The Race for Mr. Basketball
What will the Race for Mr. Basketball look like in 2021? Today we dive into that race for the first time. Here is our commentary on The Race, and the players in the running for the Final Five and such. …
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingWhat will the Race for Mr. Basketball look like in 2021? Today we dive into that race for the first time. Here is our commentary on The Race, and the players in the running for the Final Five and such.
The Favorite – Chet Holmgren Chet Holmgren 7'0" | C Minnehaha Academy | 2021 State #1 Nation MN .
Clearly Chet is the top contender. Chet’s been apart of three state championship teams and his team was the favorite this year to win a 4th straight before the season was cancelled. Chet is one of the most skilled players in the state, he is the best shot blocker Minnesota has seen in over 20 years making him the total game changer, and Holmgren is the number one ranked player prospect in the nation. Clearly that is the resume for a big favorite.
I hate to be the Debbie Downer throwing a wrench into this, and I hate this wrench, but unfortunately Minnesota Player of the Year awards such as Mr. Basketball and others have at times went against bigs for years, even when they are nationally ranked future NBA players! Here is an example:
- Joel Przybilla is that shot blocker I am talking about that bookends those 20 plus years with Chet. Joel was clearly the most impactful player in the state stopping teams from scoring constantly while averaging 20 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 blocks a game shooting nearly 70 percent for a 22 win team his senior year. He was a 5-star McDonald’s All American and became a 13 year NBA player. And he had to share the award.
- Cole Aldrich was also a McDonald’s All American and he had a monster senior season with massive averages leading his team to the state tournament. However, again the award went to a guard, a good guard but a guard that was in the same section as Cole and didn’t make state. And he didn’t have Cole’s numbers, didn’t have Cole’s defensive impact. Cole led Jefferson that season with 23 points, 18 rebounds and 6 blocked shots a game and played eight years in the NBA.
- Over the past 25 years there were a lot of up in the air years and every one of those up in the air years, the award went to a guard.
There have been a few true low post players that have won it – Nick Horvath, Spencer Tollackson, Rick Rickert – but most years the award will go to a guard. This situation should be different, but then again Seantrel Henderson was the number one football player in American and earned national awards for player of the year, but did not win local player of the year either.
I’m just warning everybody.
Top Contender – Will Tschetter Will Tschetter 6'8" | PF Stewartville | 2021 State #96 Nation MN
And who could be the player pushing Chet? From outstate Minnesota we give you Will Tschetter Will Tschetter 6'8" | PF Stewartville | 2021 State #96 Nation MN , the 34 point, 13 rebound per game averaging 4-star Michigan commit that at times carried his team on his back into the top ten of Class AA basketball. If you think Will had some monster games last year against good teams – 50 points against Columbia Heights, 38 and 17 against Waseca – what does he have in store for his senior year at Stewartville.
Final Five
I can’t give you the favorites for a final five right now. After Will and Chet it so so up in the air. My guess is that teams that do really well that have a top senior will have the extra boost so that means Waseca is likely to have a guy but is it Ryan Dufault Ryan Dufault 5'11" | PG Waseca | 2021 State MN or Andrew Morgan Andrew Morgan 6'9" | C Waseca | 2021 State #178 Nation MN ? Or both? Lakeville South will enter the season as a preseason 1 or 2, that would mean Reid Patterson Reid Patterson 6'2" | SG Lakeville South | 2021 State MN has a solid chance. DeLaSalle ( Cade Haskins Cade Haskins 6'6" | SF Delasalle | 2021 State MN ), Champlin Park ( Francis Nwaokorie Francis Nwaokorie 6'7" | C Champlin Park | 2021 State MN ), Minneapolis North (Davon Townley), and Marshall ( Bryce Lance Bryce Lance 6'3" | PG Marshall | 2021 State MN ) are all expected to be contenders so their top guys have a strong chance at the top five.
Top Ten
Here are the names I think that will come into the season as the favorites for the top ten:
Finn Diggins Finn Diggins 6'5" | PF Perham | 2021 State MN of Perham
Ryan Dufault Ryan Dufault 5'11" | PG Waseca | 2021 State MN of Waseca
Andre Gray Andre Gray 6'4" | SG Mpls North | 2021 State MN of Minneapolis North
Cade Haskins Cade Haskins 6'6" | SF Delasalle | 2021 State MN of DeLaSalle
Chet Holmgren Chet Holmgren 7'0" | C Minnehaha Academy | 2021 State #1 Nation MN of Minnehaha Academy
Bryce Lance Bryce Lance 6'3" | PG Marshall | 2021 State MN of Marshall
Trey Longstreet Trey Longstreet 6'6" | SF Delano | 2021 State MN of Delano
Hercy Miller Hercy Miller 6'3" | PG Minnehaha Academy | 2021 State MN of Minnehaha Academy
Andrew Morgan Andrew Morgan 6'9" | C Waseca | 2021 State #178 Nation MN of Waseca
Francis Nwaokorie Francis Nwaokorie 6'7" | C Champlin Park | 2021 State MN of Champlin Park
Reid Patterson Reid Patterson 6'2" | SG Lakeville South | 2021 State MN of Lakeville South
Noah Paulson Noah Paulson 6'8" | C Duluth East | 2021 State MN of Duluth East
Joshua Streit Joshua Streit 6'9" | PF Eden Valley Watkins | 2021 State MN of Eden Valley-Watkins
Davon Townley Jr Davon Townley Jr 6'6" | PF Minneapolis North | 2021 State MN of Minneapolis North
Jaelen Treml Jaelen Treml 6'4" | SF Hopkins | 2021 State MN of Hopkins
Will Tschetter Will Tschetter 6'8" | PF Stewartville | 2021 State #96 Nation MN of Stewartville