Battle at the Lakes: The 17U Names to Know
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The Battle at the Lakes is bringing more talent to the Twin Cities than any other event this spring/summer. Who are some of those top players at the 17u level? Prep Hoops runs through the list now.
44 Elite: Guard Jalen Dearring, a six foot plus guard that scored 16 a game in the top Minnesota conference
All Iowa Attack: 6-foot-7 power forward Issa Samake is ranked as the 6th best senior in the state prospect wise
D1 Minnesota: D1 Minnesota has six players with high major offers and seven total with D1 offers
- Five Star Matthew Hurt has an offer from every school out there and is a top 2-3 player in the nation
- Iowa committed Pattrick McCaffrey is committed to Iowa and is a top 30-35 player in Iowa
- Zeke Nnaji has made a national top 50 push talent wise with offers coming in rapidly. Too many of late to remember
- Tyrell Terry is a national top 100-150 player who was recently offered by Iowa State and Indiana giving him nine high major offers
- 6-foot-10 center Robert Jones was just offered by Penn State as he continues to build his list of opportunities
- Versatile Tyler Wahl‘s last three offers are from Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa State
- Jamison Battle has multiple D1 offers including his recent offer from UW-Milwaukee
D1 Minnesota Rise: Wing Jake Kettner was a Class A All State honored player this year and one of the state’s best senior prospects
Full Package: Shooter Robert Hubbard is listed as one of the best at the arc in the state and is a top 100 player in his class in Illinois.
Fundamental U:
- Six-foot-9 forward Alex Timmerman is a skilled face-up player that has D1 offers from Lafayette and Bucknell.
- 2019 6-foot-3 G Ryan Verhulstis is receiving division two interest after a month of strong play on the circuit
Iowa Barnstormers: The Barnstormers are 6-3 in Adidas Gauntlet play thus far
- 6-foot-5 Noah Carter is putting up around 20 points per game, recent offers from Air Force, North Dakota, Truman State among others.
- Guard Gage Malensek is the team’s second leading scorer and the leader in assists. Gage is from Brookfield, Wisconsin and is the 6th ranked player in Wisconsin.
- 6-foot-7 Dylan Jones is a top five scorer for the Barnstormers and the second leading rebounder
- 6-foot-3 Noah Hart is a top 12-13 player in Iowa and the third leading scorer
KC Pacers: Won the Prep Hoops Series in Kansas last weekend
- Eli Dowis is a two spot standout as a 6-foot-3 guard that had a big weekend in the Prep Hoops Series
- Thomas Lipscomb is a 6-foot-8 worker from the 2018 class
KC Spurs: The last time the Spurs were in the Twin Cities they won the Proving Grounds, last weekend they nearly defeated KC Run GMC
- Mikel Henderson had a fantastic showing so far this spring leading his team to a pair of titles as a two way standout
- Dalen Ridgnal is a 6-foot-6 long forward with quick springs and the ability to snag boards in double digit numbers regularly
- As a 6-foot-5 forward Spencer Jones has the skill to play both spots
- Keyon Thomas can play both guard spots and is a six foot guard is a fantastic finisher
Kingdom Hoops Elite: Kingdom Hoops has two of the top 8-9 players in Iowa
- 6-foot-6 forward James Betz is committed to Northern Iowa
- Trayvon Williams is a slashing 6-foot-3 playmaker with a South Dakota State offer
Minnesota Comets K: The sixth ranked team in Minnesota that includes Cade Goggleye, Jackson Jangula, Nick Schaefer, Michael Ziermann, and Camden Arndt.
Minnesota Heat Henderson: Jeremy Beckler is a rapidly rising 6-foot-8 player that performed well against some of the better Midwest teams in April.
Minnesota Heat Nelson: Jared Rainey has Heat Nelson playing above expectations including a Meg Vang Invitational title last weekend
Next Generation: Played at the Proving Grounds and last weekend qualified for the AAU national event in Florida.
- Julian Holland scored 34 in a recent 17U AAU qualifying game
Old Gold: Darion Binion of Kankakee has led his team in scoring several times this spring
Raw Athletics: Raw Athletics made the Proving Grounds final four two weeks back with strong play from Antoine Palmer, Malcolm Bell, and Ishmael Martin.
SE Minnesota Lightning: The Lightning have been one of the top stories in Minnesota this year making the final four in the Proving Grounds
- 6-foot-7 small forward Jarvorius Toney of Mason City, Iowa made a name for himself at the last Prep Hoops event, can the raw but skilled explosive athlete have another big week?
- Dylan Miller is also from Mason City and his performances a few weeks ago led to an all tournament style respect
South Dakota Attack: The top 17u team from the Dakotas has won events in Minnesota before
- Noah Freidel has several D2 offers from the NSIC league and is getting some D1 interest after scoring 26 a game as a junior
- Sawyer Schultz also has several D2 offers at this point as a 6-foot-3 point guard. Schultz is making a push for the top senior in the state, he’s certainly in the top two with Freidel.
Team Rose: The team sponsored by Derrick Rose is on the Adidas Gauntlet Gold circuit and is sitting around .500 after two weekends of play.
- Leading scorer DaJuan Gordon has offers from DePaul, New Mexico, Colorado State, Loyola Chicago, East Tennessee State, UW-Milwaukee, UIC, Cleveland State, Chicago State, Montana, and more at the D1 level
- Myles Baker of Whitney Young High is the 8th ranked player in Illinois and he holds offers from Colorado State, St Louis, Eastern Kentucky, UW-Milwaukee, Cleveland State, and many others
- KeJuan Clements is a top 12 player in Illinois and he has offers from UW-Milwaukee, UIC, Western Illinois, and Chicago State.
- Jalen Johnson out of Indiana is playing with Team Rose and he was recently offered by Illinois-Chicago
Team Rush: Another Adidas program, Team Rush played in last year’ title game at this event and last weekend made the Jayhawk Invitational final four.
- Six-foot-8 Zane Meeks just picked up an offer from Furman giving him a small handful of D1 options so far
- Explosive 6-foot-8 Darrius Hughes just picked up an offer from Abilene Christian
- Elijah Williams is 6-foot-3 and a top defender and excellent slahser
- Lamel Robinson is one of the top point guards in Kansas City and plays with an edge
- 6-7 Tyon Foster is another long, athletic player for Team Rush.
Team RWA: Another consistently strong Illinois programs RWA has talent once again.
- 5-foot-8 point guard Treye Tucker is a top 50 level player from Illinois
- Jeremiah Oden stands 6-foot-6 and is also a top 50 level ranked player from Illinois
Texas Impact 4:13: One of the top two or three teams in Texas this year Impact has beaten multiple shoe sponsored squads already this year and was second in the Texas GASO event.
- Joshua Miller is a wing at 6-foot-7 who earned offers from Air Force and UTEP recently
- One of the best rebounders in the event will be Trezarian White who is a double double board monster.
- Six-foot-6 shooter Ty Caswell just picked up an offer from Air Force and he will be a player consistently getting looks over positioned defenders
- Korbin “KJ” Cunningham recently earned an offer from UMass-Lowell and was offered by Louisiana Lafayette as well.
- Johnathan Aku is a 2020 that has a pair of D1 offers and is considered by many to be a top 5-10 player in Texas in his class.
Twin Cities Pirates: The Pirates have played in two events so far with a 5-4 mark and they are looking to make a mark
- Tommy Chatman Jr is a player that is looking to make a name for himself as a combo guard with the skills to play both spots
- Carter Henry is a 6-foot-8 explosive power forward that finishes above the rim and aggressively rebounds in big numbers. D1s have shown interest.
Wisconsin Academy: The Academy is led by 6-foot-4 Conner Meyer who is a top 30 player in the state of Wisconsin as is Donniel Grey, a 5-foot-9 lead guard.
Wisconsin Crusaders: Six-foot-10 Luke Hasl from Oshoksh is the big name from the Crusaders but watch out for Will Mahoney and Nick Otto as well.
Wisconsin Playground Warriors: The Warriors are off to a tough start in UAA play but this is a team that has several of the top 50 players in the state of Wisconsin’s senior class.
- As a 6-foot-2 guard Larry Canady out of Racine is the 7th ranked player in Wisconsin and he leads the team in UAA play with 13 points per game. Top defender too.
- Reed Miller is 6-foot-5 and a top 15 level player in Wisconsin.
- A top 15 player in Wisconsin Marquise Milton is the second leading scorer for the Warriors.
Young & Reckless: A team that many in Minnesota are familiar with from past Prep Hoops and NY2LA events. They have eight of the top 50 players in the state of Illinois.
- Top ten level Illinois 2019 guard Jeremiah Hernandez has offers from Kent State, UWGB, UW-Milwaukee, Northern Illinois, Cal Poly, and Southern Illinois.
- Six foot guard Chris Roberts is an ultra fast explosive guard that has been offered by Illinois-Chicago and North Dakota
- Guards Artese Stapleton and Jeremiah Washington are both handlers that list in the state’s top 30 2019 players.