Prospect Spotlight: Haris Hoffman (2019)
After being named the state tournament all-tournament team captain in March, Haris Hoffman landed inside of top-60 in Iowa’s 2019 prospect rankings.
A swiss army knife guy, Hoffman was doing it all last season for 2A state champs, Cascade, Western Dubuque. He can light it up from deep, and take advantage of smaller guys in the paint, his passing is crisp, and is hoops IQ is high.
The 6-foot-1 guard defined his skill-set in his own words during a recent phone interview with PHIA.
“I’m not just a one-way player, I can do multiple things; I can shoot decently well, but then I can drive,” said Hoffman. “And especially when I get a smaller guy on be, I can take them to the post and put some post-moves on them.”
Hoffman led the charge all season for the Cougars, a team that was renowned for playing position-less basketball, five guard/wing/bigs that all did everything for the team.
“We didn’t have anyone over 6’4, and we had five guys on the floor that could do it all,” said Hoffman. “But it worked out really well for us, because we would have mismatches on the offensive side, with a guard going against the other team’s big. So, that helped us a lot throughout the season.”
Hoffman averaged a team-best 12.3 points as a junior with the state champs, and also led the team in 3-point percentage and rebounds. Next year, his role will be much the same.
“We’ll be OK next season, we had a bunch of juniors that played throughout the year this year, and they got experience and will be ready for next year. And I’ll be doing a lot of same things I did this year for the team,” said Hoffman.
Haris Hoffman is ranked by Prep Hoops as a top 60 prospect in his class. To see the full ranking of Iowa’s 2019 class, click here.
He’s now shifted his focus to baseball. He’ll play a key role with the Cougars on the diamond this summer.
Last year, he missed a lot of baseball because of AAU. As a result, he’s foregoing his 17U offseason, and will work on on his own in the gym when he gets time.
As for his college plans, Hoffman is still unsure. He says right now, though, it’s between football and basketball.
“Football and basketball are my top two choices for college right now. Right now, it’s really just a coin-flip,”said Hoffman.
He was starting quarterback on the football team as a junior, and threw for 1,733 yards, 17 touchdowns and just five interceptions. Good enough for a quarterback rating of 202.0.
“What my college choice will come down to is money, that will probably play a big role,” said Hoffman. “And then just going on visits and finding a place that just feels good.”