Minnesota High School Basketball – The September Review

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Trying something a big new in the off-season, we are doing a September review. It's recruiting, showcases, and a little bit of very wide open fall league chatter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Recruiting </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With [player_tooltip player_id='2126117' first='Malachi' last='Hill'] committing to Tennessee Tech over Illinois State and Northern Iowa, that means that 22 of the top 24 2027 prospects have committed already. That is almost unheard of at this time of year in terms of percentages of the top 25, and we give a nice hat tip to those players, coaches of those players, and parents of those players. You have to jump on things right now and the kids did that. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Props to those AAU coaches getting these kids going on these decisions too if they played a role ([program_tooltip program_id='2075431' first='D1' last='Minnesota'] has seven committed, [player_tooltip player_id='2126094' first='Ty' last='Schlagel'] committed to Nebraska after his 16u [program_tooltip program_id='2455790' first='Howard' last='Pulley'] year, [program_tooltip program_id='2075310' first='Northstar' last='Titans'] had one, [program_tooltip program_id='2075672' first='Minnesota' last='Fury'] has six of the top 30 ranked kids committed, Hoop Habits has three of the top 30, Select/Comets have two each, Stars have one, the Lightning have one, and the Playmakers have one of the top 30 guys committed). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The three top 25 guys not committed yet are [player_tooltip player_id='2126102' first='Jaeden' last='Udean'], [player_tooltip player_id='2436914' first='Kellen' last='Troup'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2412724' first='Dre' last='Collins'], each of which are very good players. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hottest names in 2028 recruiting. KJ Wilson has an upcoming unofficial to Minnesota soon for a football game, and he and [player_tooltip player_id='2560458' first='Emmanuel' last='Oyesanmi'] have had a number of visitors. Another pair that has had D1 visitors is [player_tooltip player_id='2395557' first='Gus' last='McKenna'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2395830' first='Oliver' last='McKenna'] up at Pequot Lakes. Believe both Minnesota and UST have said hello. Caledonia guard [player_tooltip player_id='2387331' first='Grant' last='King'] has been to or is soon to be at NDSU. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We have to address something else so it's a learning lesson to others...... YOU CAN'T MESS AROUND WITH YOUR RECRUITMENT ONLINE. Colleges see it all. There was a fake commitment this past month which is something I have never seen before. Those fake offers posted with a fake commitment, those college coaches see it and talk. They talk to me, they talk to other coaches in college, in high school, you can't make that stuff up as it hurts you. Not only did it have interested colleges thinking "he might be off the table" but when they learned of the fake items, they step away from stuff like that. You can't mess around with recruiting in an era where college coaches are so focused on transfers and looking for any reason to find a transfer instead of a high school kid. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Also, if you have a high school or AAU coach tell you that you got an offer, get the name of the coaches at the college and talk to them yourself (you and/or your guardians). Don't leave that exclusively in the hands of others. Of course your coaches should talk to them, but you and your family need to communicate as well! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Showcases </strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What an incredible set of showcases we had this month. The Freshmen, Sophomore, and Upperclassmen showcases really gave us some new names as well as players that have earned chatter on their improvements. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We set new records of attendees this year and the quality of player was high level. Guys like [player_tooltip player_id='2877064' first='Carter' last='Brown'], [player_tooltip player_id='2396187' first='Kristian' last='Ward'], [player_tooltip player_id='2397555' first='Brady' last='Molenaar'], [player_tooltip player_id='2537652' first='Satrel' last='Fuller'], [player_tooltip player_id='2544137' first='Acaurii' last='Clark'], [player_tooltip player_id='2568101' first='Donjae' last='Knox'], [player_tooltip player_id='2140710' first='Willie' last='Moore'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2569255' first='Logan' last='Duis'] made major upperclassmen statements. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomore wise, [player_tooltip player_id='2917657' first='Ethan' last='Payne'] is going to be a monster and we saw that. [player_tooltip player_id='2797912' first='Preston' last='Tyler'] has a chance to be very good. [player_tooltip player_id='2855871' first='Royce' last='White Jr'] has taken a big jump. [player_tooltip player_id='2848213' first='Thomas' last='Covert'] should really help Wayzata and [player_tooltip player_id='2955912' first='Trameill' last='White'] could be an all state player soon at Blake. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As for the Freshmen, [player_tooltip player_id='2807778' first='Nathan' last='Ochan'] made a statewide statement while [player_tooltip player_id='2847647' first='Paris' last='Kyles'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2435275' first='Henry' last='Hanzel'] look like they could be big time prospects. Really liked what I saw from [player_tooltip player_id='2862271' first='Marshawn' last='Gray'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2892259' first='Ray' last='Ray Dildy'] as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Fall League</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Breakdown fall leagues kicked off with the premier leagues last weekend and they really good going for the next 7-8 weeks next weekend around Minnesota. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CSP has been running their league for about a month now, maybe longer. Guys like [player_tooltip player_id='2433515' first='Kolby' last='Thompson'], [player_tooltip player_id='2423114' first='Lincoln' last='Busse'], [player_tooltip player_id='2380768' first='Jamir' last='Davis'], [player_tooltip player_id='2126458' first='Luke' last='Schroeder'], [player_tooltip player_id='2392326' first='Max' last='Denson'] and others have made a good impression so far. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->