Class AAAA Title Contender Series: Eastview

<p>We knew Eastview could be good, now we Know they will be good.  We thought Eastview would be deep, now we Know they will be deep.  Seeing all of their talent develop the last three months has been an eye opener, this is a true contender.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Key Wins in 20-21 (17-3)</strong><strong>: </strong>Lakeville North, Rosemount, Lakeville South, Prior Lake, Shakopee</p> <p><strong>Oops</strong>: Park of Cottage Grove, Lakeville South, Lakeville North</p> <p><strong>Moving On: </strong>The Lightning had four senior starters:  [player_tooltip player_id="957196" first="Henry" last="Shannon III"] who was a top 10 Mr. Basketball talent and now at UMD, one of the most electric players in Minnesota which was [player_tooltip player_id="774806" first="Zach" last="Spann"] who is now at St. Thomas, [player_tooltip player_id="774901" first="Jackson" last="Purcell"] who handled the ball and is now at Minnesota as a walk-on, and [player_tooltip player_id="957220" first="Grayson" last="Stalboerger"] who did a great job playing his role. In addition, Brady Schmitz and Aryan Kohli played the 6th/7th Man role and both have also graduated.  </p> <p><strong>Returning Starters (1):  </strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958669" first="Kenji" last="Scales"], who recently committed to Sioux Falls, scored 15 a game last year and returns as the lone returning starter.  Scales proved to be a top 20/25 level senior this summer playing with Minnesota Select.  He is the perfect place to start a team the following year.  </p> <p><strong>Reserves Playing a Bigger Role: </strong>I can hear people asking now "they lost six of their top seven and you think they will be top five/six level in the state?" Yep.  It starts with Scales and then moves to [player_tooltip player_id="1143863" first="Jamal" last="Ambrose"].  They 6’10 big man had an injury plagued junior year or he would of made a bigger impact.  Ambrose has a nice touch, great hands, and is a good low post position defender. </p> <p><strong>Potentials from the JV:  </strong>This is where you start to see why this team will be so good (in addition to Kenji and Jamal).  We have to go basketball in bullet points to get through all these guys as they will all fight for time:</p> <ul> <li>Sam Bolger.  Sam is a 6’3 senior wing that played JV last year and has good size at guard</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="1194000" first="Ruhan" last="Jordan"].  Ruhan had an excellent 16u year with the Magic and will be a junior guard they can use. </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="1140493" first="Mario" last="Adams"].  Mario is about 6’5/6’6 and has had D1 coaches in to see him this fall.  Explosive wing. </li> <li>Aaron Bangh.  Another junior guard that got good experience last year on the Eastview JV</li> <li>Jacob Scheuring.  A 6’6 forward that is skilled and played well for the Magic as well as at the Expo this off-season</li> <li>Jaden Olson.  The third Eastview guard that played on JV as a sophomore.  Olson has really blossomed lately. </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="1140495" first="Myles" last="Adams"].  Twin brother of Mario, Myles is also a 6’5/6’6 athletic wing that has D1s looking at him.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="1140498" first="Chet" last="Kloss"].  6’6 forward who had a great summer with the Chill and is hearing from D2.</li> </ul> <p>Kloss could maybe start.  I believe at least one of the Adams brothers will start.  Olson could push for serious time in the backcourt.  Scheuring has skilled size they will likely use.  But they will also be fighting for time against the following group....</p> <p><strong>New to the Varsity program</strong>:   [player_tooltip player_id="1139192" first="Dylan" last="Omweno"] is one of the best guards in the 2023 class and was one of the best players at Apple Valley last year (led them in scoring).  Dylan could come in and be the ball handler immediately allowing Scales to be the off-guard where he has excelled.  Another newcomer that could start is 6’5 forward Kaysar Hassan who is relentless and at times a monster in the paint.  He didn’t even play last year but has a chance to get a ton of time this season.  Then you have [player_tooltip player_id="1288666" first="Henry" last="Eliason"] who at 6’5 is skilled and opened a lot of eyes at the Expo.  </p> <p><strong>Final Thoughts</strong>: I just listed 13 players that will fight for time and who knows, I am sure they have 1-2 more.  You can’t play everybody so I am sure that a couple of the junior guards will play just JV and one of the long juniors will spend time on the JV but Eastview is up there with Wayzata and Park Center when it comes to deepest programs in the state.  They will certainly be a title contender.  Heck, their practices will be some of the best basketball in the state as guys fight for time.  </p>