Iowa’s Player of the Year (Poll)
*poll closes Thursday at noon
2018 Joe Wieskamp (Muscatine) — 30.4 PPG (56.1 FG%, 41 3FG%), 2.0 BPG, 10.2 RPG
This future Iowa Hawkeye was great as a freshman and sophomore, but he really got the Hawks’ fan-base excited with the numbers he was able to put up this for the Muskies. He’ll have one more season of high school ball before he dons an Iowa uniform.
2017 Garrett Franken (Atlantic) — 23.8 PPG (51 FG%), 3.6 APG, 2.2 SPG, 1.9 BPG, 8.9 RPG
A 6-foot-7 guard/forward hybrid, Franken led his Trojans to the state tournament while filling up the stat-sheet each night out. He’ll be headed to NCAA tourney qualifier North Dakota next season.
2018 AJ Green (Cedar Falls) — 21.5 PPG (43 3FG%, 90 FT%), 4.2 RPG
The future Division I point guard was his usual sterling self this season, and nearly posted a 50-40-90 shooting campaign. That’s especially impressive considering defensive game-plans were designed to make like tough for him each night out.
2019 Tyreke Locure (Des Moines North) — 25.6 PPG, 7.3 APG, 3.0 SPG, 5.2 RPG
A preternatural 5-foot-10 point guard, Locure was 4A’s second leading scorer, second best assist-man, and was fifth in steals per game. This kid is just a sophomore, folks. He’ll play with nationally renowned MOKAN Elite this spring and summer.
2017 Austin Phyfe (Waverly-Shell Rock) — 19.0 PPG (67 FG%), 2.7 APG, 13.1 RPG
Next season he’ll be an impact player with Northern Iowa. This season he was torching opposing defenses from start to finish, culminating with a great week at the state tournament.
2017 Connor McCaffery (Iowa City West) — 19.6 PPG (52 FG%, 41 3FG%), 3.7 APG, 1.8 SPG, 4.8 RPG
Another future Iowa Hawkeye, the 6-foot-6 guard — and son of Iowa coach Fran McCaffery — was a beast during the Trojans’ 4A title run last week, and earned tournament captain honors because of it.
2019 Jake Hilmer (North Linn) — 21.8 PPG (56 FG%), 9.8 APG, 4.5 APG, 4.6 RPG
Those numbers are ridiculous, especially the assists and steals — Hilmer was Iowa’s leader (all classes included) in both categorys. And like many others on this list, he’ll be back next season (and the year after).
2017 Douglas Wilson (Hoover) — 17.9 PPG (58 FG%), 3.4 BPG, 14.0 RPG
The fact that this bouncy 6-foot-6 power forward posted these types of offensive numbers on one of the state’s lowest-scoring teams is baffling. This kid was the definition of dominant this season for the Huskies. He’ll head JuCo next season; we won’t be surprised if he’s at a mid-major D1 in two years.
2017 Joe Smoldt (Gladbrook-Reinbeck) — 29.8 PPG (52 FG%, 49 3FG%), 4.9 APG, 2.7 SPG, 4.7 RPG
He capped one of the truly great Iowa high school basketball careers with his best season yet. Smoldt was especially good when he took to the biggest stage at Wells Fargo Arena the past three March’s. He’ll play at D2 Upper Iowa next season.
2017 Collin Hill (South Hamilton) — 21.9 PPG (61 FG%, 42 3FG%), 3.7 APG, 1.8 SPG, 8.3 RPG
Like Smoldt, Hill capped off an all-time great career with his best season yet, and took his Hawks down to the state tourney (nearly pulling off a first-round upset) in the process. The 6-foot-5 guard/forward will play at D2 Truman State next season.