Impressive Players That I Was Able to See Live

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prior to the start of the WIAA playoffs and over the last couple of weeks I have been able to watch several players, that either turned in solid performances or were impressive versus the last time I saw them. Several of the prospects just get it in terms of playing hard and that makes sitting in a gym that much more rewarding. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kon Knueppel | 6'5" | SG | 2024 | Wisconsin Lutheran</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I was able to view Kon at the Border Battle event at The Prairie School in Racine, put on by Mark Miller and WSN. The Wisconsin Lutheran club was playing Deerfield, a Northwest suburb of Chicagoland. Kon went something like 0-7 from 3-point land and why was this impressive? Because he still ran the floor, he still displayed a high basketball IQ within the game, he was one of the players diving on the floor for loose balls. He still scored his points, but he also battled for boards, handled the rock, and dished out assists. Maybe this is a big reason why he was the state's number-one prospect from freshman through senior year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>His teammates <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1159275' first='Logan' last='Rindfleisch']</strong> and 2026 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1552512' first='Zavier' last='Zens']</strong> were impressive in their own right. It seems like multiple times that Logan hit the floor for a loose ball, l or had a never-say-die attitude on the boards. Unofficially Logan poured in 16 points and Zens netted 11 points. I believe that Zavier can be a top-ten prospect in his own right and some of his play mirrors that of his cousin K2. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1156904' first='Drew' last='Murphy'] | 6'5" | W | 2025 | Verona</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This prospect was another one I was able to watch at The Prairie School event. Call me impressed, first time that I have been able to see Drew play this year and probably the first time since early 2023. He looked like a different player, in that he has started to fill out physically, his athleticism has become more fluid and smoother. His jump shot was fixed and looked cohesive if that makes sense. He played with a confidence I hadn't seen before, so much so that I think we all should watch more of this prospect during summer ball and going into the 2024 season. The gains I witnessed are clearly from hard work. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I am always impressed with <strong>Curtrel Robinson</strong>, the head coach of Verona. Before coaching at this school, he was the coach at Madison LaFollette High School, and no matter where he goes, he seems to get a lot out of the young men he coaches. I really liked his passion on the side-lines. Then the kids appear to like him as a coach which means there is a trust there.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1289073' first='Keegan' last='Van Kauwenberg'] | 6'3 | W | 2025 | Kaukauna </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This prospect just turned the heat up on the night I was able to watch Kaukauna vs Racine Case. He hit 7 threes in the contest, and I believe 4-5 from the exact same spot. It got to the point where I wanted an opposing player just to go stand in the small area and not move. He definitely was in a rhythm, and it was impressive to see. It should be noted that I have watched this type of heat from this one before. As a three-point shooter, he should have a pretty good summer ball launch into a senior season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>His teammate <strong>Jon O'Neil</strong> dumped in 20 in the game, mostly by running the floor, doing the dirty work, and a few soft touches around the rim. He was well-composed during the game and showed senior leadership. Next, <strong>Jonah Koehrig</strong> went for 6 3 pointers in his own right. The game was an impressive one with the shooters as hot as they were and the inside out game that Kaukauna displayed. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One word of caution to the Ghosts' shooters - they were hot on the night and produced for their team. It was great to see them succeed but frankly they missed on a few of the rolls to the hoop by the bigs. Kaukauna is going to going as far as their big men can carry them. Meaning this is a team, with two 6'9 or taller players in the starting line-up, is a rare team that should work from the inside to the outside. Once they do that, they will be freer on the parameter for uncontested threes. Or as they progress on their work on the pick and roll it will eventually be better in maximizing team offensive efficiency. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:gallery {"linkTo":"file"} --> <figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped"><!-- wp:image {"id":1809729,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Kon.jpg?1709262495"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Kon.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1809729" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1475168,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Jonathan-O_neill1.jpg?1709262495"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Jonathan-O_neill1.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1475168" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1972557,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Keegan-Van-Kauwenberg.jpg?1709262495"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Keegan-Van-Kauwenberg.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1972557" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --></figure> <!-- /wp:gallery --> <!-- wp:gallery {"linkTo":"file"} --> <figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped"><!-- wp:image {"id":1868464,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/487-Zavier-Zens.jpg?1709262807"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/487-Zavier-Zens.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1868464" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1159273,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/20210328_104551.jpg?1709262807"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/20210328_104551.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1159273" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --></figure> <!-- /wp:gallery -->