The Race for Mr. Basketball: The First Look

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When it comes to individual high school basketball awards in Minnesota, nothing is as big as the Mr. Basketball trophy. The tradition involved with that award goes back a long ways and tracks back to many big names. Who are the lead candidates for the 2026 award? We break down the names NOW!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Leaders. Wayzata</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Trojan teammates [player_tooltip player_id='1560778' first='Nolen' last='Anderson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1560867' first='Christian' last='Wiggins'] won a state title in 2025. Anderson was the leading scorer for a good part of the season, he got hurt and Wiggins moved into the top spot later in the year. And both players were right around the same mark. Anderson and Wiggins are two of the three kids in the senior class that are committed to high major schools (Minnesota and Iowa State respectively). Both Anderson and Wiggins are about to be top 150 national recruits and we have them as the top two prospects in the state. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They are likely the leaders but they play for a team that plays incredible team basketball and their team has great depth. There will be nights where [player_tooltip player_id='2860073' first='Brady' last='Lam'], Tommy Shunmagevlu, [player_tooltip player_id='2433532' first='Max' last='Beeninga'], [player_tooltip player_id='2842020' first='Xaviahn' last='Ivey'] or others are able to outplay their guy and have big nights, and Anderson and/or Wiggins will only need to take five or six shots and the team will win. Will that hurt the Wiggins or Anderson chances for an award like this? Or could it lead to the first co-winners from the same team? (Now that's a thinker). And do these guys even care? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lots to think about there. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Final Five. The Lead Guards.</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1550877' first='Jayden' last='Moore'] of Hopkins and [player_tooltip player_id='1560882' first='Cedric' last='Tomes'] of East Ridge. Moore and Tomes were First Team All State players last year on top ten level basketball teams. Moore was in a spot where everything went through him and his team won 26 of 28 games with Jayden averaging 15 points and nearly ten assists a game. Moore had an incredible season as did Tomes. Cedric was in a different situation as the Raptors weren't blessed with many scores so he had to both run the offense and be a main scorer. And Tomes played that role at a very high level helping his team win 21 games while he scored 27 points a game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I think Jayden and Cedric are both in great spots to be in the top five and to be strongly considered for the big trophy. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Battle for the Last Final Five Spot</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From here I think it opens up to a ton of candidates. I think any of the following guys have a chance to be listed in the Top Ten and one of them likely makes the Final Five. Here are those candidates:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dothan Ijadimbla of Totino-Grace. He has played for two state title teams and is a Drake committed forward that was injured last year. He has the potential to step into a final five spot on a team that will contend for the title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560739' first='Max' last='Iversen'] of Maple Grove. The Crimson are going to be a title contender and if the NDSU commit is healthy and good to go, he will be in contention. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2115655' first='Ryan' last='Kreager'] of Faribault. The Loyola committed center is a double-double regular and the best shot blocker in the state. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560868' first='Joseph' last='Mitchell III'] of Cretin-Derham Hall. Mitchell led his team to the state title game last year as a shooting guard. CDH will be a top state contender. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2121332' first='Deron' last='Russell'] of Waseca. The All State returning player took his team to the state title game last year and with all that graduated from his team I would expect the NDSU football commit to have a monster senior basketball season scoring wise. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560827' first='Kale' last='Misegades'] of Henning. Kale is in a near identical situation to Deron: was on a really good team last year that lost a ton to graduation and now will move into likely a big number scoring role as the top senior in Class A. Committed to Southwest MN State. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2118449' first='Mason' last='Witt'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2118495' first='Talan' last='Witt']. The Cardinal cousins are going to be in a similar spot to what we said about Anderson and Wiggins teammate wise, although these state champion cousins - who shot 46 and 45 percent from behind the arc last year - might be fighting for the top ten or maybe even the final spot in the top five. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->