Grind Finals – 17U Top Big Men
The Prep Hoops Circuit regional finals happened all across the country over the weekend and in this post, we are focused on the Grind Region finals and specifically the 17U division. The 17U division took center stage at the Drive…
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Continue ReadingThe Prep Hoops Circuit regional finals happened all across the country over the weekend and in this post, we are focused on the Grind Region finals and specifically the 17U division. The 17U division took center stage at the Drive Nation facility in Dallas. After three days of great basketball, we’re breaking down some of the top prospects from that division over the weekend. As you see, this post is all about the big men. Stay locked into Prep Hoops for more coverage from the Grind Region Finals. In case you missed it, you can check out part one of our top 17U guards RIGHT HERE. In this post, we break down some of the top big men we saw from the event that emerged from Colorado and Texas.
Colton Hawkins Colton Hawkins 6'5" | PF Pueblo West | 2023 State CO – 5280 Athletics
We’re doing this list alphabetically but this also works out because Colton Hawkins Colton Hawkins 6'5" | PF Pueblo West | 2023 State CO from the 5280 Athletics squad had one of the best games we saw on Saturday afternoon. They would come up short in a game but he would lead all scorers with an eye-popping 35 points. And he made it look easy. He was about as automatic as it got when he got the ball in the paint. He dropped 35 points and did all of his damage exclusively at the free throw line and inside the 3-point line. He scored more than half of his team’s points in the game on Saturday and that was a team that has some guards that can absolutely fill it up. While they were struggling, Hawkins came up in a big way.
Eli Robinson Eli Robinson 6'6" | PF Lewis-Palmer | 2023 State CO – P.L.U.T.O. Prospects
There’s no doubt that the P.L.U.T.O. Prospects were one of the top organizations at the Grind Regional Finals. They had multiple players on their top team that we’ll be writing about but one of the more consistent big men on the squad was Eli Robinson Eli Robinson 6'6" | PF Lewis-Palmer | 2023 State CO . The guards for the Prospects are outstanding and they’ll certainly be covered in our guard features. But Robinson was outstanding in the paint. Even though they fell short of winning the tournament title, they were still one of the top teams and he was one of the top players. As the Prospects made a run in bracket play on Sunday, they dominated in their quarterfinal round and Robinson would score 24 points in the win.
Kyron Henderson – Texas Swish
In one of the more high-scoring games on Saturday, Texas Swish got a shootout victory over Arnold Palmer Elite. Palmer has a good squad with really good guard play but they couldn’t handle the complete team effort of Texas Swish. Not only did they counter with good guards, they also had Kyron Henderson dominating in the paint. Henderson would finish with 24 points and there wasn’t much anyone could do to slow him down. He was a force in the paint on offense and he also helped out on defense and on the boards as well. Henderson was one of the top players that we got a chance to see in person on Saturday and he showed why with a dominating performance on both sides of the floor.
Luke Wagstaff Luke Wagstaff 6'7" Fort Collins | 2023 CO – 24MD Team Daum
Similar to P.L.U.T.O. Prospects, 24MD Team Daum was one of the top teams that we got a chance to watch a few times throughout the weekend. They were one of the top teams in the tournament field and they got off to a great start. They fell short of the ultimate goal after losing a tough quarterfinal clash with FIFA Elite out of Louisiana, but they were still one of the more complete teams we watched. One of the top big men for them was Luke Wagstaff Luke Wagstaff 6'7" Fort Collins | 2023 CO . In that game against FIFA, he was one of the bright spots with 14 points and countless rebounds, especially on the offensive end. Shots weren’t going down from the perimeter and time after time, Wagstaff was there to get second chance opportunities.