Twin Cities Takedown: Minnesota Prospect Notes 16U
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Thoughts on the players I saw on Sunday at the Twin Cities Takedown! The last event of the four month season. CJ CJ Armstrong CJ Armstrong 6'3" | CG Richfield | 2025 State #302 Nation MN of D1 Minnesota Coker…
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Continue ReadingThoughts on the players I saw on Sunday at the Twin Cities Takedown! The last event of the four month season.
CJ CJ Armstrong CJ Armstrong 6'3" | CG Richfield | 2025 State #302 Nation MN of D1 Minnesota Coker (6’1 2025 guard from Richfield). Love how Armstrong gets to the basket. It’s not just the quicks or the separation move, my favorite is the battle to the angle for the attack, and the battle to the angle to the finish. When the competition got tougher those windows got smaller and the numbers went down, but in the two Sunday games on the way to the title CJ was the go-to scoring option getting double digits. Had a fantastic 16u season with D1 Minnesota Coker and looks to be a scholarship scorer.
Cedric Banks Cedric Banks 5'10" | PG Tartan | 2025 State MN of D1 Minnesota (5’10 2025 guard from Tartan). Banks was the MVP of the title game. He plays Tartan tough and you could see that from the very first play when he sat in a stance and forced a turnover out of a top prospect in his class. Banks has the frame of a quality defensive back and the quicks to go with it. He pushed the attack for his first six field goals and then down the stretch knocked out a key three and late attack. Scored 17 points on 8 of 9 shooting in the title game with five assists playing tough and steady.
Monteff Dixon Jr Monteff Dixon Jr 6'4" | PF Cretin-Derham Hall | 2025 State MN of Team Supreme (6’3 2025 forward from Cretin-Derham Hall). Monteff may have been the eye catcher of the weekend for me. The CDH active forward put his frame in the paint and relentlessly contributed. Between active scores (putbacks, cuts to catch and finish, transition runs) and post ups on smaller players that thought they could hang, Dixon was in front of the rim producing all weekend. He had 27 points and 11 rebounds on 11 of 12 shooting in the title game and another dozen boards in the semi-final game. Dixon is really going to help CDH this winter in a big way with his activity and toughness.
Jaleel Donley Jaleel Donley 6'1" | PG Benilde-St. Margaret's | 2025 State MN of Team Supreme (6’2 guard from Benilde-St. Margaret’s). Sunday was just another tease to how explosively talented Donley could be. He had four explosive shot blocks in the two semi-final games, Donley burst to space and then found cutters with some zipping passes that burst through small lanes, and there were a couple steals that looked like big time DB’s jumping routes. Had a tough Sunday shooting (6 of 17) and there were too many turnovers at key times, but Donley got his team to the finals and once again his potential as a college guard could get to an area that few others in his class have a chance to.
Ganden Gosch of D1 Minnesota Coker (6’4 2025 wing from Mankato East). When it comes to kids in the 2025 class that had a fantastic 2025, Ganden is high on that list. He’s a strong wing that moves well and has a nice shooting touch plus he plays with a toughness. For the title game, Ganden hit four of his last five shots including two late triples and an inside finish in traffic that were big for momentum. A big reason expectations are high at Mankato East once again.
De’Von Irvin of Real Phenom & D1 Minnesota Coker (6’1 2025 guard from DeLaSalle). Irvin slipped one by us on Sunday playing 17s with one team and then jumping on the 16s with another program but in the aftermath, I’m glad he did because I got a chance to see him in a different way. Real Phenom wins with balance which has been awesome for them, but this is the first time I got to see Irvin be overly aggressive on offense and he played very well scoring 17 points on 17 attempts. There is more juice to his attack and more of a touch on the move (pull-ups and runners) than I was aware of. He has a chance to be a better scorer than I thought.
JoJo Mitchell of FSA/Team Sizzle (5’11 2026 PG from Cretin-Derham Hall). Mitchell’s scoring feel is at another level that I think we can now label in the “special” category. He’s just relentless coming down hill at opponents and the quickness to the release is just way too much for most high school defenders. There are two types of plays that have caught my eye this season from him: the play where Mitchell sees an attacking angle that I didn’t think he could get to but his quickness did, and the plays where it looks like he has no business getting through the crack but he bursts through it anyway to score. A special point producer.
JJ Semanko JJ Semanko 6'4" | SF Hopkins | 2025 State MN of Team Supreme (6’5 2025 wing from Hopkins). Semanko did two things to get his combined 28 points in two games on Sunday: knock out threes, get fouled on his rim attack for free throw makes. Semanko looks to have filled out a bit more, he looks a tad taller, and that shooting stroke in the corner is a nightmare to closeout to. Especially in quick transition or a scramble off a quality guard attack (and few teams are going to have the level of quality guard attack that Hopkins will have this winter). A shooter to keep an eye on.