Top 10 Minnesota Basketball Players that Didnt Win Mr Basketball

I have been paying attention to Minnesota High School Basketball very closely since I was in middle school. In that time period of 35 years, who are the ten best Minnesota high school basketball players that didn't win Mr. Basketball? Here is my list.

Note: this is not guys that developed after high school, I'm talking in high school which also means guys that went prep school are not included.

Note 2: You can see where the 20 year talent gap was great in Minnesota. All of the players here are 2000 to 2020, nothing in my era of the 90s, nothing in the current decade.

Ten. Mike Bruesewitz of Henry Sibley (now Two Rivers). Mike Bruesewitz won just about every single individual player of the year award in 2009 except Mr. Basketball (Royce White). He was Gatorade Player of the Year, the Player of the Year in the papers, there was little for sites then but Mike won those too. Before heading to Wisconsin, Bruesewitz averaged a double double playing with three other D1 players in the frontcourt.

Nine. Zeke Nnaji of Hopkins. After putting up 25 points and ten rebounds a game at Hopkins his senior year, Zeke went on to be Freshman of the Year in the Pac 12 at Arizona and became a first round pick of the Denver Nuggets. Nnaji was a senior the year that Matthew Hurt won Mr Basketball. Led Hopkins to a state title. A top 40 recruit that was at times ranked nationally in the top ten.

Eight. Lawrence McKenzie of Minneapolis Patrick Henry (now Camden). McKenzie led the Patriots to four consecutive Class AAA state titles from 2000 to 2003, it was the first time ever that a team had done that in Minnesota and Lawrence led the team to the titles. The future Oklahoma Sooner and Minnesota Gopher had Kris Humphries in his way that year so he was runner up for the award but still an incredible high school career.

Seven. Alan Anderson of DeLaSalle. I recall working Clem Haskins camp when Anderson was there and so many people were amazed at the agility and the skill level of a player so big. That was about the time Anderson transferred from Edison to DeLaSalle and scored 21 plus points a game earning Metro Player of the Year. Anderson went on to Michigan State and then had a long NBA career. Rick Rickert won Mr. Basketball Alan's senior year.

Six. JP Macura of Lakeville North. Macura as a senior had one of the most amazing senior seasons I have ever seen and it had some thinking.... Macura over Reid and Tyus was not likely to happen but after 32.3 points and 6.5 rebounds a game earning a state title, the Pioneer Press did give JP Player of the Year. Macura made some of the most clutch shots in the history of the Minnesota State Tournament.

Five. Jake Sullivan of Tartan. Before heading to Iowa State, Jake Sullivan set the big school scoring record at 3K plus and that record stood for nearly 20 years until Matt Hurt broke it. Sullivan led the Titans to a state title and had an incredible career that everybody expected to include Mr. Basketball but shockingly it went elsewhere. Likely the biggest Mr. Basketball winner snub of my lifetime in Minnesota.

Four. Daniel Oturu of Cretin-Derham Hall. Oturu led CDH to a state title in 2018 beating eventual Mr. Basketball winner Tre Jones and the Eagles in the title game. Oturu averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks a game his senior year and left CDH the leader in those totals at the time. A four star recruit that then played at Minnesota and was drafted by the Clippers.

There. Dawson Garcia of Prior Lake. Although he didn't get to play in the game because of covid, Dawson Garcia was named a McDonald's All American and was a five star recruit as a senior. Jalen Suggs was the award winner but Garcia was also a national level talent that eventually became a three year standout for the Gophers. Dawson scored 32 points a game as a senior.

Two. Reid Travis of DeLaSalle. Travis was also a McDonald's All American that had a five star recruit winning the award his senior year (Tyus Jones). Travis averaged 26 points and nine boards a game as a senior on his way to three straight state titles. Reid was named Metro Player of the Year as a senior by the Star Tribune and he then went on to have a great career at Stanford.

One. Cole Aldrich of Bloomington Jefferson. Staying with the McDonald's All American theme, Aldrich was a nationally ranked top ten player in the country, he was a McDonald's All American, and a five star recruit that went to Kansas. Aldrich led the Jags to state in what was a landmine of a section back then and he averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds a game. Cole won Player of the Year by all metro publications and Gatorade Player of the Year, but not Mr. Basketball (Hoffarber) which was likely the second biggest surprise of my hoops lifetime with this award. Cole went on to be a first round draft pick in the NBA.