KC Hardwood Classic: Friday Standouts
Prep Hoops will be a presence at the Hardwood Classic in Lawrence throughout the week. Who stood out on Friday? We run you through our list of 20+!
Emmanuel Akot, BBA Force. No, this is not the Arizona Wildcat big man listed as a five star recruit about to play in the Pac 12. It may say it is in the media guide/coach packet that we received somehow, but it’s not. This is Manny Akot from Sioux Falls, a 6-foot-7 low post player that tries very hard and works hard at his low post game. The moves? In our viewings Akot does the job getting position and makes some nice moves to finish. He scored four times in the post yesterday. Just needs the game to slow down some but I can see some local smaller schools wanting to grab him and work with him.
Blaise Beauchamp, Pulley 16s. It’s been a strong scoring week so far for the Hopkins scorer. Blaise has a shooting touch that is so soft and beautiful but yet also very successful after crafting a release in some way, you would think a master musician is at work. Finding creative ways to get there and putting something beautiful together that is great to see and hear. The swish? That’s his chorus and he sung that damn thing five times from the arc in the first win late in the game and then followed that up with another 20 on Friday.
Malcolm Clayton, Kingdom Hoops. What’s that sound from the bench? That’s Malcom directing, cheering, or chatting with his coach. Who is that guy giving up so much infectious energy in that win on Friday? That was Malcolm getting his guys in position and then encouraging them with excitement. And he was also the guy that the South Dakota kids could not stop from getting to the deep paint at any point during the game.
Camron Donatlan, Hoopers Club IL. If you want to discuss athletes I will gladly lead our conversation at the Hardwood Classic with Camron. He’s a well built 6-foot-2 guard that goes at the rim like he’s thinking of hurdling it. Watching him run up the floor, vault to the rim with the ball, sprint on cuts, and move laterally on defense this guy has to be a great track athlete and/or football player in addition to basketball prospect.
Zion Griffin, Hoopers BB Club IL. If there is a way to score a basketball, Zion Griffin used it to score a breakout 42 points against the nationally ranked Howard Pulley Panthers Friday. It didn’t matter if Pulley was contesting his looks at the arc or not, Griffin’s huge lift on his jumper gave him a look at the rim and he nailed seven threes. Around the rim? Griffin caught and burst into the space to get to the basket and either dunk or finish through contact (well built physically). You have to guard him with a bigger player and most don’t have the foot speed to move with him. Iowa State and Pitt head coaches were in attendance and it’s no surprise that he’s quickly on their list. Latest offer was Northern Illinois.
Carter Henry, SW Mn Stars 16s. Carter is that 6-foot-7 long striding guy in blue and orange who jumped passing lanes for explosive one hand finishes on Friday. He’s also that guy that hit the jumper at the foul line after collecting a long board and then hit a baseline jumper from 15 feet in the second half. Wide shoulders, well built, explosive agility, long arms and legs, explosive finishing and hitting from mid-range, and this is a guy who is raw. Yes he is a division one prospect and you should go watch him. If he was wearing a Pulley, Barnstormer, or MoKan jersey on the main floor you would be calling him so do the same for this Southwest Minnesota Star. He has refining to do but what he can do is also hard to find at his size.
Jadon Janke, BBA Force. I don’t know that Jadon will select college football but he is likely to have a lot of good options to play college football. And on that day in the future when his football team plays basketball for cardio or that day the hoops team needs a walk-on hooper, Jadon is the guy to go to. Janke has the basketball ability to play college hoops. We saw it when he was a 15u, the whole state has seen it at Madison, and playing against some of the best players in Iowa Janke knocked out a pair of threes, cut off the ball to catch and score on passes from Jaxon Janke, and the go to was his pull-up jumper. Smooth as butter.
Gabe Kalscheur, Howard Pulley. Richard Pitino, Kevin Stallings, Minnesota assistants, Pitt assistants, Ben Jacobson, and Colorado assistants have been the notables watching Gabe every game. He’s hit ten threes in two contests scoring 40 points in his first to Hardwood Classic contests.
Derek Krogman, Iowa Barnstormers 16s. What Derek did to beat Pulley wasn’t crafty, he just worked his way to spots and played tougher than the opponents. People couldn’t move him from his spot so Derek finished in the paint and sprinted back the other way ready to battle. Lunch pail effort from a 6-foot-7 guy who seems to bring his hard hat for a long day’s work.
Malik Lamin, Howard Pulley 16s. This young man’s name has been known for a long time. In fact I believe it appeared in the newspaper as one to watch two years ago (the newspaper in the cities talking high school hoops, what is this 1988?). We’ve always kept an eye on Malik and yesterday was a day we feel we some things that show he’s starting to turn the corner as a prospect. Malik is definitely filling out his super long frame and using it to get good post position. The 6-foot-9 center is looking more fluid with his catch into the first move and the touch is solid as long as he can stay on balance.
Ryan Larson, Howard Pulley. The Cretin-Derham Hall point guard has found a way to get on the floor and getting long stretches, but working harder than any player defensively. Ryan nailed a three and scored at the rim twice but he’s making his mark with hustle plays and sitting deeper in a stance than Spiderman to pressure the ball. Pulley coach told us yesterday that his latest offer is St. Cloud State. USF has been a constant watching him this week.
Scott Leonard, Kingdom Hoops. The wide spread opinion of those surrounding the courts on Friday was that Scott Leonard makes a high percentage of his shots and is one of the most dependable low post finishers in the state of Iowa. He was certainly that on Friday nicely placing shots off the glass over long arms and then running back the other way to keep a taller big away from the cup. Mr. Reliable.
Patrick McCaffery, Iowa Barnstormers 16s. I recall seeing him last summer and entering “skilled face-up forward” immediately in my brain but how tall would he grow? This winter I felt like he had grown an inch from July to early December when he was in the Twin Cities for a game. Seven months later it feels like he’s added several inches in length and has definitely sprouted vertically. Why is that a problem? At 6-foot-9 who is going to be able to contest one of his high percentage jumpers in the corner? There is no way a player can play help defensive and then get to McCaffery to contest his wing or corner three. And from our look yesterday, his attacking dribble is also looking sound so he’s going to beat a scrambling or positioned big defender consistently.
Carson Rentz, BBA Force. If there was a nationwide poll for “who are the most consistently productive shooters that Prep Hoops has seen as a network” Carson would be a name from this area. Once again the Dell Rapids guard hit three or more shots at the arc and went for double figures. He’s a dependable three point shooter that people have to gameplan for or they may as well just throw up nine points on the board before the game even starts.
David Roddy, Howard Pulley. I honestly am not sure if I would be more scared having Roddy run at me for a tackle when he’s on defense on the football field, or if I was trying to take a charge. He has to be the strongest wing in the 2019 class nationally. I can’t imagine what the stronger wing would look like. Roddy hit four threes and scored 18 against the Hoopers Club.
Noah Slagter, SW Minnesota Stars. I’m still working on what I feel the best fit for Noah is college wise but the promise is, wherever his best landing spot will be, Noah is going to hit shots for that school. He’s deadly with feet set and getting better with a dribble to get to space.
Ryan Slette, SW MN Stars 16s. Ryan fits perfectly right after mentioning Slagter because they are Willmar teammates and Slette is going to be one of the best secondary weapons in the outstate. Scored with feet set and had a pretty reverse.
Devonte’ Thedford, Kingdom Hoops 2. Our viewing of Kingdom and Thedford was against an opponent who simply had no players that could move their feet and contest a Thedford shot adequately. He was simply too quick for the opponents to step with and then set their feet to contest because at that point Thedford was draining pull-ups. And with a step at the moving defenders it was an automatic scoreboard addition. We are also told this has been the recent pattern with Thedford the last several games so he is starting to thrive.
Jarvis Thomas, Howard Pulley. He gave his team a 16 point, 10 rebound performance and then went ahead and put on a dunk contest show for the jam packed audience. Explosive? To say the least. But he’s also the guy that the Panthers go to when they want the top opposing score to work harder for his points.
Jeenathan Williams, The City Rocks (Albany). An explosive wing who has used his strong frame and lefty touch to finish plays both Thursday and Friday. See all those east coast high major coaches? Most have Williams on their “must watch list”. Williams will also have the issue of figuring out how to put the giant dunk contest trophy on the plane with him.
Tyl Woebler, SW Minnesota Stars. If you take anything from what I’ve wrote in this article take this, Tyl Woebler is the best athlete in Minnesota (from Pipestone) you don’t know of, and he’s the best 2018 prospect in Minnesota you don’t know of. I would say Tyl stands 6-foot-1 and this is a young man that put up 18 plus a game as a junior after scoring 15 a contest as a senior. He grabbed our attention with an open floor amazing finish and then followed that up with a LeBron chase down swat into the court separating curtain. Tyl plays the wing for his high school team and does a lot of his scoring on the move over the winter.