ROCK Spring Classic: 5 Takeaways
Mavs Orange Cinderella
One of the more intriguing developments from the weekend was the Mavs Orange squad making a Final Four run in the 16U Platinum Bracket. This is the Mavericks’ second unit, the first is the Purple; but for a variety of reasons, the Orange team was able to come up with a recipe for success. It starts with Oelwein guard Dom Robertson, the kid is a top-notch playmaker and a flat-out winner. He never was discouraged despite some deficits that needed to be overcome, and went 100 percent on every play. The team had some nice length and athleticism, particularly with Davenport Central pair of Diontrele Wommack and Keshawn Pegues. Mavs Orange plays hard and smart, and has the necessary skill to win a lot games this summer.
Hauser and Wieskamp Chemistry
Joe Wieskamp committed to Iowa a long time ago, and has since — especially in the last six months — been generating some serious excitement for his arrival. He was outstanding this past weekend in Madison, and one thing that really stood out was his vision and adept passing. Part of what made his distributing skills so great was that his teammate, and also-nationally-ranked forward Joey Hauser was on the receiving end of Wieskamp’s dimes. These two were not only the best two players on the Barnstormers 17U, but perhaps the best two in the the entire tournament. And when their chemistry is at a high level, like it was this weekend, the ‘Stormers will be very, very tough to beat. It begs the question: is that something that Hauser — and uncommitted prospect with an Iowa offer — might take into consideration when making his college decision? Hawkeyes fans sure hop so.
‘Stormers 17U Best Ever?
When AJ Green is your third best player, you have a SQUAD. Green — Iowa’s second best player — falls behind Joey Hauser and Joe Wieskamp in composite national rankings, but would be the best player on most other grassroots teams in the country. With those three, plus Omaha product and high-major prospect Ed Chang on the roster, there are four legitimate superstars on the Barnstormers 17U. Toss in guys like Elijah Hazekamp and Sam Ingoli and you can start talking about the best Barnstormers squad….maybe ever. There are for a fact four high-major D1 prospects on the team — that’s four guys (Green, Chang, Wieskamp, Hauser) with existing high-major commitments or offers. And it could be that three or four others on this team — a team that won their title game by a mercy rule on Sunday — may get some mid-major offers by summer’s end.
Iowa’s Snipers
From the very beginning of my ROCK Spring Classic experience I was witnessing 3s drop at an eye-opening rate. The Iowa Barnstormers 15U connected on 11 triples in the first half of the first game I saw on Saturday afternoon. If it wasn’t Bowen Born raining in a 25-footer, it was Cameron Soenksen hitting back-to-back deep balls. I thought that would be — by far — the best shooting I would see during the weekend: it wasn’t. Instead, it was just the first of many sharpshootong displays by Iowa teams. Iowa Prep 17U put on a shooting clinic, draining eight first half 3s during a rout of Wisconsin Academy Saturday night. Then on Sunday morning, bright and early at 8 AM, Iowa Intensity dropped 17 triples; 10 in the first half and seven more in the second. It was remarkable. Ethan Mitchell, a Grinnell product, knocked down five of those 17. Garrett Sturtz and Zaine Leedom hit three each. So it’s fitting that on my final game of the tournament, the Iowa Barnstormers 17U put on a shooting clinic of their own in a title game thrashing of Young & Reckless. AJ Green spearheaded that attack, connecting on four deep balls in the first five minutes. In all the ‘Stormers rained in 10 3s, eight of them in the first half. Moral of the story is: you’d better close out on these Iowa kids, they’re snipers.
Madison, WI
In addition to being the host city of one of the most well-run and professionally done tournaments I’ve covered, the city of Madison itself was about as impressive as I could have imagined. Almost identical in size — population-wise — to Des Moines, it has the same feel and charm as Iowa’s capital city, a small city/big town feel. Especially impressive — and eccentric — was downtown, near the University of Wisconsin’s campus, with a huge, white stately capitol building looming from all angles. It’s centered in and around the campus and the famous State Street. Imagine Iowa City on steroids. Whatever a college kid, or a curious tourist may want or need can be found on this strip. Knick-knacks, yes. Sushi or Italian food? Five Guys? — yep. Fashion? Badger gear? Souvenirs? Oh ya. It’s like if Des Moines and Iowa City (my two favorite Iowa cities) had a baby — can’t wait to get back.