First Thought: D1 Minnesota 17U
NHR watched three of the four games that D1 Minnesota 17U played in Spartanburg this week at the Adidas Gauntlet. What did we see? Who was watching? We talk about that in “First Thought”. Ishmael El-Amin. First Thought. Ishmael had…
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Continue ReadingNHR watched three of the four games that D1 Minnesota 17U played in Spartanburg this week at the Adidas Gauntlet. What did we see? Who was watching? We talk about that in “First Thought”.
Ishmael El-Amin.
First Thought. Ishmael had some strong runs in transition as we have always seen from him at Hopkins and with D1 Minnesota and he’s a much better rebounder than we understood before this weekend. Also a trusted player who D1 had on the court down the stretch often.
Who was there? UWGB never missed a thing he did, they want him bad. Also saw offered programs Nevada and DePaul have an assistant at a couple games.
Jack Hutchison
First Thought. In the two Friday games the ball was moved to Hutchison and he hit multiple jumpers in both contests. Looks like he’s added more muscle to his frame as well allowing him to jam cutters even better.
Who was there? Saw Montana State at games and also saw a coach from Holy Cross at contests where Jack recently visited.
Jack Sorenson.
First Thought. Love how he combines with McKinley Wright allowing Wright to get a break without any drop in D1 Minnesota production in terms of the team structure, the team continues to get good shots with “Sor” on the floor and Jack’s ability to quickly release allows him to run with McKinley as well.
Who was there? Toledo, South Dakota State, Ball State, George Mason, and South Dakota were among the schools watching him regularly.
Jericho Sims.
First Thought. Definitely took another step in his development of consistency. Had nine points and nine boards the first night, had 17 points and double figure boards in game two, had 10 points and 13 rebounds against Jalen Hill who is a four star UCLA commit and I don’t care how much Hill’s UCLA fans and family harass my twitter or what he had for numbers, when the game was on the line Jericho out-played him. Jericho scored facing up, made multiple different moves out of the post, and downright played hard and consistent inside.
Who was there? Minnesota saw everything with three coaches, Nebraska was there, Chris Mack of Xavier was there, Shaka Smart was there and at one point stared right at Jericho and flashed the Horns sign with a smile, Clemson’s head coach was there, St. Mary’s head guy too, Oregon’s staff was there, Memphis, Kansas State head coach was there, and there are others that didn’t offer. Others that I forgot as there was so much interest to see him. Iowa State’s head coach too.
Goanar Mar.
First Thought. Was offensively aggressive hitting double figures against Compton Magic, his defensive effort was excellent in forcing Texas Pro players into tough looks, Goanar was always on the glass, and he several times created turnovers into baskets for himself or others. He’s a 6-foot-7 forward that can guard numerous positions.
Who was there? The George Mason staff including head coach, South Dakota State, Northern Illinois, Drexel’s head coach, Butler’s head coach watched, Toledo, Northern Iowa, Nebraska, Xavier, and others.
McKinley Wright.
First Thought. His game one performance in so many ways was the most important of the weekend because if McKinley doesn’t get that 16/9/7 with a huge defensive effort this team does not make the final four. Wright is a guy that players love competing with.
Who was there? Richard Pitino was at just about every game with Ben Johnson and Nate Pomeday, Archie Miller and Tom Ostrom of Dayton where there, Iowa State’s head coach was there, Nebraska watched, and Xavier’s head coach watched nearly every game.
Matthew Hurt
First Thought. Seemed to get out to a great start every game, seemed to have a big time dunk every game, seemed to make a step-back and a pull-up jumper every game. Averaged 12 and 7 in the games we saw and Matthew out-played fellow nationally known 2019 Onyeka Okongwu of the Compton Magic with his 13/6 on nine shots compared to the 10/5 from Okongwu who took seven shots.
Who was there? Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino and always two assistants, Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft, Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari watched twice, North Carolina and Kansas assistants watched a couple games, Chris Mack was there, Iowa assistants were there, Iowa State’s head coach, Viriginia and Nebraska were there.
Nathan Reuvers.
First Thought. His game tying Thursday night trey and 19 points was the most memorable game for me as he stepped up to take and make a huge shot and in the two viewings on Friday Nate hit double figures both times and had 18 boards in the two games.
Who was there? Greg Gard watched the opener, Joe Krabbenhoft was at the rest watching their frontcourt commit.