17U Run-Through: D1 Minnesota
D1 Minnesota has put together not just the best 17u roster in the state, but a roster that will have high expectations and being highly ranked nationwide. Here is the NHR preview.
The Roster: The D1 Minnesota roster has nine players which includes seven from Minnesota and two from the state of Iowa. The roster is likely to include the top four ranked players in the Minnesota 2019 class, the top ranked player in Iowa, and six of the top eight prospects in the state of Minnesota’s senior class.
Returning: Matthew Hurt is the lone returning player from last year’s D1 Minnesota 17u team. Hurt has an offer from every college program in the nation and is a five star prospect. Matthew put up 35 points per game this year with 14.3 rebounds a contest as well as four assists, 4.3 blocks, and 2.3 steals. Hurt led the Rockets to a 26-3 season and made a fantastic argument as Minnesota Player of the Year considering how efficient Matt was with his touches. Some stars shoot well under the expected percentages, while other stars blow the norm away. Matthew’s 40 plus percent from the arc, 62 percent shooting from the field, and 82 percent at the arc is unmatched when compared to other top players in the state.
Moving Up: Of the nine guys on the roster, six were on the team last year. It starts with Tyrell Terry, the nationally ranked top 175 point guard that led DeLaSalle back to state putting up 17 points, seven assists, and 4.5 rebounds a game. Terry has offers from Nebraska, Buter, Iowa, and Stanford among others. Jamison Battle, the 6-foot-7 face-up forward with a pretty touch, gave that same Islander team 14 points and five boards a contest.
Tyler Wahl led Lakeville North to an 18 point per game season playing every spot on the floor and defending every spot on the floor at some point. Wahl also grabbed a dozen boards a game and dished out six assists a game. Wahl has a couple D1 offers with Northern Iowa being after Wahl the most. Prior Lake center Robert Jones is another multi D1 offer guy back for this team. Jones scored 14 points a contest playing along side Dawson Garcia forming a top frontcourt in the state (Garcia is on the D1 Minnesota 16u team).
Six-foot-10 center Nathan Brusseau of New Prague also returns to offer even more size to this big and talented team. Nathan scored ten a game this year for the Trojans. Explosive Ames, Iowa wing Japannah Kellogg is coming off a 12.3 points per game with four boards shooting 49 percent from the floor and 47 percent from the arc.
New Additions: D1 Minnesota added two of the better 2019 prospects in the Midwest this year with Iowa committed Patrick McCaffery of Iowa City West and Zeke Nnaji of Hopkins who has offers from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Creighton among others. McCaffery is coming off a 20 point per game season putting up his numbers on 52 percent shooting from the floor and 74 percent from the foul line. McCaffery put up seven boards a contest as well. Nnaji scored 20 points per game from Hopkins this winter leading Hopkins in scoring.