Midwest Collision – The Stock Risers
What players at the Midwest Collision boosted their level of play? Prep Hoops runs you through the list today! Ariel Bland Ariel Bland 6'7" | PF AZ Compass Prep | 2020 MN of D1 Minnesota (6’7 PF of Golden State…
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Continue ReadingWhat players at the Midwest Collision boosted their level of play? Prep Hoops runs you through the list today!
Ariel Bland Ariel Bland 6'7" | PF AZ Compass Prep | 2020 MN of D1 Minnesota (6’7 PF of Golden State Prep; 2021). One of the most asked about players this spring has been Ariel Bland Ariel Bland 6'7" | PF AZ Compass Prep | 2020 MN . What class is he? Where is he going to school next year? What are his grades like? Is he good enough? Lets run through that quick. Ariel was a 2020 but is headed to Golden State Prep (CA) and is now a 2021. The grade part is likely more about the several different schools as a opposed to him in the classroom. Ariel has a good grade point average (sorry I don’t recall what it was but’s above a B average) and a qualifying ACT score in the 20s. Bland is a long, agile, aggressive forward with the quick bounce that most big men don’t have. It’s tough to be a consistent big number producer on this D1 team but Ariel always gets 4-5 buckets and 5-6 boards at least in the games I watch. The agility is there to guard multiple spots and the motor ranks with the best. In my opinion he is good enough to head to the top mid major levels right now (Mountain West, Missouri Valley, A10, etc).
Jake Braaten of Minnesota Rise (6’1 PG of Byron; 2021). I’m all in on Jake Braaten. The main thing I like about him is his mindset. This is one of the toughest, more confident guards you will see. His strength will be flexed at you, and then Jake will use his court IQ to break the pressure with ease. His job is to run the offense and he does that well, but once the offense is initiated Jake moves right into the scoring role. Had 19 points, six rebounds, five assists, and five steals against River City and then 18 points, eight boards, and six steals facing the Wisconsin Starz. If you are a local D3 school wanting a point guard I would make the call. If you are an NAIA school looking for a point guard I will make the call for you. If you are a D2 coach looking for toughness at PG I would check on him. Jake is that good.
Cade Haskins Cade Haskins 6'6" | SF Delasalle | 2021 State MN of D1 Minnesota (6’6 SF of DeLaSalle; 2021). This weekend Cade stepped up with David Joplin gone and he did it with the three point touch. Haskins made six threes against the first team I saw him play against, another four in the semi-final, and then against the Heat, Haskins went for 14 points highlighted by four threes. Players were coming at Cade with heavy closeouts knowing he had the hot hand but this weekend Cade was the D1 sharp-shooter with size that has earned him four D1 offers already.
Jalen Cook Jalen Cook 6'4" | SG Park Center | 2021 State MN of Park Center (6’4 Wing of Park Center; 2021). This year the Nickle Dickle 3-point contest will not be held. That’s a shame because I think Jalen Cook Jalen Cook 6'4" | SG Park Center | 2021 State MN could show up and put on a Buddy Hield performance. The last two weekends that we have seen Gain Elite, Jalen has been hitting shots in bulk. Had four threes made in the title game and 19 points against Team RWA. Gain Elite has had a lot of different leading 2-3 scorers for each of their games but Cook seems to be the most consistent game to game.
Kyle Hrncir Kyle Hrncir 6'4" | PF Farmington | 2022 State MN of WOTN (6’5 SF of Farmington, 2022). I know I know Kyle mashes the baseball and is a great baseball prospect. I respect that, but I also respect his ability on the hardwood in a big way. There are a lot of people that like Samuel Rensch Samuel Rensch 6'6" | SF Hutchinson | 2022 State MN at Hutchinson and they should. Kyle has a lot of similar qualities both in ball skill and agility for his size. This is a player that at one point this year put up 25 points on the D1 Minnesota 16u team and then followed that up with another solid performance against that team this weekend. He had a game winning assist against the Venom as he has proved to not be afraid of the big moment. From what I have seen you can use him as a four right now in high school and 16u because he is tough, you can put him at the two if needed because he is agile enough to defend the spot, and has the skills to be a natural three-man.
Ahjany Lee Ahjany Lee 6'9" | C Byron | 2022 State #145 Nation MN of D1 Minnesota Prospects (6’9 PF of Byron; 2022). There were three big takeaways from me this weekend when it comes to Ahjany: 1) I’ve come to learn that not only have Ahjany’s ball skills improved as rapidly as I have seen from a big in a short amount of time and not only does he have rare agility at his size, Ahjany is as competitive as they come on the floor and wants to win more than anything. There is fire to him that I wasn’t aware he had, which is likely why he grabs double digit rebounds like he’s trying to be Ben Wallace, 2) This weekend my viewing of Ahjany was in one of his tougher games as he was having a bit harder time finishing than usual. What I liked about it was that even though it was a tough game in a running time hot gym, he battled his way to a 13 point, 11 rebound double-double. That’s on his bad day this summer! 3) Ahjany has earned a scholarship from Iowa after another conversation with Head Coach Fran McCaffery and the Iowa staff.
Ryan Miles Ryan Miles 6'5" | SF Richfield | 2021 State MN of Minnesota Fury Syverson (6’5 SF of Richfield; 2021). Ryan Miles Ryan Miles 6'5" | SF Richfield | 2021 State MN is known as a shooter with size and he has earned that reputation. Miles was a top option for one of the best Class AAA teams in Minnesota this year. That said, this weekend I gained a new appreciation for Ryan as he stepped into the point guard role for his team against a very tough Minnesota Select squad that pressured him any chance they could. What grabbed my attention was that Ryan has much better handles than I was aware of and he handled that pressured far better than I expected.
Jaden Norby Jaden Norby 6'5" | SF Ashby | 2021 State MN of West Central United (6’5 PF of Ashby; 2021). Jaden was a top performer this weekend and was my next choice for “five best”. His low post defense against bigger players this weekend was fantastic. Like, get the tape and have him talk about it for a documentary fantastic. Even better, Jaden’s passing out of the high post against the zone was incredible. You don’t see guys slice the zone in that way for that long. Jaden is makings shots behind the arc a few times a game now and he’s inch for inch one of the best rebounders on the court. Watched him total a double-double of 12 points and ten boards (with five assists) against Illinois Outlook followed by 16 points, a dozen boards, and eight assists versus D1 Minnesota Prospects.
Joshua Ola-Joseph Joshua Ola-Joseph 6'6" | SF Osseo | 2022 State #166 Nation MN of D1 Minnesota (6’5 SF of Osseo; 2022). This weekend I took a real turn on when I feel Josh is going to meet the high potential he has. Josh is playing more aggressively than he has been using that length and quick two feet bounce to board, block, and finish. Used the dribble a bit more comfortably than I have seen in some past games and was more aggressive defensively than I’ve seen. He had a good showing against JH1 and then was the physical mismatch that WOTN could not slow down.
Griffin Rushin Griffin Rushin 6'7" | PF Brainerd | 2021 State MN of Minnesota Matrix (6’7 SF of Brainerd; 2021). This is a true wing in a long body that is very comfortable at the arc. He’s good taking bigger players off the dribble, is able to get his feet set and finish with range, and I love his hard cuts to catch and finish. Griffin put away one of the games we saw and while I’m not saying he is Justin Stommes as Justin was a point forward, some of that skilled scoring ability in a long wing body is there.
Zach Spann Zach Spann 6'5" | SF Eastview | 2021 State MN of Minnesota Select Ohnstad (6’6 Forward of Eastview; 2021). Zach is starting to show a hunger each game that should have a lot of local D2 schools starting to get excited. He turned every d-board into an aggressive push the other way this weekend and when Zach caught on the wing he went at the basket aggressively. Was in double figures both games we saw him play and while Spann is known for that explosive finish, he’s starting to create his own offense more and more. If Spann gets comfortable creating his own offense the world needs to duck. Spann has a D1 body with high major explosive lift, there is no question about that. People are waiting for the consistency and production to take steps forward and this weekend we saw a good step taken which is why D2 schools should check the videos.
Joshua Strong Joshua Strong 6'0" | PG Champlin Park | 2021 State MN of Minnesota Heat Tauer (6’0 PG of Champlin Park; 2021). It was another very steady weekend for Josh Strong manning the point position for the Heat. Josh knocked a couple threes, attacked his way to the foul line to score, was once again a 3rd or 4th scoring option that could be depended on at all times and most importantly the pace of the Heat offense was excellent. And when the pace of the Heat offense is good, Will Tschetter Will Tschetter 6'8" | PF Stewartville | 2021 State #96 Nation MN is getting good touches and the Heat is winning games. That is the responsibility Josh has and he handled it very well.