Breakout Players to Watch: Big 9 Conference
The Big 9 is undoubtedly one of the best conferences in the state. With talented teams littered throughout the southern portion of the state, schools like Rochester John Marshall in Class 4A and Austin in Class 3A figure to be…
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Continue ReadingThe Big 9 is undoubtedly one of the best conferences in the state. With talented teams littered throughout the southern portion of the state, schools like Rochester John Marshall in Class 4A and Austin in Class 3A figure to be contenders to not only get to the state tournament next spring, but potentially make major noise.
The conference is stacked with plenty of big names on an individual level as Matthew Hurt’s already established himself as a top play nationally no matter what age group, Duoth and Both Gach were key cogs on a strong Austin a year ago and even guys like Northfield’s Hunter Koep (who will play baseball at North Dakota State) Faribault’s Kade Hart (who signed with Bemidji State over the summer) and JM’s Dedoch Chan (who led the conference in scoring as a sophomore at Albert Lea) are high quality players.
For those familiar with the Big 9 conference or the AAU basketball circuit, these names are fairly well known.
But who are some guys that could potentially break out this upcoming season and either help their team achieve success or simply establish themselves as a potential coveted college basketball prospect?
Here are a few guys that could fit into those descriptions
Kipp Adams – 2017 – Red Wing
Adams was a rotation guy for the Wingers last season, helping Red Wing win 29 games and finish third in the Class 3A state tournament. Gone are the go-to guys from that team though as Travis Toivonen is playing football at UND and Joe Sevlie is playing basketball at Minnesota State, Moorhead.
Adams averaged six points per game last year and with just one other returning player, Adams will likely more than double that number as a senior. Adams connected on 40 percent of his 3-pointers a year ago, so that’ll get him a look from college coaches right off the bat. You don’t play at Red Wing if you can’t defend either and Adams was a solid defender off the bench for the Wingers as well. He’ll have to take on a larger role in the offense as a senior so coaches will get to see his playmaking skills on full display. If the Wingers are going to continue to contend in the Big 9, Adams will be a big reason for it in 2016-17.
Joe Jackson – 2018 – Faribault
Jackson is similar to Adams in that he was a rotation player who figures to see an uptick in minutes this upcoming season. As a sophomore, Jackson was a bench player for the Falcons used primarily as a change-of-pace player. He’ll move into the starting lineup this winter and for a Faribault team that went .500 last year, Jackson’s improvement will be a key in determining if they improve on that mark.
Under Lance Walsten, the Falcons are very much a defense-first type of team and Jackson fits that. He’s active in the passing lanes and constantly applying pressure to opposing ball-handlers full court. He wasn’t tasked with engineering the offense much last season but he’s got the speed and athleticism to get to the lane with regularity. The jump shot wasn’t on display much as an underclassmen and at this point, it would probably be the area he could stand for the most improvement. His energy level and effort will take him a long way though. Jackson averaged four points per game as a sophomore and it wouldn’t be surprising if he came close to tripling that mark as a junior.
Damani Hayes – 2018 – Mankato East
This one isn’t really a “breakout” player in the sense that he’ll go from a relative unknown to a good player, rather Hayes looks like a player who will go from “good player” to “one of the best players” in the conference.
A 6-foot-4 wing, Hayes averaged 10 points per game as a sophomore for a good Cougars squad and with Krisean Coffee and Sam Ahrens both gone, He’ll be the go-to guy as an upperclassmen. He’s got the athleticism to get pretty much wherever he wants on the floor and excels in transition. At his size, he’s a tough matchup because of his ability to handle the ball and create and he’s got the length to be a difference maker on the defensive end.
East loses four rotation players but the Cougars are good enough to finish in the top half of the conference again. Hayes is a big reason for that.
Isaiah Walden – 2017 – Rochester John Marshall
This is another one where Walden doesn’t really fit into the typical “breakout” model but again, he’s a guy that could potentially emerge as one of the best players five or six players in the conference. Walden’s been a complimentary player the last few years to the Hurt brothers but with Michael Hurt now rocking the maroon and gold, a good chunk of the facilitating and playmaking responsibilities could fall on Walden.
He was a second-team all-conference pick a year ago, averaging 11.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists and he should increase all of those numbers for a Rockets team that could be one of the best in the state again.
Walden is one of many long and athletic players for JM and since the Rockets are so often able to simply out-athletic their opponent, Walden likely won’t be asked to run a half-court offense all that often but he’s got the size and athleticism to eat teams up in the dribble-drive game. He’s a good-enough outside shooter as well, connecting on nearly 35 percent of his 3-pointers a year ago.
Right now Walden is drawing some DII interest and DIII interest. If he puts together a good year for the Rockets, it wouldn’t be surprising if he had a lengthy list of offers from schools in the NSIC.
With Matthew Hurt still around, Walden won’t necessarily be the team’s go-to guy, but he should excel in the “Robin” role for a team that will be ranked highly in Class 4A.
Dalton Kubista — 2018 — Owatonna
Kubista dealt with some consistency issues early on and didn’t play a ton as a sophomore for the Huskies but he’s got the tools to lead them in scoring this upcoming season. Kubista has great length for a swingman, explosiveness to get to and finish at the rim and a soft touch. His outside shot is a work in progress but his ability to get into the paint can cause major stress to a defense.
Kubista had a big summer playing for Wear Out the Net where he was one of the team’s top scorers.
The Huskies have a solid core of players returning after a season in which they finished right in the middle of the pack in the Big 9. If Kubista plays the way he showed he’s capable over the summer, the Huskies could very well contend for a top-four spot in the conference.