Recruiting Report: Marco Balderas (2018)
If it’s high basketball IQ and top-tier skill you’re looking for than 5-foot-8 South Hamilton point guard Marco Balderas is your guy.
And despite being one of the smaller standout point guards in Iowa, colleges have been looking past that, and his recruitment has started to spike of late.
“Iowa Western has been calling me lot and I visited them, also Briar Cliff, and I visited them. Upper Iowa invited me to their elite camp not too long ago and I’ll be going there. I’ll also be going to Nebraska-Kearney and Nebraska-Omaha elite camps,” said Balderas.
“I’m hoping for D2; I’m getting a lot of D3 and some more D2, but I’m hoping for D2, that’s where I want to go.”
He’s one of the more dazzling point guards in the state, and has worked over the last several several years to perfect his ball-handling and passing ability. Lately, it’s his leadership he’s been honing.
“I’ve really worked on my leadership skills, and I think I’ve gotten better at being a true point guard. And I’ve also seen improvement in my mid-range and being able to pull-up from there,” said Balderas.
“And I’ve really been in the gym a lot working on my 3-point shot and getting that more consistent.”
After averaging 12.7 points on 51 percent shooting and 5.9 assists per game last season as a junior, Balderas was able to garner third-team all state recognition.
“I really had to step-up and be a better leader, because my sophomore year I wasn’t the leader I wanted to be,” he said. “And I was also a scorer and a distributor for that team, if we needed a bucket, I’d be that guy that could find a teammate or score myself.”
This summer he’ll be playing his important 17U campaign with Iowa Dynasty, one of the state’s best grassroots squads.
“It’s (offseason) going really well. I’m just trying to get a really consistent 3-point shot and mid-range,” he said.
“And I’m just hoping to get calls from more colleges.”