Five Iowa Class 4A Early-Season Games to Watch

Taking a look at the games in the first half of December that are going to be the most intriguing in Iowa's largest class.   Waukee at Johnston, December 5   One of the better dual-sport athletes in recent memory at the 4A and 5A levels, [player_tooltip player_id='1765524' first='Evan' last='Jacobson'] will begin his final year of high school basketball in short order. Set to play both on the gridiron and on the court at Texas A&M, Jacobson has a tall task ahead of him, but he possesses the athleticism to make both happen. A multi-level scorer, the 6-foot-7 forward averaged 18.3 points per game (ppg) and shot 44.7% from three-point range during his junior campaign, while averaging 8.8 rebounds per game (rpg). Second, fourth and fifth-leading scorers from last season also return for the Warriors in Jai White (14.7 ppg), [player_tooltip player_id='1765539' first='Max' last='Roach'] (8.2 ppg) and [player_tooltip player_id='2594655' first='Pete' last='Craig'] (7 ppg).   After missing the last four games of the football season, Johnston will hope to get leading scorer from last season and 13th-ranked prospect in 2026, [player_tooltip player_id='1765517' first='Tino' last='Daye Jr']. back for the start of hoops. Averaging 16.4 ppg and 2.7 assists per contest, Daye is the clear star for the Dragons. Johnston will look for more from junior, [player_tooltip player_id='2419846' first='Nicare' last='Cavil'] this season after averaging 7.2 ppg last year, as well.   Iowa City West at Cedar Rapids Washington, December 6   After 35 years, 19 state tournament appearances and six Class 4A state championships, Iowa City West will be coached by someone other than Steve Bergman. That, and the Trojans lose some serious talent roster off of last year's roster. Top two scorers from last year, Jack McCaffery (21.2 ppg) and [player_tooltip player_id='1765527' first='Julian' last='Manson'] (12.3 ppg) are gone, as McCaffery is at Butler and Manson is enrolling early to play football at Iowa. That, and third-leading scorer, [player_tooltip player_id='1792287' first='Mason' last='Goering'] (8.6 ppg) will likely either miss the majority or all of the season after a second summer in a row of suffering a serious knee injury. So, who steps up the for Iowa City West in year one under Jason Kern?   For Washington, 5-foot-10 guard, [player_tooltip player_id='2398477' first='Traeshon' last='Fields'] returns after an uber-productive freshman year of varsity basketball, where he put up 17.6 ppg. Losing second-leading scorer, [player_tooltip player_id='2523901' first='Halbert' last='Jackson'] (14.3 ppg) to transfer, one should expect Fields to ramp up the production in year two. Additionally, fellow sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2772342' first='Brian' last='Robertson'] and junior [player_tooltip player_id='2396064' first='William' last='Rahe'] will be leaned on for more scoring this go-round.   Des Moines Roosevelt at Cedar Rapids Kennedy, December 6   The No. 2 player in the state's 2027 class, [player_tooltip player_id='2204081' first='Charlie' last='King'] and Des Moines Roosevelt will make an early-season trip to one of the more established programs in eastern Iowa. As a sophomore, King led the Roughriders in scoring (17.3 ppg), rebounding (7.2 rpg) and steals (2 spg). Losing their second through sixth-leading scorers to graduation, King will need some help from somewhere against Kennedy.   Kennedy is set to move on from several of its top players from an excellent run over the last few seasons, too. Trey McKowen (22.7 ppg) followed his father to Missouri Western, plus Reuben Schlaak and Landon Deiters have graduated. There are some good athletes for Kennedy like Thierry Boyd and [player_tooltip player_id='2886904' first='Deacon' last='Kucera'], but questions remain for one of the top programs in the state.   Cedar Falls at Linn-Mar, December 8   Speaking of excellent programs in Eastern Iowa.   Cedar Falls will be one of the favorites to compete for a state championship this season after reaching the semifinals and returning a solid contingent of their players from last season. Recently committed to the home town team, Northern Iowa, [player_tooltip player_id='1765553' first='William' last='Gerdes'] headlines the team as a versatile, playmaking forward that averaged 16.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 2024-25. Plus, [player_tooltip player_id='1777914' first='Jaydon' last='Kimbrough'] took his game to a new level this summer, repeatedly averaging over 20 ppg for [program_tooltip program_id='2075630' first='Martin' last='Brothers'] on the UAA circuit and [player_tooltip player_id='1765549' first='Leyton' last='Wolf'] remains one of the uncommitted Division I prospects in the state, a workhorse power forward. The Tigers also replace backcourt production by adding Waterloo West transfer, [player_tooltip player_id='1765505' first='Parker' last='Berns'], one of my favorite players from <a href="https://prephoops.com/2025/10/the-iowa-expo-eliots-first-team-all-expo/">The Expo</a>. Berns is an almost ideal lead guard for Ryan Schultz and company, as an unselfish, poised lead guard that can score himself and distribute the rock.   Linn-Mar, fresh off a state title run that came up just short against Valley, will look to get back to their winning ways after losing four of their top five scorers from last season, including now-South Dakota State freshman, Davis Kern, who averaged 22.7 ppg as a high-level scoring forward.   Returning a couple bigs like second-leading scorer, 6-foot-7 Wayne State commit [player_tooltip player_id='2204894' first='Tyler' last='Hilton'] (11.7 ppg) and 6-foot-7 junior, [player_tooltip player_id='2617475' first='Blake' last='Ritze'] who <a href="https://prephoops.com/2025/10/prep-hoops-expo-team-5-evaluations/">also impressed at The Expo</a>, the Lions should, at the very least, be competitive once again under legendary head coach, Chris Robertson.   Waukee Northwest at Valley, December 9   A rematch of the title game almost within the first week of the season? Yes, please.   Waukee Northwest should be considered the preseason favorite with all the talent they have back in 2025-26. Go down the list, and you'll see multiple high-major prospects. It all starts with one of the more elite scorers in the state and Nebraska signee, [player_tooltip player_id='1978099' first='Colin' last='Rice'] (12.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg), who will be firmly in contention for Iowa's Mr. Basketball Award. Up next is Illinois signee, [player_tooltip player_id='1643192' first='Landon' last='Davis'], who expanded his game with [program_tooltip program_id='2270834' first='Iowa' last='United'] this offseason as a defender and a three-point shooter. [player_tooltip player_id='1756989' first='Isaiah' last='Oliver'] is a hardnosed, do the dirty work guard that is committed to Iowa as a preferred walk-on for football, [player_tooltip player_id='2419793' first='Mack' last='Heitland'] (also a football recruit as a quarterback) is the No. 3 prospect in the 2027 class, and 2028 point guard [player_tooltip player_id='2478747' first='Nash' last='Kooken'] has reported offers from Oregon and Arizona State after playing with United on the 3SSB circuit.   Meanwhile, Valley loses a lot.   After back-to-back-to-back state championships, the Tigers will move on from critical pieces of all three state championships in Iowa freshman, Trevin Jirak, DMACC freshman KiKi Deng, Iowa State wide receiver, Zay Robinson and Cincinnati freshman offensive lineman Marcus McGregor. Would-be senior, [player_tooltip player_id='1765532' first='Jayden' last='McGregory'] will also enroll early at Missouri to play defensive back. Throw in the fact that head coach for each of those title runs, BJ Windhorst opted to step down following the third championship last year.   Who will be Valley's go-to guy with so much production gone?

Taking a look at the games in the first half of December that are going to be the most intriguing in Iowa's largest class.