Hoop Chat: Player Q and A

With basketball season right around the corner, <a href="https://x.com/DaksHoops" data-type="link" data-id="https://x.com/DaksHoops">@DaksHoops</a> is checking in with players from across the Dakotas. In Hoop Chat, we get to know the athletes beyond the box score—talking basketball, their journey, and what makes them tick.   Take a few minutes to meet some of the Dakotas' ballers and hear what they have to say as we get closer to tip-off.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/image_8727d0.png"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/image_8727d0.png" alt="" class="wp-image-3777313" style="width:273px;height:auto" /></a></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/image_6ea8b3.png"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/image_6ea8b3.png" alt="" class="wp-image-3777314" style="width:497px;height:auto" /></a></figure>    PHD: Walk me through your summer. What did your schedule look like between AAU, camps, and individual work?   "I had a very busy summer with AAU tournaments on the weekends and weight training and skill development during the week."   PHD: What's one specific part of your game you focused on improving this offseason, and where do you feel like you've made the most progress?   "I focused on gaining weight and getting stronger in the weight room. I feel like I made the most progress defensively and physically."   PHD: Take us back to your commitment. What ultimately made [school] the right fit for you?   "I chose Jamestown because of the culture the coaches have established. The entire coaching staff was very welcoming and made me feel comfortable."   PHD: What are you most looking forward to about playing at the next level, on the court and off   "I'm excited to continue getting better at basketball and building friendships with my teammates."   PHD: What does your fall look like right now? Are you playing another sport, or is it all basketball focused?   "I'm getting a ton of shots up and spending as much time in the weight room as possible."   PHD: What are your goals for the coming season, both individually and for your team?   "My individual goal is to be an All-State player. As a team, we want to make it to State and make a run at the Championship."   PHD: Now that you're committed, does the pressure feel different heading into this season, or does it feel like a weight off your shoulders?   "It feels like a weight off my shoulders, but I know I still have a lot of work to do and need to keep getting better."   PHD: Can you give some insight on an influential coach you have had? What made them memorable?   "My freshman coach, Leyton Lang, and my AAU coach, Nate Symens. They both pushed me to be the best player I can be and helped me build confidence."   PHD: What is the best part of your game?   "My ability to defend. I take a lot of pride in being able to guard different positions."   PHD: Time to give a shout to a teammate…Who do we need to know about from your high school team?   "I'm excited about [player_tooltip player_id='3569228' first='Josiah' last='Johnson']. He's a high-level defender and a very good athlete. Everyone on our team is going to have to step up and has the ability to."   PHD: Who is your favorite player to watch in college or the NBA, and why?   "Kevin Durant. I love his play style, and he's been my favorite player since elementary school."     PHD: Walk me through your off-season. What did you do to improve your basketball game?   "Definitely getting in the weight room and working on becoming stronger and faster. On the court just working on my shooting, handles, finishing, etc. Playing AAU also helped me translate everything I learned and practiced into game situations and helped a lot with confidence."   PHD: What's one specific part of your game you focused on improving this offseason, and where do you feel like you've made the most progress?   "One specific part of my game I worked on was becoming more confident in my shot-creating and not second-guessing myself. Again, playing AAU and doing the Sheyenne summer camps really helped me gain more confidence and become more comfortable on the court."   PHD: What does your fall look like right now? Are you playing another sport, or is it all basketball focused?   "Right now, basketball is my only sport. I was thinking about playing football, but decided to put my full focus into basketball and get ready for the upcoming season."   PHD: What are your goals for the coming season, both individually and for your team?   "Individually, I would like to play meaningful minutes on varsity and be an impact player. As a team, I would like to get back into the EDC Championship and make a deeper run in State than what we did last year."   PHD: Can you give some insight on an influential coach you have had? What made them memorable?   "Josh Johnson, the coach of the Shoot 360 team. During the time I played for Shoot 360, Josh gave me opportunities to broaden my game and always believed in me as a player. That confidence in me definitely helped me last year playing JV/Varsity for Sheyenne."   PHD: Time to give a shout to a teammate…Who do we need to know about from your high school team?   "I'm excited to play with [player_tooltip player_id='2489407' first='Cole' last='Martin'] again this year because he'll always give you his all and he's just an overall very talented player. I'm also excited to play with [player_tooltip player_id='2237722' first='Tanner' last='Kratcha'] because last year in practice he would always challenge me and he will do whatever it takes to win."   PHD: Who is your favorite player to watch in college or the NBA, and why?   "My favorite player to watch in the NBA has to be Tyrese Maxey. I just love his work ethic and I try to match that energy every game I play."   PHD: Where do you feel like your game has grown the most in the past year or two?   "I've become more of an offensive threat over the last couple of years. A lot of that has come from the weightlifting aspect and becoming strong enough to execute the moves against competition."   PHD: Who pushes you the hardest, whether that's a teammate, a coach, or someone you train with?   "My dad has motivated me to be the best version of myself since I was a kid. He's always emphasized that as long as you give your 100% you'll always find a way onto the court."   PHD: Where is your hot spot on the floor or can you tell us about a "go-to" move you like to use?   "I like to get to the paint, but my jumper from beyond the arc has improved a lot this summer. I've also been working on getting to the middy and becoming more proficient on all 3 levels."     PHD: Walk me through your off-season. What did you do to improve your basketball game?   "This off-season, I really tried to focus on getting stronger and more athletic to get ready for this upcoming season."   PHD: What's one specific part of your game you focused on improving this offseason, and where do you feel like you've made the most progress?   "One specific part of my game that I focused on this offseason was definitely improving my shot-making and my leadership skills. I feel like I improved my leadership skills the most."   PHD: What does your fall look like right now? Are you playing another sport, or is it all basketball focused?   "My fall right now is just consisting of working out and mainly focused on basketball."   PHD: What are your goals for the coming season, both individually and for your team?   "My individual goals are making All-State, All-Conference, and All-Metro Basketball. My team goals are making the State Tournament, winning the State Tournament, and becoming closer as a team."   PHD: Can you give some insight on an influential coach you have had? What made them memorable?   "I've been lucky enough to have three really influential coaches in my career: first, Joey Habtemariam really helped me develop my creativity and helped my skill development; second, Shane Warwick really broke down and simplified the game to me on the next level; lastly, Jeff Tobin has really taught me how to be a leader and put the team before myself."   PHD: Time to give a shout to a teammate…Who do we need to know about from your high school team?   "First Noah woods he's a really gifted athlete with a great skill set and feel for the game. The most underrated player on our team and best defensive player is [player_tooltip player_id='2725801' first='Miles' last='Smith']. I really feel he leads the charge on the defensive end and gives us the spark that we really need and he's a difference maker on the offensive end as well."   PHD: Who is your favorite player to watch in college or the NBA, and why?   "My favorite player to watch in the NBA is Dylan Harper because he has great pace and knows his spots. In college, I love watching Arterio Morris because he's really creative off the dribble."   PHD: Where do you feel like your game has grown the most in the past year or two?   "I feel like physically I got stronger and faster also I have gotten more creative off ball as well."   PHD: Who pushes you the hardest, whether that's a teammate, a coach, or someone you train with?   "My parents have really known how to push me my whole life and I really feel like nobody can push me to that point."   PHD: Where is your hot spot on the floor or can you tell us about a "go-to" move you like to use?   "My hot spot is really anywhere on the court and I feel like I can get hot anywhere. My go-to move is my Hesi pull I really feel as if I can get the move off on any defender."   <ol start="2" class="wp-block-list"></ol>     PHD: Walk me through your off-season. What did you do to improve your basketball game?   "In the off season I lifted heavy every weekday and had aau on the weekends. I also went to the gym every day."   PHD: What's one specific part of your game you focused on improving this offseason, and where do you feel like you've made the most progress?   "I really tried to improve my post game and overall 3-point efficiency."   PHD: What does your fall look like right now? Are you playing another sport, or is it all basketball focused?   "I am in football and I lift every day right now."   PHD: What are your goals for the coming season, both individually and for your team?   "This season, I want to make it to State with the team. Individually, I want to be an efficient player."   PHD: Can you give some insight on an influential coach you have had? What made them memorable?   "My high school coach, as a freshman, Coach Anderson, put a lot of confidence in me. He always lifted me up and believed in me."   PHD: Time to give a shout to a teammate…Who do we need to know about from your high school team?   "Know that [player_tooltip player_id='2711420' first='Edison' last='Walters'] is going to have a great senior year, and [player_tooltip player_id='2237725' first='Madden' last='Skunberg'] is going to be ready to play."   PHD: Who is your favorite player to watch in college or the NBA, and why?   "Anthony Edwards, because he is just a great personality and is also a high flyer."   PHD: Where do you feel like your game has grown the most in the past year or two?   "Over the past year, I feel like I have improved my confidence and ability to attack the hoop."   PHD: Who pushes you the hardest, whether that's a teammate, a coach, or someone you train with?   "My mom pushes me to keep training every day and supports me along my journey."   PHD: Where is your hot spot on the floor or can you tell us about a "go-to" move you like to use?   "I don't really have a go-to spot, I try to be able to score from anywhere."     PHD: Walk me through your off-season. What did you do to improve your basketball game?   "I've been lifting and going to basketball camps with my team."   PHD: What's one specific part of your game you focused on improving this offseason, and where do you feel like you've made the most progress?   "I've been focusing on improving my shot; it was the one area of my game last year that was lacking."   PHD: What does your fall look like right now? Are you playing another sport, or is it all basketball focused?   "I'm in football and every day I try to go to the weight room or get some shots up."   PHD: What are your goals for the coming season, both individually and for your team?   "I'm hoping for our team to win our Region and average 20 points a game."   PHD: Can you give some insight on an influential coach you have had? What made them memorable?   "An influential coach I've had is our old assistant coach, Trey Frederick. He taught defensive principles to me that I still use to this day."   PHD: Time to give a shout to a teammate…Who do we need to know about from your high school team?   "I'm giving a shout-out to [player_tooltip player_id='2545321' first='Trueth' last='Crow Ghost']. He's the hardest worker I know and always in the gym getting better."   PHD: Who is your favorite player to watch in college or the NBA, and why?   "Anthony Edwards. He's always making big plays and is super explosive."   PHD: Where do you feel like your game has grown the most in the past year or two?   "My strength in the paint. I've been getting stronger and it's been easier scoring when I can overpower people in the paint."   PHD: Who pushes you the hardest, whether that's a teammate, a coach, or someone you train with?   "Kyson Goodshield pushes me the hardest. He's always inviting me to go to the gym to get some shots up after a hard football practice when I don't want to."   PHD: Where is your hot spot on the floor or can you tell us about a "go-to" move you like to use?   "A pull up jump shot on the elbow. It's my smoothest shot and it never fails to work."     PHD: Walk me through your off-season. What did you do to improve your basketball game?   "This offseason, I've been working on being intentional with everything I do. This spring, I started adding structure to my workouts instead of just going to the gym and doing whatever I wanted. With structure came consistency. I'm not just working out here and there; I'm working out every day. I have two types of days: situation days, where I run through more game scenarios and get game-like looks, and volume days, where I get a large volume of shots up."   PHD: What's one specific part of your game you focused on improving this offseason, and where do you feel like you've made the most progress?   "I would say I've been focusing on being a true point guard, just making better reads and playing with better pace. With that came a better attitude. I realized I'm going to turn the ball over, and I'm going to miss shots. I can't let that affect the next play."   PHD: What does your fall look like right now? Are you playing another sport, or is it all basketball focused?   "I decided not to go out for a high school fall sport so I could focus on basketball. Not playing football freed up a lot of time. I've been using some of that time to build my frame in the weight room."   PHD: What are your goals for the coming season, both individually and for your team?   "My goal for our team is to be competitive night in and night out, and see growth throughout the season. Individually, I want to be a leader on the team. Last year, I didn't have the year I wanted or expected. I was very inconsistent and played not to make mistakes. You get out what you put in, and last season, I was not putting in the work for the outcome I wanted. This year is different."   PHD: Can you give some insight on an influential coach you have had? What made them memorable?   "I would say Coach Kirby Krefting. I had him this AAU season. I started to struggle with my confidence during a few tournaments, and he helped me turn my attitude around and finish the AAU season strong. What makes him memorable as a coach, is the patience he had with my slump during the season."   PHD: Time to give a shout to a teammate…Who do we need to know about from your high school team?   "[player_tooltip player_id='2347911' first='Bryce' last='Miller']. He is a senior this year. He is just one of those guys who is fun to be around and gives energy to others. He is a gym rat and lives in the weight room. Bryce is a good role model and is going to play a big leadership role this year. He had a good season last year, and I think he is in for an even better season this year."   PHD: Who is your favorite player to watch in college or the NBA, and why?   "My favorite hooper is Darius Acuff. I watched a lot of his games, trying to pick things up from him. The reason I like watching him is because of his play style. He is a high-volume, efficient small guard who gets to his spots in minimal dribbles."   PHD: Where do you feel like your game has grown the most in the past year or two?   "I would say my physicality. Over the past two years, I've grown a few inches, and recently, I've been adding some weight to my frame."   PHD: Who pushes you the hardest, whether that's a teammate, a coach, or someone you train with?   "I would say Coach Otto. He coaches the C-squad team, and he is a really good hooper. We have runs in Hillsboro twice a week, and I've been going since I was a fifth grader. Over time, I've picked up a lot from Otto, and when we match up, it's always a battle."   PHD: Where is your hot spot on the floor or can you tell us about a "go-to" move you like to use?   "I would say I like to get to some variation of a crossover, usually a push cross. It's easy to get to and effective."

With basketball season right around the corner, @DaksHoops is checking in with players from across the Dakotas. In Hoop Chat, we get to know the athletes beyond the box score—talking basketball, their journey, and what makes them tick.