Summer Recap: Stock Risers

The end of the grassroots season has come, and I think we could all say it was a weird summer to be a player or coach. Teams, coaches, and players did a great job of doing what they could to play basketball, but also do it in the safest way possible as well. This summer will be a summer to remember for all involved, but these select players from the State of Iowa were impressive in their time. Here are my prospects who raised their stocks the most over the course of the last two or so months.   [player_tooltip player_id="796127" first="Landon" last="Wolf"], 2021 - 6’6 Wing - Iowa Barnstormers & Cedar Falls High School I’m not sure anyone on the grassroots trail can say their stock has risen as much as Wolf can. He came into the summer with low major offers, and is ending the summer on a tear of mid-major offers and interest. In his most recent tournament he was cited for 3 game winning shots made to help guide his team to a 4-0 record. Wolf has demonstrated phenomenal ability to hit jumpshots for his team. Very efficient shooter from the 3 point line off the catch, but can create pull-up jumper opportunities off the dribble, and coming off screens. He has good shooting footwork and always is ready to shoot for whenever the defense gives him an inch of space. This summer Wolf also showed us that he’s more than a shooter with a highlight dunk just about every weekend. Some DI program is going to be getting a really good player at the next level. Holds offers from Toledo, St. Thomas (DI transitioning), UW-Milwaukee, South Dakota, Western Illinois, Bryant, and several DII programs and the list has been growing since last tournament with two of these offers coming in the last week. [caption id="attachment_1032332" align="alignnone" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/08/phcircuit_sunday-52.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1032332" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/08/phcircuit_sunday-52-300x188.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="188" /></a> Photo: Alex Conover Prep Hoops[/caption] [player_tooltip player_id="682270" first="Cole" last="Glasgow"], 2022 - 6’2 CG - D1 Minnesota/All Iowa Attack & Dallas Center-Grimes High School I can’t say I’ve seen Glasgow live in person yet, but watching him on BallerTV over the course of these summer tournaments has been a joy. He has good vision at where to be to get an open shot or be available for his teammates to pass to. Glasgow can run the point for the offense or easily slide off the ball in order to score the ball or stimulate the offense with good movement. He’s an athletic player who can defend quicker guards and create off the dribble for himself or his teammates. In a few games I’ve watched recently of Cole his shot is really pure, and makes it look easy when shooting the ball. Coming into the summer Glasgow had zero DI offers and is leaving the summers with two. Notably South Dakota and South Dakota State. In my opinion, Glasgow’s stock is just starting, and there’s no telling where the ceiling may be for him if he continues to improve in all aspects of his game, not to mention he has another year to impress college coaches. [player_tooltip player_id="727862" first="Tucker" last="DeVries"], 2021 - 6’5 Wing - OSA Crusaders/Kingdom Hoops & Waukee High School Tucker is well known around the area as Drake Head Coach, Darian DeVries’ son. But this summer, if you didn’t know Tucker as an elite basketball talent, now you do. Tucker came into the summer having been in the top 30 in the state of Iowa in PPG, with 21.4 points per game for Waukee, and he showed he can score in a variety of ways. He’s listed at 6’5, but is capable of playing any position 1-4 on the court. He is an efficient defender at any of those positions, can post up smaller match-ups, shoots from distance at a 48% clip, and is able to take his defender off the dribble and use some craft to finish around the rim. He brings that "coaches kid" capabilities to the game as well that translates to high IQ, smart player, who knows where the ball needs to go and when. DeVries entered the grassroots season with offers from Drake, South Dakota State, Drake, Air Force, and Creighton, but by the end dons an offer from Florida, with many others interested in the wing. [player_tooltip player_id="727863" first="Payton" last="Sandfort"], 2021 - 6’8 Wing - Kingdom Hoops & Waukee High School Having seen Payton a few times this summer you can see his game has grown even since the first tournament of the season. Anyone who tracks Iowa high school basketball knows Sandfort is an elite catch and shoot shooter, but what he has grown and developed is a solid post game where he can take his defender, or mismatches into the post and hit them with a nice over the right shoulder move, step back face up move, or get to the rim and finish with both hands. He has expanded his game to be able to shoot pull-up jumpers more efficiently, and most of all has improved his athleticism on the court. He has thrown down several dunks this summer, and is a factor around the rim on defense by rejecting shots. His length is a problem on both ends as he is able to shoot it over most defenders, and as an on-ball defender he is able to overwhelm the offensive player by blocking vision. Before the grassroots season Sandfort had offers from Utah, Iowa, Drake, Minnesota, Loyola (Chicago), and Air Force, but within the last month he received an offer from Stanford and he has interest from others around the nation. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2018/10/Tanner-Te-Slaa-2022.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-591446" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2018/10/Tanner-Te-Slaa-2022-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="682290" first="Tanner" last="Te Slaa"], 2021 - 6’4 Guard - South Dakota Attack/South Dakota Venom & Boyden-Hull High School Te Slaa impressed a lot of people this summer going up against really tough competition pretty much every weekend. He’s 6’4, but can handle the ball and run the offense proficiently. His best attribute is his shot making abilities, as he’s very deadly from the 3 point line off the catch and off the dribble. He can used effectively in the pick-n-roll as he’s a good passer who can get to the hoop or make you pay for going under the screen. One tournament of Tanner’s that sticks out to me was the tournament in Ames, going up against D1 Minnesota, All Iowa Attack and a few other really good programs from the Midwest and defenders couldn’t stop Te Slaa from scoring. With his rise, Te Slaa adds another really good prospect in the loaded 2021 class in Iowa. Entering the summer he had DI offers from Augustana (D1 transitioning) and South Dakota State, but he’s leaving the summer season with additional offers from North Dakota and the University of Northern Iowa. Class of 2023 from the Iowa Barnstormers and Kingdom Hoops This section wasn’t easy to narrow down to 1 or 2 players, so I think giving a little shout to these two teams from this summer was only right. On Kingdom Hoops you have three prospects that stuck out to me this summer in [player_tooltip player_id="956868" first="Pryce" last="Sandfort"], [player_tooltip player_id="956869" first="Elijah" last="Vos"], and Mc[player_tooltip player_id="956877" first="Kenzie" last="Reed"]. This team was a can’t miss watch for me whenever I was watching a tournament they were attending. Vos and Sandfort provide scoring ability from all three levels, and Reed is a quick floor general who makes things happen with the ball in his hand. Though none of the three added offers, they for sure added interest to their profiles. For the Barnstormers there were several who’s stocks rose from this short summer season. Start off with the point guard, [player_tooltip player_id="956871" first="Blaise" last="Porter"], who could potentially be the best PG in the state by the end of this cycle, who is a smooth player. He showed me something I didn’t know he had this past weekend in Omaha with a drive down the lane ending with an emphatic dunk. He got an offer from Bryant in June, and I foresee that list growing over the next couple years. The next was [player_tooltip player_id="956870" first="Dallas" last="Bear"], who is a legit stretch power forward prospect. If he can add to his frame and fill it out to go along with his nice post hook shot, and his smooth shot from deep, he will be a force going forward for Cedar Falls. He added an offer from Augustana this summer, who is transitioning to DI. The other shouts on this team are [player_tooltip player_id="956878" first="Brayson" last="Laube"], the sharp shooter who competes at both ends. Kade Benjmain, also from New London like Porter, is a tough player who crashes the boards well, and has some nice bounce. The last one is [player_tooltip player_id="956874" first="Colby" last="Collison"], who, when he played he was a scrappy player who found his points around the rim off misses, and showed some nice touch around the rim. The 2023 class in the state of Iowa could be one of the best I’ve seen from top to bottom. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/08/Jevin-Sullivan-3.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1026958" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/08/Jevin-Sullivan-3-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="682289" first="Jevin" last="Sullivan"], 2022 - 6’3 Guard - Beyond Ball & North Polk High School I hadn’t watched Sullivan until recently. Over the course of the last two weekends, Sullivan was a catalyst for his team. There was a game I specifically remember watching, that his team ended up losing, but Jevin would get the ball and get to the rim and finish through contact or going to the foul line to shoot free throws. In that specific instance he showed off his ability to put the scoring load on himself and push his team into a good spot to win games. Getting to the hoop isn’t the only thing he’s good at though, he’s a very good shooter off the pass from a teammate, and he finds the open man when he’s going to the basket. Sullivan didn’t raise his stock by offers just yet, but he did accumulate an offer from William Penn in June. He is on my stock risers list because he showed me his ceiling is continuing to grow and it will be fun to watch him finish his high school career over the course of the next year and a half or so.