Comets Shootout 17U – Saturday’s Five Best
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The Comets Shootout 17U Final Four is WOTN, Select Ohnstad, Fury Wilde, and Heat Mac. What players stood out the most on the way to the semis? Prep Hoops has that for you today! We will have way more on…
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Continue ReadingThe Comets Shootout 17U Final Four is WOTN, Select Ohnstad, Fury Wilde, and Heat Mac. What players stood out the most on the way to the semis? Prep Hoops has that for you today! We will have way more on the all of the 17u players in St. Cloud throughout the week but on this Sunday morning we wanted to discuss the guys that had the best back to back game impacts.
Mekhi Collins Mekhi Collins 6'5" | PF Mankato West | 2022 State MN of Minnesota Fury (6’5 SF of Mankato West). The only team that cruised to the semis was Fury Wilde and it was a completely balanced 9-man effort to get those wins. Picking one guy was tough but I went with Collins because of his ten point first half rim explosion against Team Get Shook and his all around two way contributions. Likely a football prospect in college but a hell of a basketball player too.
Kyle Hrncir Kyle Hrncir 6'4" | PF Farmington | 2022 State MN of WOTN (6’5 Forward of Farmington). Kyle was the day one MVP for me. He may be the poster boy for combo forward at 17u right now. Has the comfort to play facing the basket on the perimeter, can play with his back to the basket too, and his toughness and activity getting to scoring spots on the floor with or without the basketball is a model other players should follow. Kyle is a very strong player so he’s always on balance and then uses that strength to power up and finish high percentage attempts. Great touch highlighted by the 15 point first half against the Comets (23 points for the game).
Pharrel Payne Pharrel Payne 6'9" | C Park Of Cottage Grove | 2022 State #84 Nation MN of Minnesota Select Ohnstad (6’9 PF/C of Park of Cottage Grove). The top prospect in St. Cloud is Pharrel Payne Pharrel Payne 6'9" | C Park Of Cottage Grove | 2022 State #84 Nation MN and he quickly proved that against Fury Narum and then against Team 1848 (Wisconsin). Defensively he’s long and agile which means a post often has to have the perfect post move to get around him. Also, his quickness of his feet and his length make him an outstanding shot blocker and those gifts could make him a dominant defensive rebounder. Offensively he did a great job of using his strength to get position and his length to provide a target. Players couldn’t turn with him so Payne got to his balanced shoulder turn for good touch in deep spots. Throw in the three-pointer made and the full court push into a lefty lay-up and you have a mid-major prospect. At least.
Tyirece Waits Tyirece Waits 6'1" | PG Osseo | 2022 State MN of Minnesota Heat MacDonald (6’1 PG of Osseo). Quickest 17U player? Likely Tyriece. The Phenom and Rise guards never had a chance with his quickness. Waits seemed to know that he could get by his first man whenever and Waits used that for rim finishes, and to make sure his first pass of the possession was in a great spot. Strong defender that got into players as well. I was really impressed with the way Waits ran the Heat Mac offense into the semi-finals.
Brayden Williams Brayden Williams 6'3" | PG Owatonna | 2022 State MN of Minnesota Rise (6’3 PG of Owatonna). The surprise of the day was the all around ability of Brayden Williams Brayden Williams 6'3" | PG Owatonna | 2022 State MN . This is certainly a top 40 prospect in this loaded 2022 class and a guy I would be watching carefully if I was a D2 coach. There is so much ability in this good side ball handler/playmaker, he has what college coaches call, shake. The flare is there too – behind the back quality feeds and the second/third move to beat players – but also keep in mind the steadiness of Williams. Scored in double digits vs Comets Belka and Heat Mac giving his team a win, and a push to the end against one of Minnesota’s better 17U teams (Heat). I see a future college double figure scorer that can get to space and lift quickly, I see a future creator that guys love to play with, and I see a future nightmare for opposing defenders to deal with.