Summer Classic: Friday
NHR opened the weekend in Chaska, Minnesota at the Summer Classic hosted by D1 Minnesota. The D1 Minnesota versus Grassroots Minnesota match-up was the highlight of the day. D1 Minnesota wins 83-60 The wall was lined with coaches to see…
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Continue ReadingNHR opened the weekend in Chaska, Minnesota at the Summer Classic hosted by D1 Minnesota. The D1 Minnesota versus Grassroots Minnesota match-up was the highlight of the day.
D1 Minnesota wins 83-60
The wall was lined with coaches to see this game as Thad Matta of Ohio State, Tim Miles of Nebraska, Ben Johnson of Minnesota, Tom Ostrom of Dayton, Darrin Horn of Texas, Neill Berry of Iowa State, Joe Krabbenhoft of Wisconsin plus assistants from Oregon, Kansas State, Valpo, Tennessee State, UND, Virginia, Pacific, and several others looked on.
Grassroots Minnesota didn’t have 2016s Steffon Mitchell and Xavier Johnson plus 2020 star Jalen Suggs was sitting in the stands. The group is still formidable led by JaQuan Sanders-Smith, Aaron Gill, Max Curran, and others but wasn’t quite able to give the same punch that they did last weekend in earning second play at the Next Level Invitational.
D1 Minnesota was up early and they hit the two point mark quickly. McKinley Wright had an all around game of 11 boards, nine points, seven assists, and a really nice defensive effort. His facilitation helped get four guys in double figures led by 19 from Matthew Hurt, 14 from Ismael El-Amin, and 11 each from Jack Hutchison and Jack Sorenson.
Matthew Hurt. Today coaches from Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa State, Oregon, Virginia, and Wisconsin joined Thad Matta in watching Hurt put up 19 points against Grassroots Minnesota in an 83-60 victory. Hurt’s go to move is his left handed attack with a pull-up over the length of just about any player and between that, strong effort putbacks and catch and hit in rhythm treys you have three of his four more consistent finishes.
The other? The two hand throw down viscously over whatever opponent. Hurt scored nine field goals and five of them were aggressive two hand dunks. People look at Matthew and think skill beyond his years, court IQ, and length. But what they also need to start recognizing is that Matthew is a lot more explosive than given credit for. Not only was he throwing down today, but Hurt was throwing down game after game in South Carolina last week too. It’s just another part of Hurt’s game that makes him one of the nation’s best.
Jericho Sims. Jericho drew a crowd of Minnesota, Oregon, Ohio State, Dayton, Texas, Iowa State, Nebraska, Kansas State, and others to Chaska, Minnesota on Friday and what they will forever recall is 2016 big Max Curran taking about four steps at Sims and trying to make a highlight. Curran, a bouncy talent himself, wanted to go over the top of Sims. Not today.
Sims used his ridiculous length and extreme bounce to meet Curran a foot above the rim and he nearly bruised Ben Johnson of Minnesota and Tom Ostrom of Dayton with the velocity of the swat. It was one of five block Sims had to go with eight boards and four field goals as the D1 Minnesota power forward continues to work to consistency. The offensive highlight of the day, besides the two springy dunks, was the Sims led break where he pushed the ball across halfcourt and left a pass for a Goanar Mar score.
Ishmael El-Amin. With his father Khalid EL-Amin watching close, Ishmael knocked out three treys and then got the rest of his 14 in transition. Ishmael is one of the best transition players in the Midwest and the consistency of his three-point stroke continues to improve.
D1 16s win again
The D1 Minnesota 16s will be on the other side of the bracket from the D1 Minnesota 17s and based on what we saw today they will likely be the favorite on their side of the bracket which also includes Grassroots Minnesota, Nebraska Select, and the D1 Minnesota Prospects. They defeated Real Athletics House 93-65 and here are five things to point out from that game.
Zach Theisen. What a shooter. After the game his coach commented that Zach is the best shooter in Minnesota in 2018 and it’s tough to argue with that considering the way Zach is playing. Is he or isn’t he? That’s for you to decide but I will definitely say that nobody is hotter. Theisen knocked out for treys.
Race Thompson. Had a low scoring game but a high rebounding game and a high effort game. Loved watching him out bounce and out fight many players for boards, come down with elbows out and active, and then moving forward. A very Rodman like double figure board game for him.
Anthony Davis. The open floor throw down grabbed the attention of all but I really liked the two flashing to the elbow catch and hit jumpers. Davis is a great athlete that slashes and defends well, but if he shoots like this it opens up a world of more opportunity. Had a team high 18 points.
Anders Nelson. Loved the way Nelson pushed his team in transition today. His leads were fantastic, his passes to the arc were on a line and to waiting hands of shooters, and his attack with a tear drop as well as the fast paced finish off the glass were impressive. Scored 17.
Jarvis Thomas. Jarvis jumped over a guy for a dunk today. Literally jumped right over the top of him and 1-hand slammed. It was incredible. He had a couple other lobs that were highlight impressive too.
Others
Max Curran. Six-foot-9 Curran scored a game high 21 including four three-pointers against D1 Minnesota. Curran has range to his jumper in addition to a quick bouncing effort on the glass. He’s a guy that can be an active off-ball finisher above the rim and he can face up an opposing big on the arc comfortably. He’s a 2016 that is still looking for a program.
Aaron Gill. No matter what the score was Gill always competed. The 2018 forward scored 19 points, hit a couple jumpers including a three, and all around competed from start to finish. There were some D1 Minnesota frontcourt player who didn’t hit double figures and a big reason for that was the quick ounce of Gill getting to the rim and contesting shots or swatting the four that he did. Also grabbed eight boars in an impressive all around game.
Charlie Jacob. He was on the losing team but the 2018 guard made winning plays for the Real Athletics 17s team. His smooth handles and even smoother jumper were noteworthy. His one dribble separation pull-up is very smooth as is the two dribble physical attack into a soft release. Jacob has been fantastic this spring and summer but today he cemented himself as a scholarship talent. Reminds me of Nate Huot in a lot of ways although Jacob is more scoring assertive.
Noah Alm. The 2016 player from Forest Lake was able to use a dribble or two to get where he wanted and finish against the SD Attack routinely. Really like Nate’s touch from the arc and from mid-range, he was able to score in transition at a high percentage from double figure feet and handled contesting defenders well staying balanced to complete.
Bryden Urie. This is the second time we’ve noticed the Proctor guard as one of the most productive players on the floor this year. The 2017 talent handled, created, hit from the arc, scored at the rim beating guys to the corner or scoring over reach. Maybe one of the most underappreciated guards in the senior class.