The Race for Mr. Basketball: The Top Ten
Today the Top Ten was announced for the 2019 Mr. Basketball list. The top group of the list went as expected, while the fight for the rest of the list was wide open. Who are the ten? Who are the…
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Continue ReadingToday the Top Ten was announced for the 2019 Mr. Basketball list. The top group of the list went as expected, while the fight for the rest of the list was wide open. Who are the ten? Who are the top snubs? Race for Mr. Basketball gives you the answers.
The Top Ten. Congrats to these top honored players. This is a year where names 6-20 all seemed to be a very tough choice but it’s tough to argue against anybody that made it. All ten of these players are having fine seasons. Congrats to all 10!
Jamison Battle of DeLaSalle. Battle is ranked in the top 400 nationally and is headed to George Washington
Isaac Fink of Springfield. A d1 offered kid headed to Augustana to play duel sports, Fink closing in on being a top 5 scorer all time
Matthew Hurt of JM. McDonald’s All-American, U18 Team USA standout, 5-star recruit, all time leading scorer in big school history.
Jaeden King of CDH. King is scoring 23.5 a game for the defending champs, signed on at Wester Illinois.
Antwan Kimmons of Tartan. Kimmons has led Tartan to a 2-loss season, is signed with Idaho State.
Jack Middleton of Edina. Regarded as a top 2-way player in Minnesota, headed to UMD.
Zeke Nnaji of Hopkins. Top 30-35 level recruit, committed to Arizona, Hopkins leading scorer,
David Roddy of Breck. Top 200 level player nationally, committed to Colorado State, averaging about 29 and 16.
Tyrell Terry of DeLaSalle. Stanford commit, two time state champion, top 100 player nationally.
Tyler Wahl of Lakeville North. A top 150 player nationally, signed with Wisconsin, took North to the final four last year.
Top Five “Snubs”. I really don’t like the word “snub” as it seems to imply that others really don’t belong. I’m not sure that that’s the case but I do feel the following players had a strong case to be in the top ten (even though taking somebody out would be tough).
1. Courtney Brown Jr. of East Ridge. Brown is one of the leaders in every category on a balanced team that is ranked number one in the state. A top defender, a top finisher, a very energetic high effort player, his threes go in with solid percentage but nobody on the team shoots in high volume because of balance.
2. Cole Nicholson of Chaska. Scoring almost 23 a game and headed to D1 Northern Colorado, Cole has led Chaska while often having to face a difficult schedule by playing in the paint as the Hawks are short on size. And he’s done it with class and constant effort.
3. Jacob Beeninga of Wayzata. Jacob has led his team to the state tournament twice and is working on a third attempt this year. He’s headed to Minnesota State Moorhead and is a player that guys love to compete with.
4. Maleeck Harden of Moorhead. Harden is one of the best stories of the season. He’s pushed Moorhead to a 3-loss season so far with a good part of the schedule played against metro teams (the Spuds have taken five trips to the metro for back to back games). Harden is scoring 22 a game and earning D1 offers as a 6-foot-6 explosive guard/wing.
5. Jake Kettner of Minnesota Valley Lutheran. Kettner has been fantastic. A top 20 level prospect in the state Kettner simply gets better and better with each game. He’s pushed MVL to a much better season than expected ranking about the best in Class A while averaging a big number double double.