Five Takeaways: Initial 2023 Rankings
Omaha Biliew Omaha Biliew 6'8" | SF Link Academy | 2023 #14 Nation FL is the next national level prospect Dowling Catholic’s 6-8 wing already holds an offer from Iowa, and is garnering interest from plenty of other high major…
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Continue ReadingOmaha Biliew Omaha Biliew 6'8" | SF Link Academy | 2023 #14 Nation FL is the next national level prospect
Dowling Catholic’s 6-8 wing already holds an offer from Iowa, and is garnering interest from plenty of other high major schools. Widely regarded as one of the top five or so prospects in the class nationally, he had an up-and-down freshman season, but showed some real promise on the defensive end of the floor, where he has the ability to be a lockdown perimeter defender. His offensive game is still a work in progress, but there are plenty of skills there for him to become an elite offensive player as well. Blessed with great size, fantastic length and outstanding athleticism, he’s a high upside player who will make any college program happy in three years.
There is a glut of talented wings in this class
It starts with Biliew, but the top four players in this class, and six of the top eight, are wing prospects. Payton Sandfort Payton Sandfort 6'7" | SF Waukee | 2021 State #138 Nation IA from Waukee, Elijah Vos Elijah Vos 6'4" | SF Hoover | 2023 State IA from Hoover and Drew Kingery Drew Kingery 6'4" | SF Indianola | 2023 State IA from Indianola all had productive seasons at the 4A level, while Cedar Falls’ Dallas Bear Dallas Bear 6'8" | SF Cedar Falls | 2023 State #276 Nation IA may have the highest upside of any of them. There is a lot of length in this class, particularly at the top of the rankings, and it will be interesting to see how each of these young, talented prospects develops over the next three years.
There are also a number of quality point guards
This class is heavy on wings and lead guards, as 11 of the 25 ranked players are listed as point guards. Blaise Porter Blaise Porter 6'1" | PG New London | 2023 State #298 Nation IA from New London leads the way. He’s coming off a really strong freshman season and is a high upside lead guard with a great feel for the game, great speed and a really nice pull-up jumper. Chase Henderson Chase Henderson 6'0" | PG Hoover | 2023 State IA from Hoover had a big year at the 4A level, as did Kenzie Reed Kenzie Reed 5'11" | PG Kennedy | 2023 State IA from Kennedy. Reed is more of a pure point guard who really plays well in the pick-and-roll. Brayson Laube Brayson Laube 6'2" | PG Marion | 2023 State IA and Tate Petersen Tate Petersen 6'1" | PG Monticello | 2023 State IA are both dynamic shooting threats who need to improve their all-around offensive skill set, but their shooting alone will make them valuable commodities.
Barnstormers, Kingdom Hoops have loaded rosters (if we ever get to play grassroots ball)
If we ever get to have some basketball played this summer, a 15U matchup between the Barnstormers and Kingdom Hoops would be a lot of fun. The Barnstormers, always strong, have seven of the top 16 prospects on this list, including four in the top 10. Kingdom counters with three of the top 11, including two of the top three with talented wings Pryce Sandfort Pryce Sandfort 6'7" | SF Waukee Northwest | 2023 State #123 Nation IA and Elijah Vos Elijah Vos 6'4" | SF Hoover | 2023 State IA . At this point we’ll take any summer ball being played.
Really strong top five
It’s obviously too early to project any of these players outside of maybe Biliew, who looks like a high-major prospect in every sense. But this top five is one of the strongest initial top fives we’ve had since PHIA started. There is a lot of talent at the top of this class, and it’ll be very exciting to see how each of these players develops, and to see if anyone outside that top five can make a leap up to join this talented group.