Hardwood Classic: Sunday Standouts (Part II)
2018 Trey Hutcheson, 6’5 SG (Iowa Barnstormers 16U)
During the Barnstormers’ Final 4 win against Team Rush, it was Hutcheson who set the tone from the tip, scoring from both inside and outside while earning 10 early points. He finished the game with a team-high 18, and did some of his damage in front of Drake coach Niko Medved. For what it’s worth, I feel like Hutcheson would be a perfect fit the Bulldogs.
2020 Ty Anderson, 6’4 SF (Iowa Barnstormers 15U)
This was my first look at the rangy wing, and he was a pivotal piece to the Stormers’ title. He’s a slasher, but is able to hit the deep ball when granted the opportunity. And he uses his length well to disrupt defensively. He was one of the best players on the best 15U team in this loaded tournament, so that right there is saying a lot.
2019 Keshawn Christian, 6’3 G (Iowa Barnstormers 15U)
He was at his best when the ‘Stormers needed him most, and that’s a very desirable characteristic in a prospect. Christian battled all day, and was arguably the MVP of the title game against MOKAN Elite, when he scored 15 points and nabbed 9 rebounds. He’s grown a bit, and is starting to turn his raw talent into a more refined set of skills. The Iowa City High rising sophomore has a high ceiling.
2019 Patrick McCaffery, 6’8 SF (Iowa Barnstormers 16U)
McCaffery was written about yesterday, but he was so good today in the championship game, I had to write about him again. I went ahead and compared him to KD during that title game performance, and here’s why: he’s very tall for a wing, he shoots the 3-ball very well, he plays very smart, he snares rebounds with his long wing-span, he is a tremendous passer for his size. He’s the KD of Iowa high school hoops.
2019 Jake Hilmer, 5’10 PG (Iowa Barnstormers 16U)
Yesterday, Hilmer was at the tournament, but fresh off of a day at the state baseball tournament, where his North Linn Lynx lost in the first round. He may have been a little rusty. Today was a different story. Hilmer was lightning quick, and when he darted by his opponents was doing a tremendous job at finding the open man. He was shooting it better, and even finishing at the rim on occasion too. He’s going to post video game numbers this winter at North Linn.
2018 Willie Tunks, 6’1 SG (Kingdom Hoops X 17U)
This Southeast Polk rising senior hit a cold-blooded, deep, fade-away triple as time expired with his team down 51-49 in a consolation final. I mean, he absolutely buried it. It was a beautiful splash of the net. Just as the net was exploding, the buzzer was sounding. It was awesome — the best shot I saw this weekend.
2018 Malcolm Clayton 5’11 PG (Kingdom Hoops Elite II 17U)
I didn’t get to see a lot of Kingdom Hoops today, but I did pop over to a game during a short break between the semifinals and finals. This Kingdom Hoops Elite II squad had a very nice group of 2018s, and Clayton particularly stood out. He’s added a lot of weight since his freshman season at Fort Dodge, but is still quick as ever. And he’s really mastered the art of shooting of the bounce. With that quickness and his ability to knock down a mid-range, he’ll be very tough for opponents to manage next season.