Top 250 Expo Minnesota: Five Stock Risers of 2020
The Prep Hoops Top 250 Expo was held in Minnesota last weekend and helped college coaches, our staff, and the local hoops community realize that some of these players are even better than we thought.
Will Cordes of Shakopee. Some guys that run an offense do it in a way they are asked to, and they do it fine. Then there are kids that are well coached that also have a feel for a game and a competitive knack for making those around him better and Will seems to be that kind of guy. Between Shakopee, the Minnesota Matrix, and this weekend we love what Cordes does with the ball.
Michael Gravell of St. Cloud Apollo. Gravell reminds me of a champion boxer on the court because he is tough and he strikes heavily when he senses a weakness. Gravell even has the look of a tough boxer as he doesn’t mess around on the court, just gets results. If Gravell takes the steps forward we expect him to we really think Apollo could have a special year. They have size and talent, and most of it is now in their upperclassmen years.
Tait Nelson of St. Anthony. Let’s not beat around the bush, Tait Nelson is not very big at 5-foot-9 but he will have schools coming after him to play college basketball. Why? Because most schools like their players to be competitive, productive, consistent, and tough. Nelson is every one of those things. When Tait was going against another known guard he has this look in his eye that it was personal and he wanted to simply outplay that person, and Nelson often did.
Daniel Savageau of Alexandria. In the past years when Daniel put up numbers people looked at the size of the school, the win numbers, and then passed it off. This year Daniel took Osakis to the 22 win plateau and followed that up by knocking down about 60 percent of the perimeter jumpers he took when we watched on Sunday. We keep seeing him listed at Alexandria now so the Cardinals just got a lot better.
Luke Schwartzhoff of La Crescent. Size. Everyone needs it. Size from a good team that led their team in scoring at 14 a game as an underclassmen? Even better. Schwartzhoff matched the 6-foot-7 size he was listed at plus is a lefty with a touch so he’s also unique. The left handed touch and the ability to score in an area players aren’t used to defending make Luke a regular bucket last weekend.
There are others that we have previously discussed that also fit on this list and they are below:
Riley Hulke of Nicolet.
Grant Jensen of Minnewaska Area.
Zach Todd of La Crescent.
Nathan Willet of East Grand Forks
Jonathan Zinniel of New Ulm Cathedral.