Coach’s Take: Kingdom Hoops Elite 15U (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.
Next we’ll take a closer look at one of Iowa’s more intriguing 15U squads, Kingdom Hoops Elite. Coached Tim Lubke and headlined by top 2021 in-state talent such as Payton Sandfort, Nathaniel Mueller, Reid Grant and Manny Austin, this team was never short of thrills, and always was fun to watch.
Kingdom Hoops Elite 15U coach Tim Lubke talks…
Reid Grant, 6’3 G (Johnston)
“Reid is a kid that kind of transformed as the year went on. He was a second-team kid last year, and worked his way to the top team during last summer. He’s always been one of those kids that when he’s in, the ball moves, he plays defense, rebounds. This year, he bought into being more. The hard thing for him, was I asked him to do more going to the rim; we had a ton of shooters, so I didn’t need another one, I needed someone that would attack and finish. And he bought in to that, and it showed. That kid could score on anyone, it didn’t matter if you’re 6’7 or 6-foot, he could get to the hoop on you. He’s actually our best post scorer, I posted him up a ton. He’s so patient, he loves shot-fakes, he’s a high, high basketball IQ kid. And then you add the fact that he can shoot the ball, and that made him a tough cover, just cause he could do everything. He just bought into his role, and he had a phenomenal spring and summer. He probably averaged 20 points per game for us to be honest, and every time we played a top team, he would go for 30. At the same time, I’d ask him to cover the other team’s best wing, to rebound the basketball, he just plays hard. He’s a gamer, he going to give you 100 percent of what he’s got, every game, all game long. He’s never going to ask for a sub, he’ll give you everything. He’s a special kid, he’s a really special kid.”
Diondre Taylor, 5’10 G (Des Moines North)
“Dre, he’s different. He can make plays that no one else can do. Against Martin Brothers, he’s really the one that won that game, he was a big scorer down the stretch. He can get into the lane whenever he wants. He’s just so quick and he’s shifty. He can turn his body in angles that doesn’t seem realistic, like ‘is that a video game?’ It was little different for him with us, being brought into a role that he’s not used to. At Des Moines North with the freshman team and even when he played up with the sophomore team, he was always looked at to score. But I wanted him to create. Just with how many shooters we had, and his ability to get into the paint. Diondre had a really good spring, the summer he was more up and down, but he’s a kid that can do things that other people can’t; he has a special talent, something I haven’t seen in Iowa a lot. He just has an ability to finish in such unique ways, and control his body. It’s one of those where when he really cleans up his footwork and stuff like that, he’ll be scary to play against. When he’s really locked in on defense, he can guard a lot of people. I think he’s a great kid and he has really, really high potential to be something special.”
Kieren Nichols, 6′ G (Knoxville)
“Kieran is our glue guy; he’ll defend, he’s actually a very, very good rebounding guard. He’s a four-sport kid, so we didn’t have him a lot of July, because Knoxville baseball is really good. He ran track in the spring. But he’s a kid that is not afraid to guard anybody, he can handle the basketball; if Nate was out, I’d throw him at the point. And he’s just a leader; he plays hard and rebounds. His floater and his pull-up jump-shot are crazy. His floater is his favorite move, I know when he does his floater, the whole team yells out ‘floater.’ He’s just one of those kids who is a great leader, he’s very, very coachable, plays hard all the time, and he’ll just do whatever you ask him to do. We would play better when he was there, just his presence on the court helped with the flow of the game and the movement of the ball.”
Brecken Manus, 6’2 G/F (Ankeny)
“He’s a dog. That kid is strong as can be, he rebounds very well for his position, and he’s willing to play out of his position and cover bigs. He’s kind of our guy, when he gets in the game, we throw him on the other team’s best player. Just to give like Reid, Manny or Payton a little bit of a break. Most team’s try and bully him, which is crazy. He’s tough. He had a game where he had four charges on one kid alone. He’s not afraid of contact, he loves contact. He can shoot the ball well and his finishing is getting a lot better. He’s one of those kids you need on your team, because he’s a tough guy that will take charges, get in a little scrum, he has his team’s back, he sets great screens. And honestly, the best way to describe him is he’s a dog, he’s just an absolute dog.”
Payton Sandfort, 6’6 SG (Waukee)
“Payton was asked to do things that I don’t think he’s ever been asked to do before. This team lost some guys, and in the past, I don’t think he’s ever had to create his own shot. And I don’t think he ever had to rebound at the level he rebounded at. He’s gotten a lot better at blocking shots, in our last tournament he was probably getting five per game. Obviously, everybody knows his ability to shoot the basketball, it’s special. He can shoot from anywhere on the court, and he got a lot better at scoring off the bounce. He got a lot better at cutting without the ball to the hoop. But he has an ability to shoot that’s just special, and he’s 6’6, so against a lot of teams that we played against, he became a match-up nightmare. He shows up in big games. And now, he’s getting better at creating his own shot off the bounce, moving without the basketball, and obviously defense and rebounding. If he continues to develop his defense and rebounding, the kid has unlimited potential for the level he could end up at in college.”