Introducing Mr. Basketball Candidate #8: Grant DeMeulenaere
As far of our preseason content, we’re counting down the top dozen candidates for this year’s Mr. Basketball award, presented annually to the top senior in the state. The list continues with our No. 8 player, Grand View Christian point guard Grant DeMeulenaere, who helped lead the Thunder to the Class 1A title last year.
Name: Grant DeMeulenaere
Height: 5-11
Position: PG
School: Grand View Christian
2016-17 stats: 537 points (19.2/game), 67 rebounds (2.4), 190 assists (6.8), 89 steals (3.2), 57.4 FG%, 41.7 3P%, 70.4 FT%
Career stats: 769 points (16.0/game), 97 rebounds (2.0), 292 assists (6.1), 119 steals (2.5), 55.9 FG%, 45.5 3P%, 73.4 FT%
About DeMeulenaere: The talented senior point guard led Grand View Christian to a dominant 1A championship last season, posting 19 points and seven assists a game with really strong 57-42-70 shooting splits. He showed up on the big stage last season and was the catalyst of one of the better 1A teams the state has seen in the last decade. A silky smooth playmaker with a tremendous mid-range game, he’s equally adept scoring and facilitating. The Thunder have a real chance to repeat this winter, and DeMeulenaere will be the primary reason why.
Why he can win Mr. Basketball: Winning goes a long way towards taking home the Mr. Basketball crown, and DeMeulenaere was not only the most important piece of last year’s 1A title winner, but he has a real chance to lead the Thunder to back-to-back titles. A gifted scorer and distributor, he’s put up great efficiency numbers throughout his career and makes an impact on both ends of the floor.
Odds he wins Mr. Basketball: Given the two players that will be at the top of this countdown, the odds of DeMeulenaere winning are very, very slim. Still, he’s the top candidate among the small school newspaper’s voters, and we saw them band together to vote Joe Smoldt last year (a very deserving candidate, of course). If he’s able to lead Grand View Christian to another state title (remember, the voting for Mr. Basketball takes place the morning after they would play for the title), he could garner some consideration.