2020 & 2021 Rankings: Who Are Idaho’s Top Young Guns?
The 2020 and 2021 rankings are freshly updated now, and within the two classes plenty of talent can be found. There are a lot of prospects to get excited about from all over the state as the future looks very promising for these two classes.
With players at this stage in their prep careers, a lot of the intrigue lies in projecting how a number of these top players will continue developing over the next few years. But, with many of them, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the sky is the limit and this group of players will leave the mark when all is said and done.
Below is a break down and a look at who moved where in terms of this latest update. As always, PHID will continue to track and follow the state’s top talent and stay up to date on players who deserve and earn a boost up the rankings as they continue to take shape. Stay tuned!
2020s get a Bolt
At the top of our 2020 rankings stands Austin Bolt, Borah’s rebound hungry big man that was one of the most consistent players all season in the state. In his team’s win over Post Falls to help secure third place overall at the state tournament, Bolt went for 28 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. A performance that saw him faced with the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Idaho in Jake Pfennigs, Bolt, as a sophomore more than held his own, something he did all season long for the Lions.
Bolt quickly moved up our 2020 list this past year and for good reason. He was dominant in every contest and made all the right plays necessary for his team to find success, which they did by going 24-3 overall and 14-2 in conference.
On the season, Bolt averaged 12.1 points and 12.8 rebounds per game and shot 56% from the field. He is surely on track for being a top player in not just his class, but the entire state. We are looking forward to seeing what this young man has in store for his junior season as his team returns plenty of it’s talented core and will be a force in 5A.
Another player in our 2020 list that made a huge mark is Rocky Mountain’s Briggs Ranstorm, who can’t go without being mentioned when it comes the 2020 class. Ranstorm was an Honorable Mention in the All 5A SIC team awards and with his size and skill set will be very dangerous moving forward in terms for opposing teams. Really high ceiling here with Ranstorm, similar to Bolt.
Impactful guards
Fixed within our top 10 players in the 2020 class are a handful of guards that made huge impacts for their teams. Beginning first with a player that hit our radar and didn’t look back in Burley’s Jace Whiting. Whiting was superb for his team this past season as he helped lead Burley to the state tournament and impressed while they were there. Whiting, son of head coach Trent Whiting has excellent hoops in his DNA and appears to show it out on the floor with his poise and leadership qualities. Whiting earned First Team Great Basin honors after the end of the season in which he averaged 13.1 points, 2.7 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.
Big things look to be ahead for Whiting, who will play his Spring and Summer ball with Exum Elite.
Another intriguing guard who moved up our list at the end of the season was Ambrose’s Paul Yenor. Yenor did a lot of the heavy lifting as a sophomore for Ambrose this past season and averaged 14.9 points, 8.3 rebounds 2.3 assists, 3.2 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. That sort of production ultimately landed him on the First Team 1A DI SIC team. We should continue to see this kind of production if not more from Yenor in his junior season.
Camas County’s Trey Smith lit up the scoreboard often this past season and his high scoring abilities landed him firmly within our top 10 of the 2020s. Smith, who plays club ball for Holiday Elite, earned Second Team North Side Conference honors as a result of his stellar play and despite being smaller in size, this kid can score the ball. A trend that should continue.
We really liked what we saw from Meridian’s Donovan Sanor and is another who rose later in the season as one could not deny the production Sanor brings to the table for his Meridian team. Again, like the others mentioned in this piece we are looking forward to seeing his game grow even more.
Two other guards that tabs should be kept on are Nampa’s Donavon Estrada and Rocky Mountain Cooper Frith. Both have excellent talent and abilities at the guard position and should continue to develop as well.
Some size in 2021 class
Columbia’s Jaylen Alexander, Lakeside’s Day Day Higgins and Meridian’s Brody Rowbury all possess the size and skills to make an impact for their teams moving forward and could be nice young talents to keep track of as they progress through their prep careers next season as sophomores.