Breakdown Summer Series: Hopkins Makes a Statement

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first Breakdown Summer Series was this past weekend and all anybody can talk about from the Tartan site was the Hopkins Royals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The very first Breakdown Summer Series event was held over the weekend and the top division included a Powerhouse group of Hopkins, Tartan, Apple Valley and Eden Prairie. But the story of the day was the talent and the wins of the Hopkins Royals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>By now you have seen that Ken Novak Jr has officially retired from basketball and James Ware is now the head coach. Ware has a really nice group of returning players including:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>[player_tooltip player_id='2420169' first='Ahmed' last='Nur'] was not playing this weekend because he is headed to Nike Elite 100 Camp which starts today I believe.&nbsp; Nur is listed as a top 50 recruit in the nation and he is really playing like that this spring and has taken a big step forward as a mature prospect on and off the floor. Should be huge for Hopkins this year.&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>There were football related transfer rumors on [player_tooltip player_id='2560534' first='Tre' last='Moore'] but it was just rumors, he was with Hopkins and playing outstanding basketball with a deep backcourt.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>JoJo Smith is a senior-to-be that scored five points a game as a junior last year and he is playing well for [program_tooltip program_id='2075485' first='Gain' last='Elite'].</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>[player_tooltip player_id='2140604' first='Eddie' last='Walker'] played off the bench last season and has been good for the [program_tooltip program_id='2075674' first='Minnesota' last='Heat'] this 17u season.&nbsp;6'6 Vinnie Bottolene has also shown flashes of production in the past as well. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>[player_tooltip player_id='3219292' first='Greg' last='Carter'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2140686' first='Quinn' last='Bjerketvedt'] are guards that played JV and some varsity last season, they are talented players from last year as well.&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='2916865' first='King' last='Smith'] and 8th grader TJ Hudson are talented guards that were also on the JV last year.&nbsp; They have bright careers ahead of them.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That is nine players returning that we think make for a bright Hopkins future. But what made them so tough to deal with this weekend was those returning players AND a couple added transfers. Hopkins added to guard transfers that not only make them potentially the deepest team in the state, but a team we might have to start looking at as the preseason number one. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The guard transfers are [player_tooltip player_id='2126145' first='Waleed' last='Muhammad'] from Breck and [player_tooltip player_id='2524650' first='Kwatamah' last='Silikpoh'] from Osseo. Waleed was the Richfield lead guard last year and the lead guard from Select, he's been leading winning teams, and Kwatamah was the leading scorer for Osseo this past season at 17 points a game. Both Waleed and Kwat were in a Hopkins uniform on Saturday. Kwat transferred from Champlin Park to Park Center during the 24-25 season when James Ware was still the coach at PC. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>More transfers coming? The rumors are certainly out there and Hopkins could get even tougher. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->