The Race for Mr. Basketball – 2020
This weekend when the top talent of Minnesota competes in the Breakdown Summer State Tournament several of the Mr. Basketball race contenders will be on the floor. What does that race look like right now? We give you the leader,…
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Continue ReadingThis weekend when the top talent of Minnesota competes in the Breakdown Summer State Tournament several of the Mr. Basketball race contenders will be on the floor. What does that race look like right now? We give you the leader, the favorites for the final five, and the next five contenders.
The Leader – Jalen Suggs
Jalen is the leader coming in and to most this is obvious as Jalen has led his team to three straight state titles and is coming off of an incredible junior season. Jalen averaged 23.5 points, six assists, four steals, and five boards a game and followed that by being one of the elite players on the UAA circuit and is now a top player on the U19 USA team. He’s a top five prospect in the nation and is currently competing with USA in Greece.
The Current Final Five Leaders
Jalen Suggs of Minnehaha Academy.
Dawson Garcia of Prior Lake. Dawson has played himself into five star status by leading D1 Minnesota to an undefeated 17u season, picking up blue blood offers from Kansas and North Carolina, and leading his Team USA 3 on 3 squad to a gold medal. He’s also ranked 20th in the nation for the 2020 class. Dawson is coming off of a 25-4 record with Prior Lake averaging 27.5 points and 11 rebounds a game.
Dain Dainja of Park Center. There was only one 30 win team in Class AAAA this past year and that was Dainja’s Pirates. Dain led Park Center in scoring (16 a game) and rebounding (nine a game) while taking them to third place in Class AAAA. He’s committed to Baylor and has taken his game around the basket and pushed it to another level. The Pirates are at the Breakdown Summer State Tournament.
Ben Carlson of East Ridge. After putting up 16.6 points a game with 11.3 rebounds and a team lead in blocks on a 28-win balanced squad, Carlson gets the nod here over a couple other bigs. Carlson’s team made state and he’s been a vital contributor for multiple years on a state contender. The Raptors are at the Breakdown Summer State Tournament.
Kerwin Walton of Hopkins. We fill out the early season final five with Walton, one of the best shooters and defenders in the state. Kerwin made a crazy 48 plus percent of his threes for the Class AAAA state champs while scoring 17 points per contest. He is now the leader of Hopkins and to maintain this spot Kerwin will have to step into that role but all signs show that he is capable. The Royals are at the Breakdown Summer State Tournament.
The Next Five
Gabe Madsen of Rochester Mayo. Gabe has the talent to be in the final five – and so does his brother Mason – but until the Mayo Spartans can show they are a 20 win, 1AAAA section title contender they will be in “The Next Five” when it comes to the Mr. Basketball race. Both Gabe and Mason have the talent to both be on this list (and both are playing like high major talents) but Gabe had slightly better numbers and I could only give one spot as Mayo had a late season struggle that led to the 15-12 record.
Steven Crowl of Eastview. Steven may have the best argument to be the next guy up for the final five. He led his team to state (although in a much weaker section last year than others) and had a 19.6 point, 8.2 rebound per game average. The Lightning will enter the season in the top ten. Eastview is at the Breakdown Summer State Tournament this weekend.
J’Vonne Hadley of Cretin-Derham Hall. How Hadley fits into things for the Raiders will play itself out in the coming months but at the very least he’s going to be a big number productive guy. Maybe not 28 points per game like last year at Mahtomedi as CDH will have more balance but Hadley moved over to CDH seeing the talent on the roster can be a state contender plus the Zephyrs graduated nearly everybody plus Minnehaha Academy moved into the Zephyr section. The Raiders are in the State Tournament this weekend.
Jacob Hutson of Edina. It’s possible that Hutson is the most under appreciated 2020 prospect in the state. When it comes to D1 offers he has seven. When it comes to the Lake Conference Hutson scored 19 points a game and had several double-doubles. His back to the basket game is matched physically around here only by Dainja.
Nathan Heise of Lake City. Heise has played in the state tournament two of the last three seasons including last year’s third place finish in Class AA. The Tigers will be a top three team in Class AA when play starts in 19-20 and Heise, a Northern Iowa committed guard, has a chance to be one of the elite figures in this race. His team will win, and win big.
Drake Dobbs of Eden Prairie. The Eagles have a balanced squad that won the state consolation trophy but Dobbs was a step ahead as the leading scorer (18.5 a game) and leader in assists (5 a game). I had to expand this article to have one more player as Dobbs, Hutson, and Heise all deserve it, and EP deserves to have a player on the list even though they are a balanced squad.