Top 250 Expo Minnesota: The Stars (2019 vs 2020)
The Top 250 Expo finished up Sunday afternoon with a small reincarnation of the Clash of the Classes, a match-up between the ten best players from each class going head to head. Who competed and how did they earn their way to the game? NHR breaks it down now.
The All Stars
2019
Carter Henry. Our first look at Carter in months was positive. Henry still has that explosive bounce, was collecting balls off the rim, and finishing like we’ve all seen him many times.
Miles Mendes. The best way to describe Miles seems to be power wing. Sure he will play a lot of four because of his strength and double-double tendencies but he made some threes and used a dribble to get to the foul line numerous times.
Jared Rainey. Rainey played with good lead guards, and with talented wings all day and did both equally as well. This is a player that can clearly be described as a talented combo guard, not to mention his team just always seems to win.
Khari Broadway. Another combo guard who played both roles really well. Broadway did a nice job of managing players he wasn’t familiar plus he hit mid-range jumpers over and over. We are looking forward to seeing Broadway healthy and having a big senior season. Loved how he came off ball screens all day Sunday.
Sam Nissen. Nissen played with a freedom that I haven’t seen in a while. It was as if that legendary game winner against Houston Hoops opened yet another door. Nissen always hits perimeter jumpers but the handle looks better too.
Austin Jentzen. Austin’s post move improvement has been on the fast track. You can clearly see that Austin has been putting in work to get better on a daily basis and Austin is always a strong rebounder.
Qentrell Douglas. We wanted to put a player in the All Star game that spent his day working hard and outplaying nearly everyone that is considered better than him, and Qentrell proved to be that player. The all out effort of Douglas will be stuck in the brain as he leads Brooklyn Center to what could be a better than expected season. Douglas looks like that type of player.
Tommy Chatman Jr. The top player in the All Star game finished explosively every game.
Dane Zimmer. Collected an offer from UMD this morning, had a fantastic day of screen and rolls Sunday.
Robert Jones. The MVP of the event committed to Denver over the weekend as well.
2020
Cooper Olson. The Champlin Park Rebels are going to be a top ten team this year. They have more talent than people think and can use a strong combination of players that includes Cooper Olson who can back-up Alex John as well as play the four with some guys like Kato Seley and Jared Walter who are strong, versatile players. Olson gives the team an active, agile frontcourt worker.
James Sommer. Most guards at the event – including many quality seniors – were not able to deal with the size of Sommer at guard. James was able to get guys on his hip and then force them to watch Sommer produce plays.
Parker Nielsen. This is a junior from Wisconsin that knows how to adapt. With so many quality smaller guards competing at the Expo Parker often played off the ball and did that as well as he often plays with the ball. A brilliant passing ability was the highlight Sunday plus he scored in transition in many ways.
Nasrudin Mohamed. Who is Nasrudin Mohamed? He’s a 6-foot-7, long armed jumping jack that is quick off his feet to block shots, rebound above the rim, and finish explosively. And yesterday he did these things at a constant rate. Sure Apollo lost a big to prep school in the 2020 class but Mohamed looks to have the potential to fill that hole.
Amir Whitlock. Man is Whitlock aggressive and confident. Sometimes he beats use with a quick first step and other teams he simply forces his way to a spot against a well positioned defender. Amir looked like he had a point to prove yesterday and he certainly made that point.
David Ijadimbola. You know how college basketball preview magazines rank position groups by team? Not many teams in Minnesota can match the group that Park Center has. David is the fourth guy we’ve mentioned from Park Center and they are all guards. Love the smooth way David plays.
Joseph Kearney. I love the bulldog in Joseph Kearney. He simply goes at people with a competitive fight that not many players have in them. Kearney is the type of player that I think can accept a challenge from a coach and conquer that request nine times out of ten.
Nathan Heise. Nathan has the look of a strong college prospect. Good size and good skill. What I thought he did well yesterday was move the ball and rebound, in addition to always hitting shots.
J’Vonne Hadley. We talked about the Hadley dunk but you should also know that J’Vonne was the top scorer of the day in his class throughout the exhibitions.
PJ Hayes. Looks strong, even more confident, and of course has a touch that ranks with the best.
The Game
The Clash of the Classes was one of the first big events that NHR and Prep Hoops ever had and we decided to put together a mini version in the Top 250 Expo All Star Game. The players were tired but they competed hard for their grade, until the outcome was obvious. The 2019 talents won the rebounding battle 33-15 and spent the game taking high percentage shots. Most of those shots went to Chatman (13 points) and Jones (12 points) plus Miles Mendes hit a three and attacked the rim for free throws that became half of his points. Jared Rainey and Khari Broadway both scored three times, both grabbed several boards (combined for 11), and Rainey dished out six assists.
In defeat Amir Whitlock score threes times and as did Nasrudin Mohamed and both hit shots at the arc for 2020.