Coach’s Take: Iowa Barnstormers 16U (Part I)
Whether they were torching teams at the ROCK Spring Classic in Gage Malensek’s home-state of Wisconsin, or grinding out wins en route to an adidas Gauntlet Finale title in Spartnaburg, SC, the Iowa Barnstormers 16U were always impressive this spring and summer. So impressive, . We decided to catch up with program director and 16U head coach Greg Stephen to get his take on all his guys, and he leaves no stone unturned. Below you’ll read about Hoover’s defensive-stopper Kenny Quinn, one of Wisconsin’s best, Malensek, and Linn-Mar sharpshooter, Trey Hutcheson.
PS – If you’re interested in trying out for the Iowa Barnstormers, you can do that this Saturday, August 12th — here’s a link with more info
Kenny Quinn, 5’9 PG (Hoover)
“Kenny is a tremendous athlete, he’s a big-time kid; smart kid, speaks really well, unbelievable teammate. He’s one of those kids that he gives up a little bit by playing with this group. He could be a star for another group. He’s bought in to playing a defensive role for us. He’s the best on-ball defender I think that I’ve ever coached, and I’ve been doing this for awhile — he’s unbelievable there. When we have fall practice this year, we’re going to have him break down how to guard ball screens as a defender, he’s that good at it. That’s a testament to Courtney Henderson at Hoover, because they’re unbelievable defensively anyway. He’s probably our most improved from spring to summer, in terms of he is now capable of scoring the ball, making jump-shots and just becoming more of a threat offensively, which makes him even more of a threat as a passer, and as a driver and other things. And he’s going to carry that into his season at Hoover because they’re going to ask him to be a scorer there too.”
Gage Malensek (WI), 6′ PG (Brookfield Central)
Gage is a great kid. He played for the Wisconsin Playground Warriors last year and they switched from adidas to Under Armour, and he was interested in staying with the adidas Circuit. He really enjoyed it last year. He kind of showed up at tryouts unexpectedly for us, and we all knew who he was because he was probably the No. 1 point guard in that class from Wisconsin, and I think he’s ranked in the top five overall in Wisconsin. He led his team to a state semifinal appearance and averaged over 20 points. He was a first-team all-state kid at the highest level in Wisconsin. We weren’t sure exactly how we were going to fit him in, but he scores it well, he shoots it well, he’s a great leader. Her really fit in well with the culture of the team, all the kids really liked him right away, and he’s become tight-knit friends with a lot of these guys and that means a lot for the team. He did some really nice things for us and had a really nice run at the adidas Finale in Spartanburg (South Carolina), and was a big cause of why we won a championship out there. And the last three games in Las Vegas might have been three of his best games, so he saved his best for last.”
Trey Hutcheson, 6’5 SG (Linn-Mar)
Trey is a kid that it’s been a little while coming for him. He’s played with us since he was in fourth-grade, him and Partick McCaffery have been with this group longer than anybody. And he broke his leg in eight-grade and it really kind of set him back a little bit, and he pretty much sat the entire year out. It took him a little while to get some of that athleticism back and that kind of things. And he’s a little bit of a late-bloomer as far as hitting a growth spurt. But he’s become one of the best shooters in the state, and he’s worked really hard at that. He’s a special kid, he’s one of those kids that everyone kind of follows around as the leader of the group. He’s become a very good defender and an excellent rebounder for his size. If he continues to grow a couple inches, then the sky will be the limit for him.