Recruiting Report: Steffon Mitchell (2016)
November 4th Update ***Editor’s Note: Steffon has taken three official visits and has two left he can take Shakopee forward Steffon Mitchell is the top uncommitted senior in the state of Minnesota right now and there isn’t a day that…
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Continue ReadingNovember 4th Update
***Editor’s Note: Steffon has taken three official visits and has two left he can take
Shakopee forward Steffon Mitchell is the top uncommitted senior in the state of Minnesota right now and there isn’t a day that goes by that somebody in the Minnesota basketball community doesn’t talk about what he will do next.
Mitchell set a fall schedule of visits that included San Diego, Utah State, Central Michigan, and Wichita State. The rumor hit that Mitchell was down to Central Michigan and the Shockers at one point but that was just a rumor, nothing concrete.
Last night Mitchell had a twitter message that shed some light on what he is thinking and that is, right now he just isn’t quite sure what the next step is.
“My parents and I have thought carefully about my academic and basketball future. Right now I am considering reclassifying to the Class of 2017 and entering a prep school in the fall of 2016. I feel this will help reach my goal to compete at the highest level of college basketball.”
What people need to remember with this statement is the word “considering”. That does not mean that is what he will do. In fact, I believe many took it that way so Mitchell followed that up with the following:
“I am considering prep schools but it is not for sure. I’m just considering all of my options to make me the best player I can be.”
The bottom line is Steffon just isn’t quite sure what he wants to do right now and that is okay. Choosing a college is not the easiest thing to do. Several people wait until the spring to make a choice and that works out just fine. Or they go to a junior college or a prep school for a year or two and that works out.
Mitchell obviously has the dream of playing at a high level and that was clear in his first statement. Don’t forget, Texas Tech has seen him play a couple times in the last four months, Kansas State has been in contact, and Nebraska has also stayed in contact here and there. There are also 20 plus programs that offered Steffon and many would love to jump into the picture.
Don’t look past Wichita State either. Remember, they love guys that go to prep schools first. Just look at their roster. Gregg Marshall’s team has seven guys on his roster that played at a prep program. Also. Wichita State has two kids committed so far in the 2016 class and where are they from? A junior college and a prep school.
I also remember something Steffon said at the end of the summer: “I am leaving one of my official visits open in case another program comes along later that I am interested in”. Remember kids get five official visits and Steffon planned just the four so if say Kansas State or somebody wanted to bring him in, Steffon has another visit he can take.
The reason I wrote this article was first off because there was so much conversation about it in the local basketball community last night. But second, I wrote it to tell people to relax.
Mitchell is making a college choice and that is not an easy thing to do. He’s trying to reach his dreams and find the right fit. If that takes him through the winter to sign in the spring, so be it. If that means prep school, so be it.
Bottom line, he will seek out what is the right fit and in the meantime Shakopee basketball will be one of the top teams in the state once again as Steffon hopes to lead his group to the Class AAAA final four once again.
October 15th Update
The top unsigned talent in Minnesota right now is Shakopee forward Steffon Mitchell. The 6-foot-7 talent is in the middle of a four visit swing (San Diego, Wichita State, Central Michigan, and Utah State) and things are going well for the senior.
“The visits have been going great,” Steffon told NHR this morning. . “The best part of the visits is to watch how the teams run practice as well as talking to the players.”
Mitchell has one visit to go and then a decision is likely to take place in about two weeks time.
“I’m on my last visits and it is at Wichita State. I will hopefully decide on a school around the time of Halloween.”
With three starters back Mitchell is also excited about taking his team back to state for the third straight season. Mitchell has led Shakopee basketball to a pair of third place trophies in Minnesota’s toughest division.
Now he returns along with Booker Coplin (who looked outstanding last weekend at the Select Expo in Lakeville) and Taylor Triplett as starters.
“I am very excited for the season,” Mitchell said. “I think the biggest challenge this year is going to decide what style we will play this year. If it will be fast tempo or slow tempo.”
With Mitchell leading on the court, and with veteran coach Bruce Kugath hoping to add to his already impressive resume, the Sabers are in a good spot.
August 11th Update
Steffon Mitchell had an outstanding off-season. How else do you describe a guy that has 19 division one scholarship offers. The year was going well and then Mitchell and the Minnesota Fury hit Vegas.
From there, Steffon hit the radar of several more college programs. Offers rolled in by the dozens and Steffon had to figure out what direction to head. He had narrowed his grouping a bit after deciding on some visits.
“I’m feeling great,” Mitchell said about the recruiting process. “I have decided that I’m going to take four official visits to San Diego, Wichita St, Central Michigan, Utah St and I am leaving the 5th one for a late coming school.”
Mitchell impressed coaches with his improved all around play inside and out competing against some of the best teams that the Vegas Classic had to offer.
“Finishing around the rim instead of going around them, I improved in that area as now I am going above and through them,” Steffon said. “I now want to become a better ball handler.”
Overall, Mitchell loved his time with the Minnesota Fury.
“The whole experience was great. I got to play with the guys that I have known for a long time and getting more exposure than a high school game.”
June 16
Every year preseason rankings are put out and every year Shakopee is missing from the top ten or barely in it. But when it comes to state tournament time who is in the semi-final every year? That’s right, the Shakopee Sabers.
In 2013-14 the Sabers knocked out favored Osseo, were beaten by a half-court shot in the semi-final, and then earned third place defeating Cretin-Derham Hall. This winter Shakopee grabbed a win over Roseville, lost to Champlin Park, and beat Lakeville North in the third place game.
Two third place finishes in two years. Not too bad. A 24-8 record. Very good actually. Section play will get tougher with Eden Prairie and Minnetonka moving in but 24.7 points per game from Steffon Mitchell means he’s the scariest player to deal with.
Don’t forget about Booker Coplin who was the second leading scorer at over 14 a game and Taylor Triplett who is one of the best role players in the state. Both return to the starting line-up with Mitchell.
Yes it’s exciting to think about the upcoming winter season but we have a summer to get through first. Steffon plays for the Minnesota Fury once again and at 24-4 things are going well.
“The season is going well, I continue to get more interest from other schools playing with the Minnesota Fury and we’ve been a tough team to beat,” said Mitchell. “To improve I want to be able to run off screens better to get open shots.”
Steffon will be attending the Hoop Group Camp this summer in addition to four more events with the Fury.
His offer list now includes “American, Boston U, Bucknell, Central Michigan, Furman, North Dakota State, Northeastern, South Dakota, and South Dakota State. The most recent offer was Bucknell.”
Mitchell also has a long list of interested programs including a couple new teams.
“New schools I’ve heard from are Nebraska, Wofford, and the same ones I’ve mentioned in the past (Iowa, Minnesota, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Wichita State),” said Mitchell.
The fans that talk about Mitchell the most are likely from NDSU. Mitchell likes what’s he’s seen from the program so far.
“I like the brand new facilities at North Dakota State and the coaches as well,” said Mitchell. “I like Coach David Richman because he has a lot of different options as to the way they play at NDSU.”
At this point Mitchell is wide open to the nine high major programs that have offered him as well as the several others that are showing interest.
March 24
Each of the last two seasons names were thrown around as to “who would win the state title” and while many squads were put out there, rarely did you hear anybody say “Shakopee”.
But yet each of the last two years the Shakopee Sabers have went to the state tournament, knocked out the higher seed (this year it was Roseville and last year it was Osseo), and then battled with the eventual runner up in classic games (Champlin Park this year, Hopkins last year).
“I felt like this was a good season,” said Shakopee leader Steffon Mitchell. “We had our ups and downs like any other team but I thought we competed well for being under sized. Some top moments were going to the state tourney and playing Champlin Park.”
Now Mitchell moves on to play another season with the Minnesota Fury who has put together a squad with several D1 potential talents as well as some future NSIC players.
“I am very excited and my goals as a player is to be a high flyer,” said Mitchell.
Steffon talked about his AAU role versus his high school role at the state tournament in a very interesting and true comparison.
“I have a different role on my AAU team than I do here,” Mitchell explained. Here, I stay around the post area, but in AAU, I am one of the point guards and bring it up and breaking people down.
“With our team (Shakopee), we don’t really have 6-8 or 6-9 guys like we do on my AAU team, so I have to work on my post game and stuff like that to help us win high school games.”
Mitchell currently holds scholarship offers from American University, Central Michigan, Furman, North Dakota State, South Dakota, and South Dakota State plus a load of interest from teams all over the country.
“I’m hearing from Iowa, Wisconsin, Wichita State, Minnesota, Michigan and there are several others,” said Mitchell.
Steffon went to a couple college games over the winter.
“I went to Northern Iowa for their game against Wichita State, it was a good atmosphere,” said Mitchell to reporters at state.
“I went to the Minnesota game against Rutgers. I went to the Minnesota game against Furman and that is about it.”
Mitchell was named first team Junior All State by NHR yesterday after a junior year of 24.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
Feb 2nd, 2015 Update
Shakopee is 15-5 on the year at the moment led by a junior year from Steffon Mitchell that has been nearly above what many had expected. Sure Steffon is an excellent talent but 25.6 points per game and moving in and out of the top ten with wins over East Ridge, Hopkins, Chaska, Lakeville North, and Eastview was even more than was expected.
Mitchell has put himself on the list of just about any school that recruits the upper Midwest.
“I’ve heard from some new schools like Davidson, Iowa, and Cincinnati,” said Mitchell. “Many of these schools talk to my AAU coach too.”
“Steffon has offers from Central Michigan, South Dakota State, Furman, South Dakota, and American,” said Ben Davis who runs the Minnesota Fury.
“He is also being recruited by Minnesota where Steffon has been to a number of games and they have had him on campus, Iowa, Northern Iowa has been up to a number of his games recently and Steffon was a guest there for the game against Wichita Sate, and Texas Tech has been in town to see him play a couple times.”
Mitchell enjoyed the trip to Northern Iowa.
“It was good,” said Steffon. “They had a sold out crowd and the crowd was really loud.”
Sept 8th, 2015 Update
Shakopee wing Steffon Mitchell’s name is all over the place right now as college coaches from all over the nation are coming in to see him.
“Steffon has a bunch of schools that will be in town this week to check him out,” said Minnesota Fury president Ben Davis. “Central Michigan will be in tomorrow at 3:15, Drake will be in tomorrow at two, South Dakota will be in sometime.
“On Wednesday Northern Iowa will see him at seven in the morning, Bucknell will be in Wednesday at 3:15, Pepperdine will be in to see him on Monday September 22nd.”
In addition Steffon, who has offers from Western Michigan and Furman, has set some visits of his own.
“Steffon will be visiting Northern Iowa on October 4th and Central Michigan on October 16th.”
Mitchell is coming off a sophomore year that saw him help lead Shakopee to third place at state and an all state honor at the 16U level for his play with Fury.
Update from Ryan James on 8/7/14
Every year at the Minnesota State Boys Basketball Tournament a pocket of college coaches form in the Target Center northeast corner for the quarterfinals. This past March one of those coaches was Furman head man Niko Medved.
Medved watched Shakopee small forward Steffon Mitchell scored 18 points in a win over Osseo gaining a strong first impression. Mitchell averaged 12.6 points per game as a sophomore building on an excellent campaign. Then July hit. Playing in the Vegas Classic, Mitchell and the Minnesota Fury top 16s had Medved in the crowd again.
Medved must of been impressed, because late afternoon Wednesday after talking with Minnesota Fury coach Ben Wilde, Medved called up Mitchell and offered him his first scholarship.
“I’m really excited,” Mitchell told NHR. “I’m just very excited that Coach Medved has given me a chance to go and play for him. Furman seems like a fun place to go. They have a lot of things a person can do there, they have good coaches, good academics, stuff like that.”
Furman is far from the only school talking to Mitchell though. Steffon has a long list of interested suitors.
“I’ve heard from Central Michigan, South Dakota, North Dakota, Northern Iowa, Holy Cross, Stoney Brook, Evansville, Drake, and there are more but I can’t remember them all of the top of my head,” Mitchell explained.
The Fury 16s squad coached by Ben Wilde were a top four team in Minnesota this year at their level and the team was led by Mitchell.
“He was a guy for us that played all five positions on the court, offensively.” Coach Wilde said. “If there was pressure, Steffon would bring the ball up the court. If we needed to post somebody up, Steffon did that. Anytime we needed something, Steffon brought that because of his versatility.
“Steffon was also a good leader for us. He stayed really positive all of the time. Steffon listens to directions, he plays hard.”
In terms of being a leader, NHR can attest to that. Mitchell could be seen before games guiding his teammates on when to get ready, where to be, etc, and then on the court he directs traffic, leads with emotional words, and of course takes charge and whatever position he’s needed to.
“The versatility of Steffon is outstanding, he can do so many different things,” said Coach Wilde. “To pigeon hold him into one position just doesn’t work. Steffon can shoot outside, defensively he can guard a one if needed to or he can guard a give because he’s so long.
“Steffon is getting more athletic by the week because he is lifting and constantly working on his skills. He can shoot outside, he can drive, and he kind of has that all around ability to pass, shot, or dribble attack.”
Mitchell has now scored 522 points in his young varsity career and barring injury, will top 1,000 points later in the year.
Steffon played as a freshman and was listed by Coach Bruce Kugath at 6-foot-2. A year later as a sophomore Shakopee had him at 6-foot-5. This summer he was marked at 6-foot-6.
With Mitchell, there continues to be growth all around, and there is no telling when or where that growth will stop.
***Since this report was written Steffon has added a second division one offer from Central Michigan.
Update from Alex Conover on 6/27/14
Bad news for Shakopee: senior forwards Jake Maiers and Tyler Weiss have graduated and moved onto college hoops.
Good news for Shakopee: the Steffon Mitchell era has only just begun.
Mitchell (#7 in NHR’s class of 2016 rankings) is a 6-foot-7 athlete who is a premier recruit in a 2016 class full of long, lanky players, including guys with similar measurables in Amir Coffey (#1) and Michael Hurt (#6).
Much like those other two, Mitchell is collecting Division I interest, especially once junior contact officially opened up.
“I have been contacted by Nebraska-Omaha, Drake, Northern Iowa, St. Cloud State, Augustana and NDSU,” Mitchell told NHR. “I got an email from the Gophers, they said that they had seen me play before and asked for my phone number. I was excited. Also, Notre Dame just contacted me. They sent me a letter asking for my number and my AAU schedule.”
Playing with Fury Wilde this summer, Mitchell noted that he’s working on getting stronger and playing more physical defense. Thinking about college this soon is a little strange for the youngster, but he’s getting used to the feeling and is considering several different academic majors.
After the AAU season comes and goes, watch for Mitchell to make a huge impact for Shakopee along with Travis Larsen, Andrew Weist, Scott Peterson and perhaps even Mitchell’s younger brother Garrett, who according to Steffon may get some chances on varsity next year.
After the AAU season comes and goes, watch for Mitchell to make a huge impact for Shakopee along with Travis Larsen, Andrew Weist, Scott Peterson and perhaps even Mitchell’s younger brother Garrett, who according to Steffon may get some chances on varsity next year.