Senior All-Stars: Who Is In The Mix?
The season still has quite a bit of time left but we are on the back-half of the schedule. We thought this was a good time to take a step back and see who has put themselves into the conversation…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe season still has quite a bit of time left but we are on the back-half of the schedule. We thought this was a good time to take a step back and see who has put themselves into the conversation for the Senior and Junior All-Star teams. Obviously, there are quite a few players with a good chunk of their schedules to change their standing but we give you our list of players in contention as well as some background. Here is a look at the seniors in the mix.
Background: With the senior group of all-stars, only 15 players make the cut. With guys like Paul Scruggs and Jaren Jackson transferring out, it does open up some options for some other players but in the class of 2017, all that does is show just how talented and deep this class is. As juniors, there were 18 players that made the cut so there are going to be guys who made it last year that won’t make it this year.
Locks (No Order): Jaylen Butz (FW North), Jermaine Cousinard (East Chicago), Zach Gunn (HSE), Cooper Neese (Cloverdale), Jack Nunge (Castle), Sasha Stefanovic (Crown Point), Kris Wilkes (North Central), Malik Williams (FW Snider), Michael Ertel (Mt. Vernon)
These 9 guys have done nothing but solidify their standing in the class. Butz, who might have been last on this list last year, has really taken off and proven he’s going to be able to find a spot for himself at DePaul. Nunge has improved, so has Gunn and Williams. A few other players are close to being locks but still have a little left to prove. Great core group with everything.
Best of the Rest (No Order): Jalen Adaway (Logansport), Sterling Brown (Carmel), Haden Deaton (McCutcheon), Jack Ferguson (Homestead), Matt Jennings (Logansport), Emmanuel Little (North Central), Kyle Mangas (Warsaw), Courvosier McCauley (Manual), Jaylen Minnett (TH South), Mateo Rivera (North Central), Nike Sibande (Attucks), Grant Smith (Connersville), Mack Smith (Warren Central), Tyler Smith (Northeastern), Kobe Webster (Park Tudor)
Out of the rest of the group, only 4 more players will make it out of the 15 we have listed. Obviously, the lack of guards on the top 8 means that at least a couple will make the team just for balance. Michael Ertel is the only true point guard so guys like Sterling Brown, Jaylen Minnett, and Matt Jennings will be heavily in the mix to make the team. Non have really pulled away from the others to this point.
A few guys have played their way into the conversation this season like Jack Ferguson who is putting up monster numbers for Homestead and their playoff run could do him a lot of favors. Also, Emmanuel Little might be the next best lock to make the team. He’s outplayed Kris Wilkes, the top player in the state and his teammate, quite a few times this year and has been unstoppable at times. Mack Smith is another that was just an average player last year and has transformed himself into a legit option.
Kyle Mangas, Tyler Smith, Jalen Adaway, and Jaylen Minnett were all on Junior All-Stars last season. All will have a great shot to make the team again and all play more guard and wing spots which will be easier to make the team rather than post which this team is most likely to be loaded with.
The make up of the “locks” means you already have three low 4 guys for the 4/5 spots and 4 guys on the wings. Guards will likely take 2-3 spots and then best available to finish filling out the roster.