The summer section of the 2026 grassroots season is set to fire up this weekend with the annual Great Plains Alliance tournament in St. Cloud. Games begin on Friday afternoon with bracket play on Saturday. This is one of the top D2 and D3 showcases of the entire season with most of the top players from the Dakotas attending and many of the tier 2 Minnesota squads. Plus you never know what ringers will show up. I'll be in attendance and here's what I'll be watching.
17U
This is a 48 team bracket setup. 8 play-in "pool" games to begin Friday. Then the standard 32 team bracket tipping off at 3:35. 2nd game of the bracket is late night. Then 3 games starting late Saturday leading up to the 6:50 championship game.
The top 5 2027s from South Dakota will be in attendance. Sanford South Dakota Black features 3 D2 commits in F Davis Chase (Augustana), PG Connor Mebius (Sioux Falls) and W Deondre Painter (Northern St). Team Warwick features the top rated 2027 Brant Wassenaar who is committed to Drake. You also have 2028 David Walter playing up with Sacred Hoops and the return of Kent Mueller to the sidelines. Mueller was the longtime coach for the old Dakota Schoolers program. Can we bring in Paul Seville to ref that just to make the reunion complete? On the North Dakota side, 15 top hoops prospects from there are expected. F Kyson Keller is also with that Team Warwick squad with multiple D2 offers. North Dakota Phenom has D2 talents Oakley Trueblood and Owen Terras (Jamestown commit) on the wings with a pair of good point guards in Weston Scott and Najeh Boyd
Minnesota 2027s to watch
Isaiah Asuma (Montana St FB commit), Ray Brau - Comets
De'Anthony Sells - D1 MN Gold
AJ Taban - Elevate Skills
Hunter Vinkemeier (Augustana commit), Kobby Sambrew - Fury Goring
Matthew Johnson, Max Beeninga (Moorhead commit), Owen Brezinski - Fury Zurn
Nick Taylor - Lightning Ellerbusch
Bryce Gaustad - Northstar Titans Stone
Carter Brown - Playmakers North
Asher Wieberdink - SW MN Stars
Best Games of Each Friday Round (projected)
Round of 32: Comets Hondl vs Elevate Skills 5:45 Fri
Round of 16: North Dakota Phenom Symens vs Buffalo Legacy 9:00 Fri
Bracket Predictions
Quarterfinals: Comets Elite over Titans Stone, Fury Zurn over Team Warwick Warner, Fury Goring over Lightning Ellerbusch, North Dakota Phenom Symens over Sanford South Dakota Black
Semifinals: Fury Zurn over Comets Elite, North Dakota Phenom over Fury Goring
Championship: North Dakota Phenom over Fury Zurn to replicate similar results to this year's Scheels Series that ND Phenom won over Fury Goring.
16U
The 16s are divided into 8 top pools of 3 with 2 more stray pools. The winners of those 8 top pools advance to the championship bracket. 2 pool games on Friday with the 8 team bracket on Saturday. The host Comets and loaded top Team Warwick crews get Whitney Rec games on Friday to start the tourney. Those will begin my viewing.
Plenty of talent to watch here too. 17 of the top 18 players in the South Dakota 2028 Prep Hoop rankings are coming. 16 of them in this division with 1 playing up in the 17s. Team Warwick stars Ryan Dieleman and Sully Felberg lead that list. Both have offers from South Dakota and South Dakota St. North Dakota Phenom 16s have 3 of the top North Dakota 2028s. The top 2029 in the Dakotas is Noah Woods. He'll be playing with the D1 Minnesota 15s.
3 Minnesota kids at 16U playing up in the 17s
Thomas Jordan and Eli Hegle - Buffalo Legacy
Moussa Dukuly - D1 MN Gold
Other Minnesota names to watch in the 16s
Brady Molenaar, Nolan Greene, Brooks Rechtzigel, Gavin Bauer, Ben Koch - Fury Wilde
Zeid Ndiaye - Heat Dedina
Ben Banwart - Team Hudson
Romeo Kromah - West Central United
Kolden Johnson, Dexter Simmons, Mal Jock (all 2029s) - D1 Minnesota 15s
Best pool game is Sanford South Dakota Black vs Heat Dedina. That's 1:25 on Friday at Sauk Rapids.
Pool Winner Predictions
Comets Elite
West Central United
Team Hudson
Heat Dedina
Team Warwick Shane
North Dakota Phenom
D1 Minnesota 15s
Fury Wilde
Bracket Predictions
Love the 16s bracket. You have a really good Team Warwick squad with the most talent and they're huge plus skilled. Not to mention their sets are as good as any you'll see in summer ball anywhere. Then you have Fury Wilde who won the Scheels and the NHR State Tourneys in May. West Central United won the Prep Hoops Region tournament in between that.
Quarterfinals: West Central United over Comets, Team Hudson over Heat Dedina, Team Warwick over ND Phenom, Fury Wilde over D1 15s.
Semis: West Central United over Team Hudson, Team Warwick over Fury Wilde
Championship: Team Warwick over West Central United.
