17U Post Season-Series: 2020, will it be the best ever?
The 2020 class of Minnesota talent has consistently been referred to as the deepest group of talent since 2009, so with that being the case, could Minnesota teams make their best impact nationally, ever
Setting the Table. The 2020 class of Minnesota talent is really deep. Sure the 2017 class likely has another name or two ahead of the 2020 group at the top, but when you consider the talent in 2020 1-25, 1-50, 1-100, etc, it’s likely the deepest group in Minnesota since 2009 (produced three NBA draft picks and six players ranked in the top 150 overall out of high school).
Because of that – and because of talented players in the 2021 and 2022 classes playing up – we think the 2019 year for 17 and Under teams in Minnesota could be special. Three teams could be ranked in the national top 25 at some point type of special. Consider the following:
- Grassroots Minnesota brings back four starters and seven players overall from their 17u rotation this year (a team that was above .500 in UAA play)
- D1 Minnesota was ranked number 1 in the country at 16u and finished the season 7th.
- Howard Pulley had a nine man rotation in July and four of those guys will be return to Grassroots basketball next year.
- Fury Zurn wins weekend championship after weekend championship plus spent a couple weeks ranked nationally two years ago at 15U
Will Grassroots Minnesota be better? Most assuredly. Will D1 Minnesota be one of the top teams in Adidas? One would think so. Will Howard Pulley improve on their 7–9 EYBL record with four guys back? Again, I believe they will. If all of those things happen all teams will rank in the upper third of their respected leagues and when you do that, you will find yourself in the national top 25 at least for a few weeks and most often more.
But Minnesota has more than that. The Fury routinely heads to Vegas and beats shoe teams. If they can continue to win events and then grab an upset, maybe they become the one or tow independent teams that finds itself in the top 25. And let’s not forget that the Comets, Team Get Shook, WOTN, and Select have 16u teams that had success and all of them played in the NY2LA League a year ago. A run in that league gets teams noticed more and more. Comets finished third in that group this spring/summer, and WOTN as well as Team Get Shook may have their most talented 17u line-ups ever coming into next season. And let’s not forget top five 16u Gain Elite was a 30+ plus win team playing in the Adidas Silver Gauntlet and also has a chance to win many games.
So, who will be the best in Minnesota next year? That’s for you to decide. We break it down into several categories for you as we await the debate that will last all 17u season long, “who is #1?”
Star Power. The highlight name for Grassroots Minnesota is of course Jalen Suggs. Jalen will be one of the most viewed players nationally throughout the country. D1 Minnesota’s star power will be the Dawson Garcia and Ben Carlson combo – a pair of players that will be ranked in the top 50 when the Prep Hoops top 250 is announced on Monday. Howard Pulley’s star power will come from the younger level as Kendall Brown is already a top 25 ranked 2021 and Trejuan Holloman is looking like he will be the same for 2022. For the Fury, Charlie Katona is their star and he’s a guy that reminds me of a smaller Tyler Wahl when he played 16u.
D-Wade/Pippen. For every LeBron and MJ, there is another star like a D-Wade and Scottie Pippen. Nobody should ever overlook being a Pippen/D-Wade on a top team. For Grassroots Minnesota they have 6-foot-7 uber skilled Dain Dainja who has an offer list that only the top 40 players in the nation can match. D1 Minnesota of course is more of a split between Garcia and Carlson while Howard Pulley of course has the young guys (Holloman and Brown) and I think both of them will step into massive role next season for Pulley, and play them well. Jalen/Dainja and Carlson/Garcia means both teams have a pair of nationally known pairs entering their biggest year. The combo of Katona and Brady Williams is really good and don’t forget the Noah King and Matt Willert pair for the Comets or the frontcourt duo of Steven Crowl (just offered by Northern Iowa) and Tate Machacek who are high school teammates as well (in addition to being WOTN teammates).
Don’t Forget! These deep teams have more talent with Grassroots Minnesota returning 2021 center Chet Holmgren who is also going to be one of the higher ranked 2021s in the nation. Howard Pulley returns a pair of guards and that includes Lu’Cye Patterson at guard, one of the most efficient and tougher players around. Then there is D1 Minnesota with Kerwin Walton, a guard that will likely enter his 17u year with about 7-8 high majors (he’s going to be a top 150 kid overall).
Chemistry. What makes these teams unique is that they will have formed a chemistry already coming into the year. The Fury Zurn crew has been winning titles together for the past two seasons. Howard Pulley’s starting guards of Patterson and Blaise Beauchamp played together all EYBL season while Holloman and Brown have spent two years playing together at all three levels (15u in 2017, 16u/17u in 2018) and they have two more years together! D1 Minnesota has been a nationally ranked squad at both 15u and 16u making only a few changes to a line-up that has now spent eight months on the road together. Add in that the three Eden Prairie players on the team – Austin Andrews, Drake Dobbs, Connor Christensen – have been together all year long for at least two years.
As quality as all of that is, none of them are even close to what Grassroots Sizzle will have going for them. Consider:
- The Sizzle 17u squad losses just two guys to graduation.
- Jalen Suggs has been playing 17u seemingly forever and he was joined this year by Chet, Dain, Terry Lockett, Kaden Johnson, Wyatt Schroeder, and Cobbs from Milwaukee who has an offer from Florida. Not to mention Prince Aligbe was hurt this year but will be with them next year.
- Suggs, Lockett, Johnson, Chet, and others spent their youth playing together so they’ve been playing in Grassroots Minnesota events together since Brian Sandifer had his first tournament for little guys.
- It’s not just that the Sizzle guys have been playing basketball in the spring and summer together, Suggs, Johnson, Lockett, Holmgren, and Aligbe play high school basketball together too. They also have been playing football together forever.
Chemistry will be an advantage for all of these teams but nobody anywhere (maybe nationwide) has the experience together that the Sizzle will.
The Verdict. Teams are going to add guys, of course. Each and every squad that we mentioned in this article is expecting to keep their top guys, and then go add another piece or two. I fully expect that next year at some point, when Prep Hoops produces the national rankings, that we will at least, even if it’s just one week, will see three Minnesota teams in the national top 25. And you can fully expect Minnesota teams to hold their own against teams from around the country regardless if it’s UAA play, EYBL, Adidas Gauntlet, NY2LA, SPTS, the Pitt Jam Fest, Jayhawk Invitational, and everything in between.
So that’s it Minnesota, today we both close the door on the Grassroots season but also look forward to next April. Now, time to start looking at the high school year. Practice number one is only three months away!