The True Sleepers of Minnesota High School Basketball: Southwest Minnesota

Today Prep Hoops Minnesota continues the “True Sleepers Series” in the state of Minnesota.  Guys that are truly under the radar.  Next up is the players of the Southwest Minnesota.  Zach Durfee of Dawson-Boyd.  At 6-foot-3 Zach produced 17 points a game as a sophomore on a Canby team that played some younger players.  Durfee is an active rebounder who pulled in six a game and now as an upperclassmen is expected to score in many ways leading to a 20 point per game guy. Teaming with the returning D-B players Zach will help make this team a strong contender (three all league players return). Parker Jones of St. James Area.  Jones has to be one of the most productive players in the state that gets looked over.  His team won 10 games last year and Parker - a 6-foto-3 junior wing - scored 16.8 points per game with nine boards and six assists a night.  Jones did some of everything for his team as a junior.  Led his team in nearly every category as a junior.  AJ Kloos of USC. AJ is a 6-foot-3 wing who scored 14 points with six boards as a sophomore starter.  AJ is versatile who can play with his back to the basket or move to the wing and hits threes plus use a couple dibbles.  Kloos is at his best in attacking the basket and he is an outstanding defender.  Ryan Kuechle of Mankato East.  The 6-foot-1 wing is a player that East will depend on often to defend some of the best players in the Big Nine.  Ryan will not need to score in numbers for this team as much as he will be needed to defend, score in space, and do all the worker things.  Ryan is football recruit and this is his senior season so he just wants to help East get back to state.  Reece Melby of New Ulm.  Reece scored 15 a game last season and will step into a bigger role this winter.  Melby is 6-foot-4 and one of the better shooters in the southwest part of the state. A very hard worker who doubles as an outstanding leader for his team.  Lewis Pendleton of Cedar Mountain.  The 6-foot-5 guard combines length and skill to be one of the top playmakers around.  His length and timing allows him to block a lot of shots plus put up big numbers (16 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals a game last season).  Pendleton had 29 points in a loss to Mayer Lutheran on Monday.  Caelan Sanders of Blue Earth Area. The Bucs are 2-0 and combo guard Caelan Sanders, a junior, is a key piece as to why.  Sanders scored his 11 points a game last year making jumpers in several different ways.  Use him off screens, kick it out, knock down threes, Sanders finds ways to drain and he helped the team beat Maple River.  Dustin Schultz of Fairmont.  The Cardinals were a senior dominated team that won 19 games a year ago and Dustin Schultz was the do everything player off the bench that the team could depend on.  At 6-foot-3 Schultz is now a senior and he should have no issue tripling his scoring from last season and recording several double-doubles.  Excellent defender too.  Kobe Weimert of JWP.  Kobe is a 5-foot-11 guard who was a team leader as a sophomore a year ago on 17 win team but with the graduation of two all conference players Weimert will be expected to do even more.  Kobe averaged 13 points, four boards, four assists, and 3.4 steals a contest as a sophomore.  One of the better juniors in southwestern Minnesota.