Grassroots Preview: Iowa Barnstormers 16U
As we continue our grassroots preview series, Iowa Barnstormers 16U head coach (and program co-director) Greg Stephen helps me breakdown his group and what we can expect from them as they take on the adidas Gauntlet Gold Division this spring and summer. Below, you’ll find their roster, schedule, Stephen’s thoughts and some of my thoughts on the group as well.
Note: Due to the length of the Barnstormers’ coaches responses, their previews have been broken into three separate articles, one for each age group.
16U
Head coach: Greg Stephen
Name | Height | School |
Amauri Pesek-Hickson | 6-2 | Omaha South (NE) |
Kenny Quinn | 5-9 | Des Moines Hoover |
Gage Malensek | 6-1 | Brookfield Central (WI) |
Trey Hutcheson | 6-6 | Linn-Mar |
Logan Wolf | 6-4 | Cedar Falls |
Noah Hart | 6-3 | Waukee |
Jake Hilmer | 5-10 | North Linn |
Tyrese Nickelson | 6-2 | Waterloo East |
Dylan Jones | 6-8 | Waukee |
Patrick McCaffery | 6-9 | Iowa City West |
Derek Krogmann | 6-7 | West Delaware |
Noah Carter | 6-6 | Dubuque Senior |
Stephen says: “We’re really excited about this group, and for good reason. We were ranked in the Top 10 in the country at the end of last season, after Final Four finishes at the adidas Gauntlet Finale and the adidas Summer Championship in Las Vegas. With our adidas sponsorship, we’ll be playing full-time on the adidas Gold Gauntlet this year, so the competition and exposure should be off the charts.
As well as we played last year, we think we’re an improved team. We’ve added a couple big additions to go with our core from last year. Returners Patrick McCaffery (Iowa City West), Noah Carter (Dubuque Senior), Derek Krogmann (West Delaware) and Jake Hilmer (North Linn) were all selected as INA All-Staters this season. Patrick, Derek and Jake all helped their teams to Final Four finishes at State this year, and put up big numbers doing it. Other returners include guys like Trey Hutcheson (Linn-Mar), Dylan Jones (Waukee), Kenny Quinn (Des Moines Hoover), Logan Wolf (Cedar Falls) and Noah Hart (Waukee), who were all starters or big contributors at the 4A level on their varsity teams.
We’ve added three guys to the team this year that we’re expecting great things from. Tyrese Nickelson from Waterloo East had a tremendous second half of the season after sitting out due to transfer rules. He averaged 25 points a game in maybe the toughest 4A conference in the state (MVC). We also added two out-of-state guys in Gage Malensek, a point guard from Brookfield, WI, who led his team to the Final Four of the largest class in Wisconsin’s State tournament. He was a first team All-State guy in Wisconsin’s largest class. And Amauri Pesek is an uber-athletic wing from Omaha that led Omaha South deep into their playoff system in Nebraska. Amauri’s explosiveness will add an entirely new dimension to this squad.
This group has a ton of length and depth, and we’ve surrounded them with ultra quick playmaking point guards. Gage and Jake are probably the most electric point guard combination I’ve ever had. The ball will move fast.
I’m really excited to see how we can do in our first year on the national shoe circuit.”
Tony’s take: First things first, this group is going to be one of the favorites of the guys over at Courtside Films. With high flyers like Patrick McCaffery, Dylan Jones and Amauri Pesek-Hickson out running the break alongside guards like Gage Malensek and Jake Hilmer, watch out. The dunks will be flying left and right.
I love how this team is put together. They’ve got so much versatility on both ends of the floor, a ridiculous amount of length and so much skill. I’m looking forward to seeing the two out-of-state guys, as I’ve only heard great things about them, and I’m a fan of each of the in-state players on this team.
This group has some shooting, will move the ball really well (and as Greg mentioned, really fast), and has a ton of players who can crash the glass on either end of the floor and then get out on the break. After having a great sophomore year at Linn-Mar, I think Trey Hutcheson has a chance to really thrive playing alongside these other players. His ability to score from anywhere, while having some extremely talented players around him to take some of the spotlight off, could set him up for a big summer.
Seven of our top 12 players in the 2019 class are on this roster, and all ten in-state players are within our top 36 in the class. This group is loaded with talent, and they should have loads of success on the adidas circuit. Look for a number of these kids to generate college interest of the course of the next four months.
Date | Teams | Event | Location |
March 31-April 2 | ALL | NY2LA Swish N Dish | Milwaukee, WI |
April 7-9 | ALL | The ROCK Spring Classic | Madison, WI |
April 21-23 | 16U and 17U | adidas Gauntlet #1 (Live) | Fort Worth, TX |
April 21-23 | 15U | Midwest Live! | Ankeny, IA |
April 28-30 | ALL | adidas Gauntlet #2 (Live) | Emerson, GA |
May 5-7 | ALL | Spiece Run N Slam | Fort Wayne, IN |
May 12-14 | 15U and 16U | Battle at the Lakes | Minneapolis, MN |
May 27-28 | ALL | Gauntlet Qualifier | Chicago, IL |
June 10-11 | 17U Only | Rumble in the Bronx | New York, NY |
July 12-16 | ALL | Gauntlet Finale (Live) | Spartanburg, SC |
July 19-23 | ALL | NY2LA Summer Jam (Live) | Milwaukee, WI |
July 26-30 | ALL | adidas Summer Championship (Live) | Las Vegas, NV |