Five Best – Breakdown Fall League (AM Session)
Sunday morning NHR rolled out of bed and spent some time at the Breakdown fall league seeing a few games. Who stood out? Here’s our group. Top Prospect Performance – Braeden Carrington Braeden Carrington 6'4" | SG Park Center |…
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Continue ReadingSunday morning NHR rolled out of bed and spent some time at the Breakdown fall league seeing a few games. Who stood out? Here’s our group.
Top Prospect Performance – Braeden Carrington Braeden Carrington 6'4" | SG Park Center | 2022 State #141 Nation MN of Park Center (6’3, SG, 2022). First off I’m going by list winter’s listed 6-foot-3 but I believe Braeden looks taller than that now. Not sure how tall though, but he’s a good sized wing. Yesterday Braeden not only played the best I have ever seen him play, he also took on new roles and took the game over late.
For starters, Carrington was playing point guard for PC who started Breaden, Jalen Cook Jalen Cook 6'4" | SG Park Center | 2021 State MN , Dawson Rudolph Dawson Rudolph 6'2" | SG Park Center | 2021 State MN , Kabine Kaba, and Ayouba Berthe Ayouba Berthe 6'4" | SF Park Center | 2022 State MN ( JJ Ware JJ Ware 6'6" | SF Park Center | 2023 State MN on the bench but still recovering, James Parker James Parker 6'6" | C Park Center | 2021 State MN is now prepping for football). Facing Tristan Lee Tristan Lee 6'2" | PG Hopkins | 2021 State MN , a good Hopkins defender, I was quite impressed with how Carrington got the offense started each possession. And I was blown away by how well Carrington got to the rim and extended to complete plays over quality Hopkins frontcourt size. Carrington’s first four scores were at the rim. Then in crunch time Carrington hit three threes in the last six minutes (we are all aware of the pretty jumper), and four foul shots in the final minute to put the game away.
For me this was the true Braeden Carrington Braeden Carrington 6'4" | SG Park Center | 2022 State #141 Nation MN coming out party. His chance to show his full range, and that full range was very impressive.
Top Prospect Performance Part 2 – Elvis Nnaji Elvis Nnaji 6'8" | C Hopkins | 2022 State #215 Nation MN of Hopkins (6’8, C, 2022). There was a lot to like about what Elvis did on Sunday. The first play he made was jumping over the top of about three players to forcefully putback a miss with two hands and an aggressive scream. That woke every body up. And if that didn’t do it Elvis took to the massive fly swatter bouncing two shots into “scared of the ricochet”territory. Nnaji only had eight shots despite playing most of the game but he twice stepped up to the foul line putting two points on the board each time, he was the best rebounder on the floor fully engulfing a dozen boards (many in traffic), and he was the biggest reason that the Pirate frontcourt players provided one basket all game.
It’s My Turn – Dawson Rudolph Dawson Rudolph 6'2" | SG Park Center | 2021 State MN of Park Center (6’4, SG, 2021). What we know about Dawson Rudolph Dawson Rudolph 6'2" | SG Park Center | 2021 State MN : 1) tough competitor, 2) has played his role and played it well, 3) works very hard, 4) has good size as a wing, 5) has waited his turn. After watching Dawson aggressively go at Hopkins looking for his own offense, I can confidently say that Dawson is done waiting his turn. And I can confidently say that he is going to be a big part of Park Center this year, and watching him defend with an aggressive and discipline purpose every possession, I feel strongly that Dawson is a player MIAC/UMAC teams should be getting out to see (if they can). Yesterday Dawson scored seven times in 18 attempts – four makes at the arc, three going at the rim – plus he limited a player that was named 17u All State this summer, to two scores.
It’s My Turn Part 2 – Henry Shannon of Eastview (6’5, SF, 2021). Henry Shannon started the game with several of the Eastiew JV/B-squad players from last year and went right to work. The Lightning then brought in Scales, Purcell, Spann, Stalboerger, and Ambrose and as a group they were able to put up 30 of the Lightning 51 points in a four score win, but Shannon went at Maple Grove for a game high 15. Knowing that he had to be a catalyst for his group, Shannon aggressively went at the rim scoring on seven of ten field goal attempts including a second half run of six straight makes. Henry ended the game with a triple putting out the full arsenal for the victors.
New Name to Know – Andy Tran of Maple Grove (5’10, PG, 2021). The most productive player in a very ugly Maple Grove/Eastview game was Andy Tran, a senior lead guard. Outside of some solid post moments from sophomore big Lincoln Palbicki Lincoln Palbicki 6'10" | C Maple Grove | 2023 State MN (7 points/6 boards playing half the running time game) the only run of consistent positive play from the Crimson, was from Tran. Eastview couldn’t keep a player in front of Tran who used his quickness to jet to the rim throughout the contest. Tran opened the game with two scoring attacks and a three but then tried to focus on others getting their offense going. When it was clear it was a lost cause Tran used that speed for a late five basket run on his way to a 17 point game. Andy also chased down five boards and dished out five assists.
Big Stock Booster – Xavier White Xavier White 6'6" | SF Hopkins | 2021 State MN of Hopkins (6’6/6’7, SF, 2021). I don’t know when it’s going to happen on a big scale but I feel a big surge from Xavier White Xavier White 6'6" | SF Hopkins | 2021 State MN coming on. Every time I see Xavier he looks a little taller, a little more agile, a bit more aggressive, and a bit more confident leading to more consistency. I feel like White is close to about 6-foot-7 right now but he has all the agility and quickness to be a three. White’s shooting numbers continue to be more consistent including the four three-point make performance against Park Center (8 of 15 total). Park Center is a long team but they had trouble keeping length in front of White throughout the game leading to his 20 points in a 40 minute running time contest. Surely a scholarship level player. The question is at what level? That will likely depend on the consistency of performance this winter. At the very least I feel Xavier White Xavier White 6'6" | SF Hopkins | 2021 State MN is a division two caliber prospect.