been added to those recruiting boards as discussions continue about where teams should go next. Check some highlights as we go...... Basketball in Bullet Points!!!! <ul> <li>Had a double-double vs [player_tooltip player_id="774735" first="Davon" last="Townley Jr"] leading his team to a 13 point win</li> <li>Put up a double-double of 17/13 going against [player_tooltip player_id="532587" first="Andrew" last="Morgan"] and [player_tooltip player_id="567035" first="Will" last="Tschetter"]</li> <li>Produced a eight score, nine board game against the surplus of size on the D1 Minnesota roster (Thompson, Streit, Lien, Bland)</li> </ul> What you have there is the vast majority of quality bigs in Minnesota’s senior class and facing all of them, [player_tooltip player_id="774755" first="Noah" last="Paulson"] produced. [player_tooltip player_id="774738" first="Jaelen" last="Treml"] of Minnesota Select (Hopkins). Another name starting to be talked about by division one staffs is that of [player_tooltip player_id="774738" first="Jaelen" last="Treml"]. For two years the potential of Jaelen has been talked about and when we have seen him play, Treml has always played well but he’s fit so much into the team concept that we weren’t quite sure what he would be like as a main guy with the ball in his hands. Playing with Select we saw a guy that made clutch foul shots, that was an excellent passer, a player that could play the one or two spot, an improved shooter and explosive first step attacking guard. Add in that he’s one of Minnesota’s elite defenders and I could see him landing at a local D1 school from Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, or North Dakota. Shoot, can we include St. Thomas now? Let’s throw them in too! Treml seems on the verge. [player_tooltip player_id="567035" first="Will" last="Tschetter"] of Minnesota Heat (Stewartville). [player_tooltip player_id="567035" first="Will" last="Tschetter"]? Yes. [player_tooltip player_id="567035" first="Will" last="Tschetter"] backed up his top 100 level ranking all summer, and in my opinion deserves another jump. This is a guy that had schools continuing to come after him up until his Michigan decision - Creighton, Stanford, etc, etc - but Will told them no, he knew wanted he wanted to do: pick Michigan and kick tail on the summer basketball trail. His 23 point, nine rebound performance in the win over D1 Minnesota in a running time game will go down as one of the top big spotlight 17u game performances in history. He took challenges from other top players like James Graham III, Isaac Traudt, and of course all the locals, and Will came out on top. Secured his spot as a top 100 guy in the nation.