Prospect Spotlight: Iziah Paulsen (2019)
After moving here from Illinois ahead of his junior season, Iziah Paulsen has spent his last season-and-a-half working to infiltrate himself into the Iowa high school hoops scene.
He was terrific last summer while playing with Iowa Dynasty 17U, proving to be one of Iowa’s most dynamic guards. And after playing with Iowa Liberty last season, he’s now getting set to play with Des Moines Roosevelt for the latter part of his senior campaign.
The athletic 5-foot-10 guard is a guy who can score in buches, both at the rim and with his jumper. His blow-by ability makes him a threat to either score of kick out to an open teammate.
“I would say my strengths are shooting and controlling the floor, getting others players open, and my defense,” said Paulsen.
“I would say I need to get better with my conditioning and my IQ.”
After averaging 9.9 points and a team-best 2.6 assists per game last season for Liberty in its inaugural season, Paulsen is now set to take the floor for the Roughriders.
“I’ll be starting with (Roosevelt) Friday against Hoover. Roosevelt has a bad record right now, but we’re looking to be good the rest of the season,” said Paulsen.
Although his Iowa high school hoops career has been spotty, Paulsen has proven that when he’s able to play, he’s one of the more effective playmakers in the state. Area JuCos have already taken notice.
“I would say just keeping my grades up and hopefully going to a JuCo are goals for me,” said Paulsen, who mentioned DMACC has been reaching out.
“I feel like moving around so much has put me down some, so I’m just trying to get my recruiting up now. So we’ll see how that goes.”