2021 Great Plains Alliance Review

Back to AAU normalcy with no COVID restrictions in place at the 2021 Great Plains Alliance in St. Cloud.  A large contingent of NSIC and MIAC coaches in attendance for what is one of the vastly underappreciated recruiting events of the summer.  Reason being that this is the event, not those long road trips in July, that will get the vast majority of Minnesota recruits their looks.

16U Division
South Dakota Attack 16s took home the championship with a 79-59 win over WOTN Bertsch.  That was a 1 point game at halftime but Attack came out of halftime on a 19-5 run.  Issac Bruns with 16 of his 24 points in the 2nd half to lead Attack to the win.  The big wing is definitely in the discussion for the top 2023 player in South Dakota.  3 others in double figures in the victory.  JT Thornton (Lakeville North) and Anish Ramlall (Rosemount) combined for 29 first half points but were held scoreless in the 2nd half.  Both players have had nice seasons for WOTN.

Really enjoyed watching the WI Crusaders 16s with their screening and cutting offense.  Especially in today's pace and space nature of the game that leads to nothing more than drive and kick action. 

A nice 3-1 weekend for the MN Rise 16s.  They had a double digit comeback to beat MN Bounce 62-60 in the quarters before bowing out to the champs in the semis.

17U Division
WI Crusaders 17s took home the title with a 65-49 win over upstart Comets Belka.  Tyler Borowski and Carter Thomas leading the Crusaders on championship day.  5 out offense with a bunch of interchangeable parts makes this a dangerous squad.

Comets Belka was the big team story of the weekend at 4-1.  They took out Sacred Hoops in their showcase game and then no problems with WI Crusaders Select in the round of 16.  Then a late Friday night win over Comets DLR before bouncing Select Ohnstad 66-60 in the semis.  Mitchell Degen (Brainerd) and Zach Zrust (Buffalo) bright spots for the Comets.  Zrust is a versatile big man who can step out and shoot it.  Will be interesting to track him in July.

MN Rise was the 4th semifinalist and finished their weekend 3-1.  That included a nice 55-42 win over South Dakota Attack.  That 20 point loss to WI Crusaders in the semis was an 8 point game later in the 2nd half before 1 last run put the game away.  Brayden Williams (Owatonna) leading the way for Rise once again.

We've talked a lot about Pharrell Payne (Park of Cottage Grove) and rightfully so.  He didn't disappoint this weekend.  Benard Omooria (Osseo) really helped himself with solid shooting all weekend.  Kenji Scales is another PG that continues to be solid as well.  Williams, Omooria and Scales part of a group of similar guards that are trying to break out of the pack.

Solid 3-1 weekend for WOTN Johnson.  They beat a couple of depleted squads in Northstar Titans Terhaar (buzzer beater) and Heat MacDonald.  A close loss to Select Ohnstad in the quarters where they held Pharrell Payne to 6-15 shooting and then beat Comets DLR in a consolation game.  Connor Beauchamp (Lakeville South) with a solid weekend on the wing with 22 points in that Select game.  Nick Burke (SW Christian) also with a productive weekend.  They did that without one of their top weapons, Kyle Hrncir (Farmington), as well.

2021 MBCA Camp Thoughts

After a year off, the MBCA camp returned in bigger fashion.  Good to be back in the gym and see the D1 coaches in attendance for the 1st time in almost 2 years.  The 2nd edition of the camp expanded to over 140 players and 16 teams.  That's up from the 100 kids and 12 teams used 2 years ago.  As the saying goes, it takes a village and that we had.  32 coaches jumping in to coach the teams and many others behind the scenes in the operations side to make everything run smoothly.  Like 2 years ago, we had top kids from the Dakotas represented and this year a handful of Iowa stars attended as well.

With 4 games going on at once, it was difficult to catch everyone and with trying to see a bit of everyone, you end up really following no one.  Always difficult to strike that balance.  So with that in mind, I tried to stay on the main court and catch a full game rather than running around.  Most of the teams did have a game there.  Here's what caught my eye.

Player Notes

• Sam Rensch - Hutchinson.  He started out the event with a 26 point outing.  Impressive shooting and a great stroke.  Great size.  Augustana already with an offer and he'd be a great get for them.
• Nolan Winter - Lakeville North.  He had a hot start with 3 triples before quieting down.  But the upside is definitely visible.
• Brandon Melchior - CDH (transferring from Elk River).  The big man showed well in a couple of games.  That included the final game vs Prior Lake's Malcolm Jones.  The size is there and he has some skill.  Playing with Tre Holloman during the high school season now won't hurt him either.
• Logan Kinsey - Spring Lake Park.  The bouncy forward didn't disappoint.  Very active weekend for him.  Already holds an offer from Moorhead.
• JT Rock - Sioux Falls, SD.  One of the 2024 notables at the event.  The 7 footer is thin but he can shoot it, pass it and moves well.  Great that he got a chance to play in an event like this.
• Josh Dix - Council Bluffs, IA.  A late high major addition to the event and he did not disappoint.  He visited Iowa early this month and the Hawks had 3 staff members watch him over the weekend.  A bigger guard than I remember watching on video during the season.  Will be a great asset at either guard spot.
• Caden Hinker - Mitchell, SD.  A versatile forward who Augustana would love to keep at their level.  Didn't get many inside touches but showed plenty of range with his jumper.
• Tre Holloman - CDH.  Passing definitely there and he made shots which is going to be the biggest question with his game.
• Kendall Blue - East Ridge.  Can't hurt playing on home turf.   Very effective scoring.
• Prince Aligbe - Minnehaha.  Took advantage of some favorable matchups and was effective off the bounce.
• Pharrell Payne - Park of Cottage Grove.  Played well enough in front of the Gophers staff to bring home a Minnesota offer during the event.  Young for his grade and a great frame, the upside is big.
• Josh Ola-Joseph - Osseo.  Had arguably the biggest highlight dunk of the camp.  Picked up a Loyola-Chicago offer for his play.  The term freak athlete is overused but definitely applies in his case.  I love the thought of him as a small ball 4 man mismatch at the next level.

Impressions
As expected everything with the camp was well organized.  The opening speeches, hour of 4 on 2 with 2 chasers and hour plus of skills could be cut back.  Granted I did love Mitch Ohnstad's full court drive and kick continuous drill and its variations.  I think giving the coaches more time to work with their team before the games to put some semblance of a system in would be advisable too.  That was really reflected in the poor quality of play.  Unlike 2 years ago, despite what the coaches I'm sure emphasized, the players didn't seem to buy into the idea that this was an event for coaches to evaluate.  Ragged play, bad shot selection, lack of hustle and not feeding the bigs was endemic.  Out of the teams I saw, I think I saw 1 team try to use a 4 out 1 in.  Otherwise it was tons of high ball screen and Do Him offense.  2 years ago, it was understandable to see the 3rd game of the day have lower quality with tired kids.  But this year it was 2 games Friday night and only 2 on Saturday.  No real excuses.  It will be interesting to see what this looks like in St. Cloud this week with the D2s out for a major viewing at the Great Plains Alliance and especially in the 3 open periods in July.