Coach’s Take: Iowa Cornsharks Select 17U (Part II)
It’s August, that means live action on the hardwood slows down, but our coverage of Iowa high schools hoops remains active. The grassroots season recently wrapped up, and we’re going to spend the month re-capping what went down by talking to some of the most successful team’s coaches, and getting their take on players that suited up for them all spring and summer.
We continue our “Coach’s Take” series with John Kubrack, head coach of the well-oiled Cornsharks 17U unit. There was a little bit of everything on this squad, and plenty of college prospects. Below, Kubrak gives his detailed analysis of his 17U unit.
Iowa Cornsharks Select 17U coach John Kubrack talks…
Justin Aspengren, 6’6 G/F (Boone)
“He’s a point-forward, and he can play positions one through five. We had him playing at the point guard at times when had some injury problems early in the summer. We had him playing at the five sport when we wanted to go small. But he can really do everything on the floor. His ball-handling is tremendous for a 6’6 guy, and then his ability to see the floor was huge for us. Guarding every single position is something that Justin could do tremendously. He has really, really good quickness for a 6’6 kid, and he has really good strength to help really fight off those bigger centers and forwards. Offensively, he can do everything; he’s deceptively quick at getting to the bucket, and then if he’s driving at you, he can find the open man as well. So he’s someone that can do everything on the basketball court, and I’d say he’s the glue-man that held held us together throughout the season.
Mike Barker, 6’2 G (Quakerdale Prep)
“He’s extremity electric, he can get up extremely high. He’s about a 6’2 guard with about a 6’8 wing-span, which allows him to get up over people and allows him to get up and block shots when nobody in their right mind should be blocking the shot. He’s electric. The key about him is that he’s only been playing competitive basketball for about two years, and he’s gone from being an average player at Woodward Academy to coming in and really knowing his role and really growing in all aspects of basketball. He’s always had the athleticism, but he’s learning how to play the game, he’s growing that basketball IQ, and that athleticism, you can’t teach. He’s learning everything about the game and he’s going to be a phenomenal player. He’s hoping to be one of the best guy to come out of the Cornsharks in a very long time.
Ben Obert, 6’3 G (Coon Rapids-Bayard)
“He’s another guy that really helps this Cornsharks program because he can guard and play multiple positions. He’s 6’3 but he can play the point guard role. His best position is on the wing, because of his athleticism and getting to the rim, he’s a good slasher. He can play the point guard, he can play the wing, and he really did well when we had him switch on to some bigger guys, so he has a lot of strength down in the post as well. His best ability is a flasher, whether that’s making a great cut, catching it and finishing though traffic, or just driving it to the rim. But his defense, like most of our guys, is what held this team together. And he’s a guy that is tireless on the defensive end. He will give you 100 percent effort all the time. And he’s a guy that’s continuing to get better every single day he’s in the gym. And he works really hard and he’s going to be a phenomenal player; so watch out for him. He’s got big-time interest from Grand View and he has interest from Midland, Briar Cliff, Wartburg, Simpson, Coe, Clark, Loras, he’s got a lot of interest out there. He’s only going to continue and get better and better and I’m excited for him, really excited for him. “
Henry Hoversten, 6’8 C (Webster City)
“He was a tremendous player. He didn’t have a huge role on the offensive end in terms of being the go-to scorer, but he was such a great teammate that he didn’t even care. He was setting great screens, he was going and getting offensive rebounds, he was helping everybody out, everywhere. Defensively is where he really made his money, he’s a 6’8 guy with a lot of size on him, and when he went up against guys that were like 6’10 or so, he held his own, just because of his lower body strength and his willingness to bang bodies down low. There’s one thing that really catches my eye, and I’m never really going to forget, that truly shows what kind of kid he is and hat kind of player he is, and that’s that he never quits on any play: It was when we were playing Keeside Elite and Xavier Foster was going up and trying to dunk on Henry and Henry had no fear at all, he didn’t care that he was maybe going to get dunked on. But he went up and he met Xavier at the rim and Xavier did not dunk it. He met him and had no fear and that’s really who Henry is; he puts his body on the line and he will do anything to get a win and help out his teammates.”
Qwame Davis, 6′ G (Des Moines Roosevelt)
“He’s a Woodward Academy kid who is going to Roosevelt next year. Qwame is another kid that will do anything to win; his heart and his work-ethic is second to none. He always wants to be in the gym. I think he texted me earlier today and told me he’d been in the gym every single day and he’s just working to get better and better every single day. So he’s a guy that has a tremendous work-ethic and that’s huge for him. He’s a little smaller, he’s about 6-foot, needs to get a little bit of size on him, but his quickness is really what does it. He can get by defenders and get to the rim, which in turn is going to get some guys to have some help defense on him and he will find the open guy; so he’s unselfish at times, but he will also finish among the big boys down low when he drives on his guy. He’s just got a tremendous heart and work-ethic.
Arturo Montes, 6’5 F (Grandview Christian)
“He came on for July and he was with Kingdom for two or three years, and he is everything you want on a basketball player. He has an extremely high IQ, an extremely high work ethic, can play two through five on the court and he just does everything to help the team win. He helped us stretch the floor, he helped us if we needed him down low on the offensive or the defensive end. And he is one of those guys that can hold a team together, he’ll do anything you want on the floor and he will not complain. He’s one guy that’s going to be a special ball-player in my opinion.
Felix Gallagher, 6’3 F (Des Moines Lincoln)
Felix Gallagher came to us in July. He’s another kid just like Mike Barker who is new to competitive basketball. He’s only been playing organized basketball for about two years now. He comes from Lincoln and I know his coach very well, and what Felix brings to the table is energy. He’s a team leader and is always communicating, his defensive effort is probably the best in the state. He will never give up on a play, he will never give up in a game, he’s always going to give you all the effort he can. He’s going to communicate with his teammates and try and get everyone on the same level as him. What I love about him is he is a worker, he’s constantly in the gym trying to work on his game because he knows that he has to play catch up, because he’s only been playing about two years. I’ve seen him get better and better every single time he’s in the gym, and he’s only going to get better. And that’s exciting for him and very exciting for whoever gets the chance to coach him in college, because he is only going to get better.”