2023 6’10 Owen Freeman – MidPro Academy 17U
Owen Freeman scored 17 points and finished with a double-double for MidPro in a hard fought win over Team Haliburton on Friday night. Freeman is a load to deal with in the post with his combination of size, strength and footwork, and does a great job of sealing defenders and getting deep position on his post ups. Freeman was aggressive on the glass, had some big time dunks and his motor was running high on both ends of the floor. His physical presence makes huge impact on the game and he looks ready to compete in the paint for Iowa in Big 10 play.
2023 6’3 Demarion Burch – Team Haliburton 17U
His team lost a tough game to Mid Pro but Demarion Burch put together one of his best performances I have seen. He was relentless attacking the rim, where he can use his athleticism to finish over the top of defenders, and made some nice drop off passes for easy buckets when drawing help. Burch caught a rhythm in the first half and had a stretch where he took over the game in the midrange, creating space to elevate for jumpers. Burch finished the game with 18 points and a handful of assists.
2024 6’3 Bennett Basich – Phenom University 16U
Bennett Basich flies a bit under the radar for the talented Phenom U 16U group but comes ready to play with high energy every time he touches the court. Basich competes defensively, is a knock down shooter in catch and shoot, and hit some tough midrange jumpers on his way to 19 points in a big win. He closed the night with a steal and showed some athleticism with a big dunk in transition to put an exclamation point on the win.
2023 6’2 Adison Mittelstadt – Movement Hoops 17U
Adison Mittelstadt put together his best performance of the grassroots season for Movement Hoops on Friday, finishing with 24 points in a big win over All In Athletics. Mittelstadt scored in a variety of ways – making threes, elevating for midrange jumpers off the dribble, and had some tough finishes at the rim. He competed defensively applying ball pressure and getting in the passing lanes for a couple steals that lead to easy run outs. Mittelstadt also flashed his playmaking ability making some nice passes to set up teammates for easy baskets.
2023 6’7 Ethan Kizer – MidPro Academy 17U
Ethan Kizer was huge for MidPro in their matchup with Team Haliburton, making 4 threes all in the second half to fuel their run to pull away in what was a back and forth game. At 6’7 Kizer gets great elevation on his jumper to shoot over the defense and his shot is almost impossible to contest. He has solid mechanics and gets good rotation with a pure release. Kizer’s lone two point basket of the game came on a 2-hand lob dunk cutting baseline where he used every inch of his vertical to explode for the highlight reel finish.