19-20 First Look: Park Center
Park Center has a backcourt to replace but there’s talent ready to step in and fill spots, and then some. The Pirates will start the season as the preseason number one because they added to their talented frontcourt, replace college…
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Continue ReadingPark Center has a backcourt to replace but there’s talent ready to step in and fill spots, and then some.
The Pirates will start the season as the preseason number one because they added to their talented frontcourt, replace college basketball players in the backcourt with more college basketball players, and they can go deeper on their bench than anybody coming off of a 30-2 season.
Moving On: Tommy Chatman is now at Northern State after a senior year of playing duel guard roles for a 30 win club. He scored 13.5 a game as a senior. Also gone are Kkhari Broadway and Manny Tamba, two key pieces for Coach James Ware. Broadway likely would of set a “games started” and/or “games played” record had he not dealt with injuries his junior year.
Dain DainjaReturning Starters: The Pirates return their two leading scorers: Dain Dainja and DT Frierson. Dainja and his 15.2 points a game has committed to Baylor and is a top 50 level player in the country. His low post hands, quickness, and footwork is the best combination we’ve seen in Minnesota in 11 years. Frierson is an explosive athlete that scored 14 a contest last year defending the other team’s best guy, handling some, playing some on the wing, at the four, and everyplace else. An excellent returning duo of starters.
Reserves Playing a Bigger Role: Joshua Brown and David Ijadimbola. Tamba was out for sometime so one, if not both of these guys spent many nights starting. Now they are the senior backcourt each with the ability to nearly double the seven points a game each scored last year. Brown is one of Minnesota’s best shooters while Ijadimbola is one of the state’s top combo guards. They will make for an outstanding duo. Also returning is Josh Lewis, a vocal leader who was last year’s 8th man. Lewis will be an excellent player coming off the Pirates bench.
Potentials from the JV: The list is long and many. You heard the name Braden Carrington this off-season. The sophomore received a scholarship offer from Florida this off-season because the 6-foot-2/6-foot-3 wing has a nice shooting stroke. James Parker is a strong offensive lineman type that will see reserve time in the post and my sleeper for a huge impact of the bench is Jalen Cook. I really like this 6-foot-3 scorer entering his junior year. Don’t forget about hard working Dawson Rudolph and junior guard Jimmy Ware.
New to Town: The Pirates have two new players that are or will be known names to college coaches. One is John Grigsby, a 6-foot-9 stretch forward that transferred to Park Center from Colorado. Grigsby was the 13th ranked 2020 player in Colorado before moving to the Twin Cities. Grigsby joins Frierson, Ijadimbola, Dainja, and Brown as top 50 prospects in the senior class. Not new to town but new to high school is JJ Ware, a 6-foot-5 wing freshman that is one of the top two or three prospects in his class. Unfortunately Ware is currently injured.