UPDATED IOWA 2018 RANKINGS: Talking Points
Still underclassmen but ready to breakout, Iowa’s 2018s are the next wave of superstars to be heralded by the prep hoops community. There was no change made to the top 5 this time around, but plenty of revamping to the…
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Continue ReadingStill underclassmen but ready to breakout, Iowa’s 2018s are the next wave of superstars to be heralded by the prep hoops community. There was no change made to the top 5 this time around, but plenty of revamping to the rest of the rankings. We also added 40 players, extending the list from 50 to 100. These guys have an ever-important 16U grassroots season ahead of them – look for even more shakeup then.
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Top 5 Stays the Same:
Muscatine shooting guard Joe Wieskamp has a stranglehold on the top spot right now, he’s the only prospect from the class to have accepted an offer, and a high-major at that (Iowa). Sam Ingoli isn’t going anywhere, he’s one of three guys in the class to hold a Division I offer (UND), and he could blow up this summer. Jason Taylor hasn’t been as productive as we would have thought with Rock Valley, but the fact remains that he holds two D1 offers (UND, SDSU), so he stays at three. AJ Green has been marvelous for Cedar Falls, he’ll have D1 offers soon. And Luke Vaske is an easy choice to stay in the top 5; he’s averaging 19.6 points and 5.8 rebounds for Norwalk.
However, this spring will be a very telling as the 16U grassroots season gets underway. Can Van Rees continue his exponential rise and crack the top 5 when the next rankings are released in May? Maybe Elijah Hazekamp will be the guy to have a breakout summer? Or could Hunter Strait pull some D1 offers and leapfrog some guys? Time will tell.
Terrific Tandems:
There are seven separate duos in the top 50 alone, and one team — Iowa City West, of course — with two duos. The Trojans’ sophomore squad just wrapped up a 20-0 regular season, with Jaquon Hemphill, Hakeem Odunsi, Seybian Sims, and Jake Anderson leading the charge. They’ll lead the way next season for a varsity squad that will reload rather than rebuild.
Cedar Rapids Xavier has a bright future with Jackson Joens and Matthew Mims — both Martin Brothers — running the show. Glenwood’s tandem of Nate Mohr and Andrew Blum will wreak havoc in 3A for years to come. And Waukee’s duo of Nathan Johnson and Nathan Nelson is poised to keep the Warriors atop the CIML for the immediate future.
Arguably the best sophomore pair in the state is in Cedar Falls, where point guard AJ Green and small forward TreyShawn LaBeaux have already been traumatizing opponents for close to two years. Elijah Hazekamp and Jack Boever have a legitimate argument as to why they may be the best sophomore pair in the state — they will be tough to contain for the next two seasons in northwest Iowa. And let’s not forget about the small but impactful team of guards at Dubuque, Senior, Justin Blackman and Carter Stevens.
Big Summer:
If we thought there was a lot of shakeup in this installment of rankings, just wait until the next. This spring and summer will be pivotal for the recruitment of these 2018s. And though only three of them have been offered by D1 programs (Ingoli, Wieskamp, Taylor), that number should expand at least twofold this summer. We will have a much more clear picture of who really belongs where by the end of the spring, and it will become even more clear after the July live periods. Once the dust has settled at the end of the summer, the top-20 could be unrecognizable.
Prolific Point Guards:
Plenty of elite point guards are sprinkled throughout these rankings. Especially at the top is where you’ll find an imbalance of point guard prowess. It starts in the top 5, where three are point guards; Ingoli, Green and Vaske. From there you’ll find Brady Sartorius, Hunter Strait, and Mohr in the top 15. That’s six point guards in the top 15 — all deserving, and all vying for top spot in the state. Hold on tight AJ, there’s plenty of competition for that top point guard spot.