The Race for Mr. Basketball
As the regular season enters its final few weeks, it’s time to take a look at the landscape in the race for Mr. Basketball. We have a fairly heavily presumed favorite, but there are still four other players looming out there who could garner some attention when the media votes on the award in March.
The favorite: Future Iowa Hawkeye wing Joe Wieskamp has been predictably fantastic this season for Muscatine. He recently passed the 2,000 career point mark, becoming just the third 4A player ever to do so, and he currently ranks second in 4A career scoring after passing Sioux City North’s Daniel Tillo on Friday night. The only player left to pass is Jeff Horner (Mason City/Iowa), who Wieskamp would overtake on February 13th against Davenport Assumption at his current pace. He’s averaging 32.9 points and nearly 14 rebounds a night for a Muskies team that quite frankly wouldn’t be very good without him. The knock on his “campaign” will be a lack of team success (i.e. no state tournament appearances), but his production and reputation speak for themselves. It would be quite the upset if Wieskamp isn’t crowned Mr. Basketball in the middle of March.
The top contenders: The top two contenders to keep an eye on are probably Cedar Falls guard AJ Green and Cedar Rapids Xavier guard Matt Mims. Green, a future star at Northern Iowa, is averaging 26.4 points a game for a Tigers team that is arguably the best in the state right now. And he’s doing so with absurd shooting splits of 51-49-94. He’s possibly the most dangerous player in the state, and if he’s able to take Cedar Falls to a state title, he could warrant some consideration from the group of voters. Future South Dakota State Jackrabbit Matt Mims has the Saints back near the top of the polls in Class 3A, and they, along with Oskaloosa and Mount Pleasant, have to be considered the favorites to take home the 3A crown, which would be Mims’ third state title. He’s putting together his best statistical season to date, averaging 21.3 points with a 3.7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and he leads the Saints in every major category. If he can deliver a third state title to Xavier, he could gain some momentum and be a serious threat. Winning matters, and nobody on this list has won as much as Mims on the big stage.
The long shots: Newton’s Garrett Sturtz is averaging 31.4 points a game for the Cardinals, and has carried a very inexperienced team to a current 9-5 record. The 6-2 guard is as crafty an offensive player as you’ll find anywhere, and despite playing two fewer games than Des Moines North’s Tyreke Locure, Sturtz leads the state in free throw attempts by 20. He’s a relentless attacker and finisher, and he leads the Cards in every major category. He got his name on the map last year when he and Connor Gholson nearly led Newton to an upset of eventual champion Iowa City West, and if he’s able to get this Newton group back to the state tournament, he’ll need to get some serious consideration. He’s a hooper in every sense of the word. The final player who we feel deserves to be mentioned in this conversation is Sioux City Heelan’s Elijah Hazekamp. The combo forward is going to end his career averaging a double-double, and should become just the fifth player in 3A history to surpass the 1,000 career rebounds mark. He’s crafty and efficient, and he’s produced throughout his entire four-year varsity career. He’s the biggest longshot of anyone on the list, but he will also be representing an entire section of the state by himself in these conversations, which can’t go overlooked. And he’s certainly deserving of the recognition.