Prospect Spotlight: Markus Ilver (2021)

Across the country, even in our great state of Virginia, there’s always a number of foreign exchange students that come to play basketball and hopefully earn a college scholarship over here. Even though the season hasn’t officially started, I’ve already got the chance to see a very good one in Massanutten junior Markus Ilver who just moved over here from Estonia.

Ilver has all of the tools to be a high major prospect as a 6’8” wing who can shoot it and play above the rim. In their scrimmage against Oak Hill, Ilver finished with 15 points and three blocks, showing good versatility on both ends. Even with that, the Colonels lost to a stacked Oak Hill team, but Ilver believes they showed a lot of promise for their first game.

“I think I did pretty well for it being my first game in the States,” Ilver said. “I could have played better d, but I was getting open looks and hitting my shots early. I think our team could have been better, but we did a pretty good job rebounding the ball. Our transition defense was pretty bad so that’s something we’ll have to work on moving forward.”

Not many people talk about the transition many of these kids have to make, coming to a new country, going to a new school and adjusting to the way the game is played over here. While Ilver has all of the tools, he’s still making that adjustment.

“The pace is a lot faster and the intensity is a lot higher over here,” he said. “There’s a lot more one-on-one over here as well.”

Ilver has a style of play that many would say is built in the European mold. He’s a big guy with a solid skill set on the wing that includes the ability to knock down shots, and he’s able to play and guard multiple positions. One thing you’ll notice is that he doesn’t put it on the deck much, as most European styles emphasize not over-dribbling, but he knows it’s something he needs to work on.

“I don’t play much with the ball and don’t dribble much, but I can hit the open shots, play defense, rebound and I hustle a lot. I know I need to work on my handle in the pick-and-roll and defending on the perimeter if I want to play the three.”

While he’s still brand new in the states, there have been multiple colleges that have made the trip to Massanutten and came away very impressed. He lists schools like Maryland, Clemson and George Mason that have already reached out, among others, and it won’t be long until he blows up playing the national schedule that the Colonels do.

With two years to develop and adjust to the game over here, along with a summer where he can play AAU and get seen, I fully expect Ilver to be a high major prospect when it’s all said and done.