On The Map At The Mitten State Mash

<p>Prospect exposure is a huge part of grassroots basketball. Well, if you looked you could find a scout or a coach in the building at all times at the Mitten State Mash. I'm going to give you some examples of players that probably put themselves on the map with their performances at the Prep Hoops Circuit event. </p>   <p>Check out more of my coverage of the Mitten State Mash below!</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-prep-hoops wp-block-embed-prep-hoops"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://prephoops.com/2026/05/mitten-state-mash-17u-shooters/ </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-prep-hoops wp-block-embed-prep-hoops"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://prephoops.com/2026/05/mitten-state-mash-17u-all-stars/ </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Lafreniere was tremendous for Shoebox Elite last weekend. This isn't a 1 time thing either. I saw him play like this a month ago as well. He's a true combo guard that can advance the ball and create opportunities off the bounce. Lafreniere showed that he can go get a bucket at the event. He attacked open space with the ball in his hands and always seemed to manage to find a scoring chance.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">VanderWilk was a player that I saw a couple weeks ago, but wanted another look at. At the Mitten State Mash, he cemented my belief that he's a next level talent. VanderWilk is tall and long, but moves really well. He can get up and down the floor and looked really good attacking the block on the opposite side in the open floor.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">I named Hartsock a Mitten State Mash All-Star, and for good reason. He was simply one of the toughest players to stop offensively in the entire gym. Hartsock didn't blow you away with above the rim dazzling finishes. He didn't need to. Hartsock looked like he really knew how to play the game and how to get looks at the rim. And when he got them, he delivered at a high percentage.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">There was a lot of 1 on 1 basketball in the gym. There always is at grassroots events. That being said, it was refreshing to see Tillman play the game. He showed that he could handle the ball and turn the corner on his defender, but that didn't mean he went head down trying to score every possession. Instead, Tillman did the right thing and kept his head up, looking for teammates with high percentage scoring opportunities. Tillman was an athletic passer in the open floor.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Boyd-Franklin caught my eye at the Mitten State Mash. He showed that he could play the game at a high speed. Boyd-Franklin could play defense from baseline to baseline and created a lot of turnovers when he did. He was able to create instant offense off of those turnovers. Boyd-Franklin was an athletic scorer and a willing passer with touch around the rim.</p>

Prospect exposure is a huge part of grassroots basketball. Well, if you looked you could find a scout or a coach in the building at all times at the Mitten State Mash. I'm going to give you some examples of players that probably put themselves on the map with their performances at the Prep Hoops Circuit event.