The Race for Mr. Basketball: It’s Wide Open

<p>We aren’t a month into the season but one thing is clear, this will likely be the most open race in 5-7 years.  Let’s check in on the candidates! </p> <p><strong>The Favorite.</strong>  [player_tooltip player_id="850710" first="Braeden" last="Carrington"] of Park Center.   If I had to pick a favorite right now I would likely go with [player_tooltip player_id="850710" first="Braeden" last="Carrington"].  All the pressure was on Carrington and the Pirates from the beginning as the preseason number one and they’ve/he’s been up to the challenge with a 5-0 start.  Headline games against DeLaSalle, Wayzata, and Edina all ended in Pirates victories.  Carrington is leading the team in scoring at 18 a contest and he’s playing both guard spots for his team.  </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Final Five Candidates</strong>.  In this spot I like to pick four or five more guys who I think have the potential to end in the final five or are trending as final five candidates.  It’s very early and I have Carrington trending as the favorite by the slimmest of margins.  Here are my other five names:</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958715" first="Pharrel" last="Payne"]</strong> of Park of Cottage Grove.  Payne had a wonderful junior season and became a nationally ranked top 100 level four star talent in the off-season.  An injury has put him on the sidelines at least through the rest of this month. Will he have enough time to make a Mr. Basketball impact?  Depends on when he returns. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850701" first="Tre" last="Holloman"] of</strong> Cretin-Derham Hall.  Between Covid taking away some big games (vs Totino-Grace and East Ridge), a 46-55 loss to Park of Cottage Grove who was missing their best two players, and Tre having a rough game against Wayzata, it’s been a tough December.  But Holloman - my preseason favorite for this award - is the last person you want to count out.  For anything. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850702" first="Prince" last="Aligbe"]</strong> of Minnehaha Academy.  Aligbe has the rings to back up an outstanding career.  And through four games he is holding things down quite well averaging 26 points and 11 rebounds a game.  The problem is the team is 1-3 and just lost to St. Louis Park ([player_tooltip player_id="1284186" first="Mercy" last="Miller"] is out at the moment).  With the team struggling that could hurt his chances. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958638" first="Demarion" last="Watson"]</strong> of Totino-Grace.  Watson is coming off a 21 points in 18 minutes performance against Anoka with his team sitting at 3-1 on the year.  Watson leads his team in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots early in the season and that double-double with six blocks against DeLaSalle is fresh in the minds of people. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958636" first="Alonzo" last="Dodd"]</strong> of South St. Paul.  The last name in this group has to be [player_tooltip player_id="958636" first="Alonzo" last="Dodd"].  The do-everything guard of the Packers continues have his team ranked in the top three in Class AAA and they’ve done that beating a nice list of teams to remain undefeated at 6-0 (Park of CG, Mankato East, Waconia, Eagan, etc).  Dodd is averaging 19 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, and almost six steals a game. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Next Up</strong>. Who should you keep your eyes on along with this group? Here are some names that likely belong in the conversation above and if the season ended today, they would be final five guys. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850706" first="Jackson" last="Loge"] </strong>of Morris Area. Jackson is easily next on this list.  His team remains top four in Class AA at 7-0 with Jackson averaging a healthy 31 points and 15 rebounds a game and he had a great performance at the Tip Off Classic.  If Payne continues to be sidelined and if some of the teams of the top candidates continue to struggle, I could see Loge stepping right in there as a potential top five candidates.  </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850708" first="Kendall" last="Blue"]</strong> of East Ridge. The Raptors have played arguably the toughest schedule of the young season and Blue has played well in every game thus far: vs Lakeville North, vs Hopkins, Edina, vs Eden Prairie, vs Irondale.  Blue is scoring 24 points a game, grabbing ten boards a night, guarding other top weapons, and shooting just under 50 percent from the arc! </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="754315" first="Eli" last="King"]</strong> of Caledonia.  Somehow the Warriors are the number one ranked team in the state but Eli has remained out of the statewide spotlight.  Why?  Because Caledonia has largely stuck to their own area . King is scoring 18 a game and has his team in position to make the expected run we thought they would.  </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>The Sleeper</strong>.  <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850729" first="Muja" last="Burton"]</strong> of Columbia Heights.  No [player_tooltip player_id="850719" first="Spencer" last="Alvarez"]? No [player_tooltip player_id="958648" first="Hassan" last="Kamara"]?  So far Muja has stepped forward and said "No Problem!"  The Hylanders came into the season ranked at 2nd in Class AAA and they are holding that spot with Burton scoring 30+ a few different times.  Keep an eye on Burton, he could push his way into the spot. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p>