Prospect Spotlight: Jake Auer (2020)
Valley’s got another solid stable of guards ready to take the reins this season. And this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
Jake Auer is 6-foot guard with a sweet jumper and an ability to play point guard and shooting guard adeptly. He’s just one in a recent lineage of Valley guards who will excel with the Tigers the next two seasons.
“For the Valley team, with Trayvon (Williams) at point guard, I think my role will be shooting guard on that team. And I think my shooting is probably my best skill-set, but I can play some point guard, too, with my ball-handling,” said Auer, a rising junior.
Last season, with the Valley varsity again chock-full of talented guards, Auer was playing with the sophomore squad, and was excellent.
“Last year on sophomores, I probably averaged high teens, maybe in the 20s. I was scorer on that team, me and Will (Berg),” said Auer. “This summer (with Valley’s varsity), I haven’t been as much of a scorer, but more of a spot-up guy and a distributor. Wherever they think I’d fit in (next season) is where I’ll play.”
Auer has been spending his offseason both playing baseball and with the Iowa Barnstormers 16U squad. He’s been splitting time with the ‘Stormers gold and silver teams.
“My spring went pretty well. I played on the silver team for the first half of it. I probably averaged about 15 points, I was shooting it really well in the spring. I played on the gold team the last two tournaments and played pretty well and played some good defense,” said Auer.
“This summer, I’m just going to focus on my 3-ball and trying to get to the hole a little bit more.”
So far for hoops, it’s been Minnesota State and Augustana that have invited him to elite camps. But the bulk of his recruitment hasn’t started up just yet.
He’s not sure yet between basketball and baseball which he wants to try and pursue at the next level.
“It’s pretty even, I’ve been a pretty good baseball player ever since I was little,” said Auer. “I’d say whatever season I’m in, I like that sport.”
Jake Auer is ranked by Prep Hoops as a top 50 prospect in his class. To see the full ranking of Iowa’s 2020 class, click here.