The Mr Basketball committee just trimmed their list of 20 candidates down to 5 finalists. Not that it matters since this is one of the easiest selections we'll have, but at least guessing how long we'll have to wait for the official announcement makes it interesting. Here's a refresher on who the original 20 were and who made the final cut. Then I'll tell you who I would have picked and why.
Finalists
Lucas Brown-Roseville
Joe Coleman - Hopkins
Shelby Moats - Waconia
Kyle Noreen - Minnesota Transitions
Jake White - Chaska
The other 15 candidates
Tom Schalk - Apple Valley
Marquel Curtis - Robbinsdale Armstrong
Marcus Alipate - Bloomington Jefferson
Ross Travis - Chaska
Benji Figini - Chisago Lakes
Zach Lofton - Columbia Heights
Raijon Kelly - Cretin-Derham Hall
Jonah Travis - DeLaSalle
Marvin Singleton - Hopkins
Alex Richter - Lakeville South
Seth Hinrichs - MACCRAY
Cole Olstad - Plainview - Elgin - Millville
Roosevelt Scott - St. Paul Johnson
Estan Tyler - St. Paul Johnson
Eric Robertson - Wayzata
The Czar's Final 5
Joe Coleman - Hopkins
Roosevelt Scott - Johnson
Marvin Singleton - Hopkins
Jonah Travis - DeLaSalle
Jake White - Chaska
Coleman, Singleton, Travis and White were easy choices as they were clear game changers and consistent night in and night out. I've been outspoken that I don't like picking 2 guys from the same team but Singleton was just that dominant compared to everybody else, couldn't keep him out. Coleman, Travis and White were monsters all season and dominated most of their competition. The last spot was really tough as there's a bunch of guys worthy of a look. So based on individual performance, importance to their team, overall team performance and college upside, Scott got my 5th spot. I had him as MVP of the St. Paul City, Johnson was undefeated in Minnesota until the Twin Cities Game, he played well in big games (40 vs MTS and end of Lakeville South game on opening night before Tyler's game winning tip are 2 examples) and he's a difference maker athlete even for Johnson and has large college upside.
The Czar's 2011 Mr Basketball Final 5
Labels:
Estan Tyler,
Jake White,
Joe Coleman,
Jonah Travis,
Ross Travis
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Can anyone tell me how/why Bryan Sprang of Irondale was left out of the top 20 for the Mr. Basketball award? He's relentless moving with out the ball, can score in many different ways, and is the most efficient scorer in the state AND he did it night in and night out. He was the North Suburban conference MVP over Figini, Lofton who did make the list and others like Zierden! This was the worst omission I've seen in all my years of coaching HS basketball. The committee made a mistake here in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteYou're not the only one that thought Sprang should have been top 20. Very underrated player. Not a bad choice picking him as the league MVP since he didn't have the same help as Lofton or Zierden.
ReplyDeleteLofton doesnt have GREAT help, he averages over 30pts a game, and basically carried his team to the state tournament with a big win over DE LA SALLE. Lofton is one of the most underrated players in the STATE
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