Coach’s Take: Pure Prep (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 Pure Prep program director BG Regins, who shed some light on his 17U squad, plus some additional talent that’s coming up through his system.
Pure Prep program director BG Regins talks…
Jake Schockemoehl, 6’2 G (Wahlert) — 2020
“Jacob brought a lot of confidence and another shooter. He competes very well, he’s a big-time competitor, especially when we played 17U. He played off Aquan (Smart) a lot and he got to his spots and hit some timely shots. He defended well. He’s a heady player, he knows how to create shots and he plays at his own pace. He’s a knock-down guy. He’s a combo-guard because he likes to score; and when you like to score and you can handle it pretty well, it just depends on what program recruits you, but I think he’ll be a combo-guard (in college) off the ball because I think he has a couple more inches in him.”
Xavier Foster, 6’11 F (Oskaloosa) — 2020
“No matter how angry we get with Xavier, he shrugs it off and he has a short-term memory. And he doesn’t care, because he knows his value and he understands his worth. He has a lot of hype and also he has a lot of criticism. And he takes that all very well; he’s mature in that regard. And so it’s fun, because no matter what we say to him, he has the same facial expression, he takes it and he understands that we want the best for him. He’s a leader in that aspect, he doesn’t lead by vocal example all the time, but the fact that your leader can take criticism, it makes the team better all the time. And the kid changes the game because he can step outside with his size and take the big-man out, and so he’s very, very valuable on the team, that goes without saying, there’s no words to describe.
I remember before I moved from Texas to Iowa, we were around Kevin Durant, and when he first came to Austin, his handles were like Xavier’s. He could dribble, but he didn’t have the handles, which is different. And so Xavier can dribble, he just doesn’t have the handle, but it keeps progressing with his work ethic. And so I think he’s moving in that direction.”
Aquan Smart, 6’3 PG (*Illinois) — 2020
“He makes us go because he likes to play fast, and he’s so dynamic at 6’3, he’s the ultimate playmaker. He a 6’3, athletic, pass-first point guard and that’s very rare because everybody wants to score. And at the end of the day he’ll still have 12 points, seven assists, eight rebounds, four steals. And that’s huge because he does a lot of things not just OK, but he does a lot of things very well. As far as getting people to spots,he’ll put guys in scoring position when you don’t even know you’re in scoring position. He can play downhill and he will relentlessly attack the basket, whether you’re 7-foot or not, he plays above the rim as a point guard. Miami-Ohio is very warm on him, Northern Arizona, Utah State, UMKC, but Miami-Ohio has been the most consistent and they’re very warm right now.”
Zach Huff, 6’2 G (Don Bosco) — 2020
“Zach is a very high IQ player, doesn’t do anything that he can’t do. He’s not the most athletic but he’s very crafty, so he understands how to play tough defenders, understands pace, makes timely shots. He’s an underrated shooter, which is something I like about Zach, is that he’s very underrated as a shooter. He has D2 interest and he has a ton of Division III interest.”