Coach’s Take: Iowa Prep 17U Red (Part I)
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 Tim Schuring, owner/director of TNT 5 and Iowa Prep Basketball. Schuring coached one of Iowa’s most successful teams, Iowa Prep 17U Red. Featuring talented mainstays and newcomers alike, this was — top to bottom — one of the more intriguing teams in the state. With guys like Carter Duwa, Zach Martinek and Carter Cuvelier headlining, it’s no wonder they were one of Iowa’s best units.
Iowa Prep 17U Red coach Tim Schuring talks…
Nathan Martinek, 6’2 G (Crestwood)
“An extremely hard worker who has made huge strides this summer with his decision-making. He’s very capable from 3-point range and is an outstanding teammate who does the little things. He has strong interest in playing at the next level; right now he’s getting interest from some Division III programs and a few NAIAs.”
Carter Cuvelier, 6’4 SF (Aplington-Parkersburg)
“He’s strong and very skilled. He is a three-dimensional player; he has the ability to shoot from the perimeter, get to the rim and also play with his back to the basket. He comes from a winning program, which is always great, those kids are great to coach. He wants to play basketball at the next level, I know he has offers from some NAIA institutions. He has some interest from Division II as well.”
Carter Duwa, 5’10 PG (Pleasant Valley)
“Very high basketball IQ, outstanding shooter from 3, a scoring point guard who plays bigger than he is. His father is an assistant coach at Augustana in Rock Island, and as you can imagine, being a coach’s son, he has that strong IQ and good basketball aura about him. The main thing about him is he just plays bigger than he is. Another three-dimensional player who really distributes it well. He was one of those guys that was consistently productive all spring. He’s wide-open with recruitment, he has had Division II interest, NAIA interest and a lot of Division III interest, so he’s kind of all over the board right now. To my knowledge he does not have any scholarship offers yet, but he’s not locked in to going to Augustana from what he tells me.”
Matthew Jordebrek, 6’4 F (Xavier)
“Matthew is very athletic and has good strength. I think if he continues to grow with the use of his footwork and his ability to score around the basket, he’s going to be a really nice player. He’s a post, I would say he’s a five/four and not a stretch four, right now he’s more of a back-to-the-basket player.”
Zack Martinek, 6’4 G (West Fork)
“Zach is a very diverse player he can play multiple positions. He’s athletic, three-dimensional, he can get to the rim or he can shoot from the perimeter, and he has a nice mid-range game. He really came along this spring and summer on the defensive side of the ball. He has offers from NAIAs and has some interest from D2s. I think at the next level, he’ll be a wing, he could play point guard in a pinch somewhere, but I think he’s more of a wing. He played a little point guard for us, just to give him that feel of having the ball in his hands more, so he could grow there.”