Coach’s Take: Iowa Mavericks 17U Purple (Part II)
A mainstay in the upper echelons of Iowa grassroots ball, the Iowa Mavericks certainly have a good thing going right now. They recently became a Jordan Brand Program after inking a three year deal with the company, making it certain they’ll have some of the nicest threads in the state for years to come. The unis are nice, but the talent level within the program is the real story. In particular, the Mavs’ top 17U squad was one of Iowa’s best groups this offseason. We caught up with co-program director and 17U Purple coach Miguel Villagrana to discuss just what it was that made his team special.
Co-program director/17U Purple coach, Miguel Villagrana
Tyler Kelley, 6’5 SF (West Delaware)
“With Tyler, I don’t even know where to start. We knew he was good coming in. I coach at Solon, so I coached against him last year. He’s very impressive, just physically, and with his game. And when we got him with us and we started playing, I was most impressed with his all-around game. His defense, when he decided to lock-down a kid, he’s got those long arms, and he’s very athletic, and he’s willing to work hard on defense. Which, with a kid with as much offensive potential as he has, it’s kind of refreshing, to see him want to give that kind of effort on the defensive end. He was definitely one of our top three players this season, and he was definitely a guy we could rely on all the time. And a lot of times, I would challenge him to play at higher level. And the best thing I could say about him, was that he always willingly accepted that challenge, and that direction. He never, ever complained and was a great teammate. Honestly, I feel like people (college coaches) are missing out on something if they’re not after him already. He’s going to be a kid who’s better in two years than he is right now. And they’ll say, ‘man, we could have got that guy.’ People are missing out.”
Griff Clark, 5’10 PG (Cedar Rapids Prairie)
“He has everything you need in a point guard. Early this year, I had said that the one thing which impressed me most about him was how much his understanding of the game from the end of last summer to this spring when we started. He had taken that jump where he was no longer only just focused on scoring, or the score of the game. But what do we need? Has the other team scored two times in a row? Do we need to get a quality shot? Is is a good time for me to get a shot, or should I get one of my teammates a shot? Just his attention to what I would say, and then jump on board and reinforce that with the guys was great. He’s one of the better shooters and one of the better scorers in terms of driving and scoring, in the state. There’s other things that he’s added that really, really pushed him forward to the player he is now. I think he’s going to have an incredible, incredible senior year with Prairie. He shoots the ball really, really well. But is ability to make his teammates better is going to make them a nice team.”
Jerod Redenius, 6’7 C (Decorah)
“He ran into a couple things, he had a prom, and another obligation that he had to fulfill. And then in the July periods, he had some knee issues, and he couldn’t really perform at 100 percent. So his doctor just shut him down. I don’t think we really got to see the player that he is. He’s got really good size and is very athletic. He scored the ball better than I anticipated. He’s got a really nice shot out to about 16 feet. He did step out and hit a couple 3s for us. He works hard under the boards and rebounds it well. I think what’s best about him, is that he’s about 6’7, but he is very athletic. So he can defend guys smaller than him, or guys taller than him, because he’s very strong. I’m kind of looking forward to him getting healthy and seeing what he can do this winter. I think his injury kept him from getting some of the notoriety he could have, that was just bad luck.