Updated 2020 Rankings: Story lines
Sure-thing No. 1 More so than any other class we’ve ranked since 2015, there is no question whatsoever who the top-ranked player in Iowa’s 2020 class is. Oskaloosa’s 6’10 forward Xavier Foster is the guy in this class, and the…
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Continue ReadingSure-thing No. 1
More so than any other class we’ve ranked since 2015, there is no question whatsoever who the top-ranked player in Iowa’s 2020 class is. Oskaloosa’s 6’10 forward Xavier Foster is the guy in this class, and the proof is in the offers list. The versatile and extremely lengthy big-man currently holds offers from (takes a deep breath) Iowa, Iowa State, Creighton, Illinois, Texas A&M, Missouri, Baylor, USC, UCLA, St Louis, Rutgers, Kansas. That’s impressive. Those are the types of offers that we haven’t seen any player get in the last five years (AJ Green was close, Joe Wieskamp might have had he not committed to Iowa so early). To put that into perspective, the rest of the top five in 2020 has a combined six D1 offers, all of those either low or mid-major. Foster started as the class’s top-ranked player, he’s still most certainly its top-ranked player, and he’ll likely finish his high school career at the top-ranked player in 2020.
Lone Commit
It’s still a bit early for guys in the Class of 2020 to be committing, but usually at this juncture of guys’ careers there’s a couple players who have made early college decisions. In this class, there’s just one guy, North Scott’s Ty Anderson, who has decided to cease his recruitment early. Northern Iowa offered the rangy wing at the end of the summer, and he wasted very little time making his decision to attend the Cedar Falls university.
“It was just me and family and coaches talked and we all agreed that it was going to be the best fit for me,” said Anderson last month. “There was no other place that would have that type of fit.”
Dynamic Duos
There’s plenty of junior duos to be excited about around the state, most notably the Ankeny Hawks back-court tandem of Braxton Bayless and Jaxon Smith, two top-20 talents. Here’s a list of some of the best duos in the class.
Ankeny — Braxton Bayless (7), Jaxon Smith (18)
Norwalk — Bowen Born (3), Tyler Johnson (57)
Iowa City West — Even Brauns (2), Nick Pepin (32)
North Scott — Ty Anderson (4), Sam Kilburg (26)
Valley — Will Berg (6), Jake Auer (47)
Cedar Rapids Kennedy — Jake Wetzel (11), Tyler Andrews (21)
Centennial — Micah Johnson (12), Cody McCullough (31)
Linn-Mar — John Steffen (23), Will Zahradnik (44)
Waterloo West — Isaiah Johnson (24), DaQuavian Walker (41)
Xavier — Jake Beckmann (37), Tre McCrary (48)
Cedar Rapids Jefferson — Ozzie Meiborg (30), Raejzuan Shockley (49)
Forward-heavy Up Top
Usually, there’s plenty of guard prowess among the elites in the prospect rankings. In the 2019 rankings, two of the top five are point guards, in the 2018 rankings, three of the top five were point guards. Five of the top 10 rankling guys in the Class of 2015 class were guards. This 2020 class, though, is forward-heavy. Six if the top seven guys are forwards, just one point guard, Norwalk’s Bowen Born is among the elites at the every top. Once you get past the top-7, the guards reign supreme once again. But at the top, with Xavier Foster, Even Brauns, Ty Anderson, Zack Lasek, Will Berg and AJ Coons, it’s the forwards that are ubiquitous in these rankings.
Top 25 Grassroots Breakdown
It’s the Barnstormers who have the most talented team in the state by a long shot (according to these particular rankings, of course), and the top of the rankings are littered with ‘Stormers talent. A whopping six of the top-10 ranked guys in Iowa Class of 2020 identify themselves as Barnstormers guys, and nine of the top-25. Pure Prep, though, boasts the top player in the state, Xavier Foster. Here’s how the rest of the top-25 shakes out: Martin Brothers 4, Pure Prep 3, Beyond Ball 2, All Iowa Attack 2, Mavericks 2, Showtime Hoopers 1, N/A 2.