State of Minnesota HS Basketball?

[EG#9]

Since the class that was headed by Royce White and Rodney Williams (and also featured kids going to ASU, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame), it seems like there hasn't been much talent coming out of Minnesota basketball. A quick look at the current rankings on ESPN.com shows that no Minnesota kids are ranked highly in 2012 or 2013 and it's not until 2014 (Tyus Jones) that Minnesota has another big time prospect. Is this gap between White/Williams and Jones something to be concerned about long term or is this just an abnormal gap between elite talent in the state?

It seemed like there was a highly regarded Minnesota kid or two almost every year prior to the last two classes.

 

[drnkmn]

Chambers is rated highly by all the recruiting sites.......top 20 nationally at his position. If hes that good its tough to believe the gophers wouldnt be all over him considering their point guard recruting troubles over the past few years. ESPN has Riley Dearing top 50 nationally but considering that 2013 kids are just sophomores those lists can change a lot.

 

[corcoran1]

There are a lot more DI players than there have ever been, but we don't produce multiple BigTen starters every year, unlike every other state in the conference except Wisconsin and Iowa.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I think though if you look at MN HS basketball as a whole, it is much better now than ever. But 2009 with Williams and White was not the norm. If you look back at the few years before him, the only real "elite" player out of high school I see is Cole Aldrich. Guys like Isaiah Dahlman and Jared Berggren got some good interest but I wouldn't say they were recruited nationally like Cole was. You could also argue that Joe Coleman this year has gotten about the same interest as many of those guys.

 

[shootstraight]

Dearing a top 50 player in his class nationally??? Is this coming from his dad again?

 

[GopherGack]

I think though if you look at MN HS basketball as a whole, it is much better now than ever.

Unfortunately that's probably true in every other state too.
I guess the real question is have we "gained ground" when comparing to other states.

 

[Schnauzer]

It is a different world compared to "my day" and I am not that old. In my day, Minnesota Mr. Basketball went off to play DIVISION II basketball. Now there are DI players, in decent numbers every year. Is Minnesota basketball better compared to other states... I don't know but it definitely has come a long way in the past 25 years, at least compared to itself.

 

[killcrew]

chambers is so overrated. Dont get me wrong hes a solid D1 player, but even the hometown gophers havent even offered him. I know I know, we want marcus paige, but really, he hasnt been offered and its almost a easy commitment if we did.
that should tell you something how the staff and tubby feel about him.

 

[JohnnyGopher]

No doubt the state has been down the past few years and the 2012 class is more of the same, some good kids with potential but no sure thing to get a Gopher offer. I used to be really high on Zierdon but not so much anymore, Washington still has a long ways to go, Woodard at Duluth East is skilled but undisciplined, chambers will always have the size questions, and King has athleticism issues and plays more like a Wisconin big man. These guys will all get further looks from MN over the summer but wouldn't be a suprise to see another class with no MN kids.

the 2013 class features big man Carson Shanks from Prior Lake who hasn't played yet this year due to transfer rules, Riley Dearing at DeLaSalle(avg. 7.8 pts a game), and Darrion Strong from Tartan. No sure things either but some think Shanks has a chance to be pretty good and Strong, originally from chicago, has the athleticism and chi town edge to him that make him unique up here. Also in the region, Fargo has a soph. named AJ Jacobson doing some special things at Shanley h.s.

the Good news that has alot of local basketball people talking is the promise of some big talent on the way in the next 3-4 years.

Obviously everyone knows about Tyus at AV and how insanely good he is already, but the 2014 class is shaping up to potentially be pretty special. Reid Travis at Delasalle isn't getting alot of varsity action but he has the size, genes, and skill to be really good. Monter already wrote about him but Cooper guard Rashad Vaughn also has his backers who think he is every bit the prospect that Tyus is, he is putting up solid numbers for a freshman, and then there is also Ian Thiessen at Osseo. At 6'8 he's hard to miss, hard to project just how good he will eventually be, some think the rest of his class will eventually catch up to him and he will be nothing special, others see a skilled forward who will be hard to stop when he's older. You also have a sharpshooter at Hopkins named Jake Wright.

Since Tyus is out, the new phenom being talked about is Grand Rapids 8th grader Alex Illikainen. first heard about him last summer when Ryan J worked a clinic up there and was raving about this kid and since then everybody who has seen him can't stop talking about him. haven't seen him yet though.

 

[TruPhan]

1998-2000

This may have been the peak of H.S. hoops in Minnesota. Off of the top of my head Boone (UNC), Johnny Gilbert (Oklahoma), Bauer (Gophers), Bell (Boston College), Nick Jacobson (Utah), Sullivan (ISU), Pryzbilla (Gophers), Schilling (Gophers), Darius Lane (Seton Hall), Horvath (Duke) and many others that I am forgetting from these 3 classes playing major and mid-major D1.

 

[TruPhan]

This may have been the peak of H.S. hoops in Minnesota. Off of the top of my head Boone (UNC), Johnny Gilbert (Oklahoma), Bauer (Gophers), Bell (Boston College), Nick Jacobson (Utah), Sullivan (ISU), Pryzbilla (Gophers), Schilling (Gophers), Darius Lane (Seton Hall), Horvath (Duke) and many others that I am forgetting from these 3 classes playing major and mid-major D1.

This may have been the peak of from my recent memory I should say...

 

[EG#9]

Thanks for the great info Johnny, I appreciate it. Hopefully some of those 2013 kids continue to develop and 2014 will be strong. It will be tough to build the type of program most of us want if the state doesn't start producing some elite talent again.

 

[fryguy22]

This may have been the peak of H.S. hoops in Minnesota. Off of the top of my head Boone (UNC), Johnny Gilbert (Oklahoma), Bauer (Gophers), Bell (Boston College), Nick Jacobson (Utah), Sullivan (ISU), Pryzbilla (Gophers), Schilling (Gophers), Darius Lane (Seton Hall), Horvath (Duke) and many others that I am forgetting from these 3 classes playing major and mid-major D1.

Might as well stretch it back to 97 and throw Khalid El-Amin's name into the mix

 

[Duthasmon Smith]

Might as well stretch it back to 97 and throw Khalid El-Amin's name into the mix

Shanks is going to be the best player to come out of 2013. Good range and skilled. Just needs more time to develop. Gophers should be going hard after him right now. Light years ahead of Elliot Eliason at the same pace. Strong is quick but doesn't shoot that well and is small for a #2. He'll have to work on his handle and court vision which can be tough to "learn" to be an effective pg. Dearing just has to play and see what happens. He's been hyped way too much throughout the past couple years. Saw him in an open gym environment this fall and came away impressed. His looks are limited at the D right now but that'll change the next couple of years.

I like Theisen a lot. Skilled, growing into that body and just tough. Good feet. Young bigs get discounted more than 1-3's at a young age. Looking forward to watching Osseo v. Hopkins at Minnetonka on Sat. Doubt he's a focus of the team but curious to see how he's moving compared to last year.

For all these kids it's about the work they put in during the next 3+ years. I like Travis more than Vaughn for sure. Vaughn's having a solid year in a lousy conference. For those who think he's going catch up with Jones that's tough to imagine. Looking forward to Jones getting healthy and taking it to the South Suburban in Feb. I'm guessing people must have forgotten how good he is if there are Vaughn comparisons.

2012 - King is being discounted as well by a lot of people. He's definitely a 3 on the offensive end and moves pretty well where I don't think his athleticism is a question mark. At 6'7 with a great stroke he strikes me as the kid who led Butler to the NC game last winter. I'd love to see him not play for that Southside team. Really not aiding his recruitment at all. If he's not #1 in Mn in 2012 not sure who is. Pure shooter and can put the ball on the court. He's not 5'10" so I expect he'll get quicker and more athletic as he ages.

What I will say about all of these threads on Mn kids. If they do end up as the top players in the nation hopefully they will consider the gophs. We've not been great in keeping the top football players here when nationally ranked and bb's history is not much better.

 

[playhosea!]

"For all these kids it's about the work they put in during the next 3+ years."

Very true. In fact, the work they put in even after they get to college is huge as well. Guys like Trent Lockett and Jordan Taylor were well known in high school, but continued to take big strides after arriving in college. Those guys might end up being much better college players than lots of guys ranked ahead of them on prospect lists.

 

[HOOP DREAMS]

No doubt the state has been down the past few years and the 2012 class is more of the same, some good kids with potential but no sure thing to get a Gopher offer. I used to be really high on Zierdon but not so much anymore, Washington still has a long ways to go, Woodard at Duluth East is skilled but undisciplined, chambers will always have the size questions, and King has athleticism issues and plays more like a Wisconin big man. These guys will all get further looks from MN over the summer but wouldn't be a suprise to see another class with no MN kids.

the 2013 class features big man Carson Shanks from Prior Lake who hasn't played yet this year due to transfer rules, Riley Dearing at DeLaSalle(avg. 7.8 pts a game), and Darrion Strong from Tartan. No sure things either but some think Shanks has a chance to be pretty good and Strong, originally from chicago, has the athleticism and chi town edge to him that make him unique up here. Also in the region, Fargo has a soph. named AJ Jacobson doing some special things at Shanley h.s.

the Good news that has alot of local basketball people talking is the promise of some big talent on the way in the next 3-4 years.

Obviously everyone knows about Tyus at AV and how insanely good he is already, but the 2014 class is shaping up to potentially be pretty special. Reid Travis at Delasalle isn't getting alot of varsity action but he has the size, genes, and skill to be really good. Monter already wrote about him but Cooper guard Rashad Vaughn also has his backers who think he is every bit the prospect that Tyus is, he is putting up solid numbers for a freshman, and then there is also Ian Thiessen at Osseo. At 6'8 he's hard to miss, hard to project just how good he will eventually be, some think the rest of his class will eventually catch up to him and he will be nothing special, others see a skilled forward who will be hard to stop when he's older. You also have a sharpshooter at Hopkins named Jake Wright.

Since Tyus is out, the new phenom being talked about is Grand Rapids 8th grader Alex Illikainen. first heard about him last summer when Ryan J worked a clinic up there and was raving about this kid and since then everybody who has seen him can't stop talking about him. haven't seen him yet though.

Thanks Chris.