Utah Summer Grassroots Recap
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It was talked about and it was proven that this class was special. You had club teams from all over the state making major waves. First year programs that cemented a really important year one were Utah Gold 3SGB and…
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Continue ReadingIt was talked about and it was proven that this class was special. You had club teams from all over the state making major waves. First year programs that cemented a really important year one were Utah Gold 3SGB and SUSA 3SGB. With Utah Gold playing some elite ball out East and SUSA doing the same thing out West. These two teams left the state and helped their players pick up offers.
Utah Gold 3SGB
We got to see this Ace Reiser Ace Reiser 6'0" | PG Alta | 2024 State UT , Chris Cox and Brock Felder connection that we did not know we needed.
SUSA
We knew Kyle Lemke Kyle Lemke 6'9" | C Dixie | 2024 State UT was a dude in Utah but what he did to out of state teams really made his stock rise.
Then you have the Utah Prospects 3SSB 17U team capture that mythical AAU Championship and they played one of the toughest schedules in the country. With shooters, playmakers and a ton of chemistry everyone in the country knows that Utah has BALLERS!
Utah Prospects 3SSB
The shooters continue to elevate this programs game from Jaxon Johnson Jaxon Johnson 6'8" | SF Alta | 2024 State #106 Nation UT , Brody Kozlowski Brody Kozlowski 6'8" | SF Corner Canyon | 2024 State #103 Nation UT to John Southwick John Southwick 6'3" | SG Utah Prep | 2025 State #234 Nation UT , Ike Staley Ike Staley 6'6" | SG Lone Peak | 2025 State UT and now Dean Rueckert Dean Rueckert 6'7" | SF Timpview | 2026 State UT .
Salt Lake Rebels once again put together a solid team that could hang with anyone. Kongo Elite represented well on the UA Rise Circuit
Salt Lake Rebels
We got to see great play from KJ Miller KJ Miller 6'3" | CG Layton | 2024 State UT , Noah Bendinger Noah Bendinger 6'4" | CG Corner Canyon | 2025 State UT and Reece Dent Reece Dent 6'8" | SF American Fork | 2024 State UT to name a few but every year SLR have solid next level hoopers.
The Mountain Stars started a new chapter playing in the UAA and they had some moments of great play and most importantly they gave their players a chance to play against top tier talent.
Mountain Stars
Dutch Dowdell Dutch Dowdell 6'6" | SG Olympus | 2024 State #310 Nation UT really set that bar high with his commitment to Harvard. CONGRATS!
UBC Elite continues to compete and they had some solid play from a variety of their teams but their 16U team was great.
UBC ELite
Really like the development of players like Charlie Smith Charlie Smith 6'5" | SG Bountiful | 2025 State UT and Cale Barclay Cale Barclay 6'8" | PF Herriman | 2025 State UT .
Salt Lake Bandits made a great run in the tournaments that they played in, they even picked up some solid wins against some programs locally and out of state that have been around for awhile.
Utah Hard Knox had an excellent year from top to bottom as did Utah Premier , Utah Force and Ignited.
Moving Forward
With such a solid grassroots season in the books for the most part look for play to trickle into the high school season and although there are a few teams that are loaded there is a lot of talent across the board that is going to really show at the high school level. From 6A to 5A and even now that 4A is a bit stronger than it has been in a long time high school ball in Utah will be at an all time high. The 1st week of October is when we will get a peak at the teams and some of the new pieces as The Great Western Classic is back and it will also feature teams from at least 11 states and teams from out of the country. Prep Hoops Utah will be covering that end excited for the start of Fall Ball and the high school season.