Battle at the Lakes: Friday Night Top Prospects

What prospects stood out to us on Friday night? We start with the Faribault big.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Dangerous Select Combo</h2>   [player_tooltip player_id='2121332' first='Deron' last='Russell'] is now playing with [program_tooltip program_id='2075685' first='Minnesota' last='Select'] and that means a backcourt pairing with [player_tooltip player_id='1560839' first='Xavier' last='Frelix']. And that right there is immediately one of the best backcourts in 17u.   Last night the Waseca/Park Center duo led their team to a 64-62 win and three different times ( I got video of two of them for Twitter at @ryanjamesmn) one of the pair stole the ball, they pushed and one of them finished in transition. It's a passing lane/on ball scary pair, an even scarier pair pushing the ball, and a deadly pair when it comes to the shooting of Frelix and the nasty attack and pull, or attack and finish at the cup game of Russell.   Deron's first game with Select was a 6 of 10 shooting game for a team high 16 points while Frelix had ten points with five boards and five assists.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='2115655' first='Ryan' last='Kreager'] the Prospect</h2>   [program_tooltip program_id='2075431' first='D1' last='Minnesota'] took a still challenge from the Sanford Sports Academy South Dakota team and found a way for a 58-52 win. A big part of that win was 6'10 big man [player_tooltip player_id='2115655' first='Ryan' last='Kreager'] from Faribault.   I would say there were two very, very big areas that Kreager affected the game:   One. Fear of his Shot Blocking. SSA has a couple bigs in that 6'6/6'7 area that have likely spent most of their lives bullying people with their strength to get the space to score. They likely did that in high school all year, and have likely been able to do that in must 17u games this year. But with Ryan blocking two shots early and adjusting several others, the fear of the shot swat was there. So numerous times the opposing bigs had a touch in the paint, and they would look for an outlet because they knew they had no chance to lift to the rim to shoot. Throw in the contesting that forced SSA attacks to be kicks and 14 footers instead of lay-up attempts for finishes or free throws, and the Kreager impact was huge.   Offensively Ryan is a rim runner. He runs very well, has decent hands to catch and finish, and he gets off his feet quickly with good lift and agility. Ryan is not the post you want with the early high post touch passing and dribbling starting your offense every possession. He IS the type of big you want setting a ball screen and rim running, he IS the type of big you want on the block looking for second chances. He IS the type of big you want running the floor and getting early rim finishes. Kreager was in double figures last night with those transition runs/cutting to the rim in the halfcourt to catch and dunk. And SSA could do little with it. If the timing was there, it was a scoring chance.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Introducing Lexyn</h2>   The Hoop Habits vs [program_tooltip program_id='2075685' first='Minnesota' last='Select'] game had a load of college coaches at it. I was in the corner but I would venture a guess there were about 20 schools looking on. And I would guess that every one of them marked down the name [player_tooltip player_id='1560786' first='Lexyn' last='Grof'], 6'3 guard from Jordan on their list to check out again.   That will likely be this weekend in the upcoming games, and I am sure that there will be some reviewing of his 22 point per game junior season. Grof opened the game with three threes and his early scoring forced Select to start chasing and denying him. It didn't stop Grof from scoring 17 points on six of nine shooting with four threes, but it did slow him after a great start. Grof put his name on the map last night and there is going to be a lot of follow up.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Quick Hitter</h2>   These numerous [program_tooltip program_id='2075431' first='D1' last='Minnesota'] high major prospects may not have had great scoring percentages last night but [player_tooltip player_id='1560882' first='Cedric' last='Tomes'], [player_tooltip player_id='1560867' first='Christian' last='Wiggins'], Jaidyn Coon.........these guys beat SSA because they turned up the defense and had several late game transition scores because of that on ball pressure, one pass away presence. All of them can be very good college defenders.   Sam Ericsson is a 6'3 lefty shooting guard and his range and surprising quick release from the left side, it caught [program_tooltip program_id='2075431' first='D1' last='Minnesota'] off guard several times early, and Ericsson built an SSA lead with that touch. This is a very good shooter based on what I have seen and likely one of the many reasons you saw Black Hills State, Augustana, Northern State, Mount Marty, Dakota Wesleyan, and so many others watching.   [player_tooltip player_id='1437598' first='Dane' last='Danielson'] of [program_tooltip program_id='2075685' first='Minnesota' last='Select'] (Lakeville North) had the play of the night following up a desperation miss from a teammate (or maybe a well placed odd lob?) at the buzzer for a Select win. He scored 11 points.   I thought [player_tooltip player_id='1560851' first='Hamze' last='Yusuf'] was very tough for Hoop Habits. His burst off the separation move, his finishing in that small window at the rim, and his multiple threes gave his team a chance. Yusuf had a game high 18 points.   Battle at the Lakes is powered by Dr. Dish—the world's #1 selling shooting machine, helping players get 5X more reps and unlock their potential at home. <a href="https://hubs.ly/Q03l3YDy0">Click Here to Train Like a Pro</a>.

What prospects stood out to us on Friday night? We start with the Faribault big.