Five Uncommitted 2027 Minnesota Prospects D1 Jucos should look to

The junior college level was very important to college basketball for many years but it has taken a dip in importance since the transfer portal starting hitting big with unlimited transfers. We could start to see the junior college level become much more important now that college basketball players have five years to play. The junior college level is freshmen and sophomores so kids can go there and play right away, build a resume, and get to a scholarship school with experience with three more years to play (at least). And at the division one level of junior college basketball, players can do that while on scholarship.   We have Minnesota players that have a ton of potential but they might just need some more time to play. They might need a bit more experience. Or they might need time to physically mature (getting bigger and stronger). And at the junior college level you can do that while playing, but at the four year scholarship level those players would only get a chance to do that in practice for the most part as young talents.   So.... here are some guys that have not committed any place yet that I could see being very good for a D1 junior college anywhere around the country.    The 6'5 wing has a ton of talent as a scorer and was playing some of the best basketball we have seen from him this spring with the Heat. Cook had some moments at the MBCA Camp but he then got hurt and missed the rest of the summer, and he also played rarely at Wayzata as a junior.   We have seen the potential Izayah has with Sauk Rapids-Rice, with the Heat and will likely see it against this year with St. Cloud Tech. Cook has scholarship potential, just needs some more time on the floor as an upperclassmen.     Waleed has talent as a scorer and we saw him adapt and play the point guard spot well for Richfield leading them to the Final Four of Class AAA. He had Select off to a great April start and had a ton of people talking.   All the moving around playing for four different high schools (now with Hopkins) and switching AAU teams, it's led to some schools looking to other lead guards. But a good year at Hopkins and an early chance to play in college could lead to Waleed being the scholarship talent many think he can be.     Lincoln has scored a ton of points in his career. Busse is a scorer and he has bounce to go with it going at the rim. Lincoln averaged 27 points a game last season, he has scored 1,627 career points, and is a multi-year all league player. Busse also transferred to Marantha Christian for his senior season.   As odd as it sounds, Busse has always been a big scorer but he's been a big scorer next to some other big scorers and I don't know that everybody has seen his full range of abilities. A year or two at a juco playing on scholarship and producing numbers to show college coaches could be huge.     [player_tooltip player_id='2877064' first='Carter' last='Brown'] is the type of guy that extra chances at a junior college are made for. This 6'5/6'6 wing put up HUGE numbers in Northern Minnesota averaging 28 points and 13 rebounds a game. Unfortunately Brown played rarely in 17u and not a ton of scholarship schools have seen Carter play live.   That said, Brown opened a ton of eyes when coaches did see him this year because he is a long, skilled, agile and has put up really good numbers in high school. The potential is definitely there and a chance to play (and a full scholarship) early in college could be huge.     This is a little outside the box because I think at 6'6 and 250 pounds Tommy is going to have a big senior year and with few guys around at this size, there will be options. But Tommy did miss all of his junior year of high school and the first two months of his 17u season to injury, plus he is going to be playing in a Tiger frontcourt with two other future college basketball players. He might be able to use a year of junior college basketball and I think he could be huge at that level (while going to school for free).   The juco level gets few bigs, and even fewer that know how to play a team game and that are physically ready. Tommy could get a double-double at the D1 juco level and then have that to show schools at four year programs maybe after a single juco season.

The junior college level was very important to college basketball for many years but it has taken a dip in importance since the transfer portal starting hitting big with unlimited transfers. We could start to see the junior college level become much more important now that college basketball players have five years to play. The junior college level is freshmen and sophomores so kids can go there and play right away, build a resume, and get to a scholarship school with experience with three more years to play (at least). And at the division one level of junior college basketball, players can do that while on scholarship.