ECI 17U Selects: Team Preview

<p>Take a look at ECI’s 17U Select team! In this article, you will find information on ECI’s players, comments from coach Karl Sorby, and their schedule. This team is made up of North Dakota and Minnesota players. The players come from all across North Dakota and Moorhead, MN. It might take a bit of time for this group to gel together. Once they get used to playing with each other, this could be an interesting team. ECI 17U Selects played their first tournament this past weekend in St. Cloud. Their next tournament will be in Sioux Falls later this month.  </p> <h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>ECI 17U Selects Roster</strong></span></h4> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1167890" first="Malaki" last="Sik"] (2023) |6-3 G/F| Williston</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">He is a good-sized wing and a double-digit scorer last year for Williston. ECI will look for him to use his size and length on defense and on the glass to set up their offense. Expect Malaki to be aggressive on the catch.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>JD Williams (2023) |5-11 G| Williston</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">ECI will look for him to set up scoring opportunities in their offense as he totaled 82 assists last year for Williston. ECI will also look for him to use his exceptional quickness on the defensive end, both on and off the ball.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1139277" first="Aiden" last="Jacobson"] (2023) |6-0 G| Valley City</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">A tenacious defender and point guard for Valley City. ECI will look to Aiden to set the tone for their team game in and game out.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1326861" first="Kyler" last="Card"] (2023) Park Christian (MN)</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Kyler is another big-time competitor who ECI will look upon to set the tone defensively.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1400953" first="Dean" last="Grant"] (2023) |6-4 SF| Fargo South</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Dean has the ability to impact the game for ECI in a lot of ways. Dean is a very good 3pt shooter and he can attack off the dribble on the catch. Defensively, his size and athleticism will potentially make up for some errors made on that end.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Rylan Larson (2023) |6-0 G| Moorhead (MN)</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">A very strong guard. ECI will look to use his strength on both ends of the floor to impact the game in ECI’s favor.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1169979" first="Gannon" last="Swanson"] (2023) |5-10 G| Bismarck</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">He is a quality 3pt shooter that we will look to change the game from deep. </p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1184662" first="Brady" last="Norenberg"] (2023) |6-9 C| Garrison</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">ECI will look to use Brady’s massive size to get him touches both in the post and around the basket. Defensively, ECI will look for him to alter shots around the rim, and rebound at a high level.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Devon Church (2023) |6-1 G/F| Mandan </strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">He is another guard who refuses to quit. ECI will look to use his competitiveness to get after opponents. </p> <h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Q &amp; A with coach Karl Sorby</strong></span></h4> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>PHD: What will your team “hang your hat on”?</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Coach Sorby</span>: "<em>While this team is still fairly unknown, one thing we believe this team will hang their hat on is that they will work harder than the other team. This team will look to put a lot of pressure defensively on opposing teams, forcing them to make decisions faster than they want to. We look for our defense to create scoring opportunities for us.</em>"<strong> </strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>PHD: Who will be your top rebounders?</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Coach Sorby</span>: <em>"We expect <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1184662" first="Brady" last="Norenberg"]</strong> (Garrison) to be a top rebounder for us because of his size (6’9) and ability to take up a lot of space. Other top rebounders will be <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1400953" first="Dean" last="Grant"]</strong> (Fargo South) and<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="1167890" first="Malaki" last="Sik"]</strong> (Williston). We expect our guards to get in there and rebound as well, so hoping that the rebounding is more spread out.</em>"</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>PHD: Who do you expect to be your primary ball-handlers?</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Coach Sorby</span>: "<em><strong>JD Williams</strong> (Williston) had 82 assists this year, so we are looking to get the ball in his hands to make plays for others. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1139277" first="Aiden" last="Jacobson"]</strong> (Valley City) and <strong>Rylan Larson</strong> (Moorhead) will also be primary ball-handlers. Looking for Rylan to get downhill to the basket with the ball in his hands to create scoring opportunities for himself and for his teammates.</em>"</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>PHD: When you look at your roster, what are you most excited about heading into the AAU season?</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Coach Sorby</span>: "<em>Looking forward to watching this group learn each other’s strengths &amp; weaknesses, and see the level of this group grow by the game. Without having the ability to practice consistently, we will have to be competitive by playing harder than our opponents and possess the ball more times than our opponents. As we gain more comfortability and confidence in each other, this group has the ability to compete at a high level.</em>"  </p> <h4 style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>17U Selects Schedule</strong></span></h4> <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 189px;"> <tbody> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>DATE</strong></span></td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>TOURNAMENT</strong></span></td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>LOCATION</strong></span></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">April 2-3</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Comets Shootout</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">St. Cloud, MN</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">April 22-24</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Sanford Spring Jam</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Sioux Falls, SD</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">April 30-May 1</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">SPTS #1</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Minneapolis, MN</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">May 14-15</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">SPTS #2</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">St. Cloud, MN</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">May 21-22</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">ECI Border Battle</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Moorhead, MN</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">June 23-25</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Comets Alliance</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">St. Cloud, MN</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">July 7-10</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">D1 Live Period, TBD</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Atlanta, GA</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">July 15-17</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">SPTS #3 Finals</td> <td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Sioux Falls, SD</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>