Grand View Team Camp: Team Capsules
It’s been an eventful month of June, with team camps providing plenty of summer hoops action to cover, last weekend in Des Moines at Grand View University added to that. The June camps give us a glimpse into what we can expect next winter across the Iowa high school hoops landscape. Below, we’ll highlight five of the teams we saw Saturday morning.
Ankeny
The Hawks will be small but could be very good next season. They were playing on Saturday without Nolan Otten, and 6’3 rising junior who could be their biggest guy next year, but the wealth of talent at guard was more than enough to carry them to an undefeated weekend at Grand View. Jaxon Smith and Braxton Bayless are two of Iowa’s very best guards, Dillon Carlson is a top-ranked 2019 guard. Expect the Hawks to be lightning quick on D, and to have plenty of blow-by ability on the offensive end.
Ballard
One of the more dynamic duos we saw on Saturday came from the Bombers, and with rising senior Chase Winterboer running the show and big-man Conner Drew, a rising-sophomore, dominating in the paint, Ballard stands to win a lot of games next season. There’s additional skilled guards and some big ones, too. The Bombers were neck and next with Roland-Story for most the first half on Saturday, but have explosive offensive capabilities, and ended up winning that game, against a formidable Norsemen squad, by 2o.
Chariton
The Chargers won nine games last season, and we’re predicting they’ll improve upon that win-total next winter. It’s Nathan Weaver, a versatile and tough 6’3 forward with a high motor who will lead the charge. He nearly averaged a double-double with points and rebounds last season, and looks like he’s been improving on his jumper since then. Weaver is in-line for a monster senior season. There’s also Nathan Blong, a well-built 6’1 guard who has the ability to light it up from deep, he averaged 8.6 points per game last season, and will be a centerpiece for the Chargers next year.
St. Edmond
One thing is for certain, the Gaels will connect on a lot of 3-balls next season. Jackson Kochendorfer and Andrew Gibb canned 108 3s between the two of them last season. It looks like there’s a chance they could improve on that this season. There’s not a lot of size to be found on the Gaels’ roster, but, especially at the 1A level, the two good-sized guards could be enough to carry this team to a good share of wins this coming season.
Pella Christian
Last season the Eagles were incredibly well-balanced, and next season they will be too. Amazingly, eight guys averaged between 3.5 and 10 points per game last season, the leading scorer was then-senior Alex Huisman, who averaged 9.7 points. In an overtime win over St. Edmond on Saturday afternoon, it was Dan Jungling who led the way with 17 points. The younger brother of Pella Christian legend Levi Jungling is a solid point guard option for the Eagles. Jayden Huisman is a 6’5 wing who can fill it up, and big-man Josh Van Gorp (6’9) provides plenty of size in the paint. We expect the Eagles to be a very good team this winter.