The End Zone - April 22nd

[LukeFeddersen]

There are still a number of prep players in the
Class of 2005 who are being recruited hard. Some of these players are
narrowing things down while others have decided to end the recruiting process
and make a decision. This version of The End Zone is a sequel to last
week's version.


One of the most talented point guards in Iowa over
the past few years has been Andrew Stimson of Clarinda. This
standout has been very elusive on the court as well as on the phone but
IowaPreps.com recently found out that this senior is headed to Northwestern
College in Orange City. The Red Raider coaching staff picked up a very
talented player in Stimson, who spent last summer as the backup point guard on
Martin Bros.

Another NAIA school who has been recruiting Iowa
hard has been Briar Cliff. With Kelvin Adams of Madrid already in
the fold, two other Iowans have also signed on. One player who will be
staying close to home is Sioux City East point guard Ian Banks.
This senior helped his team to a third place finish in Class 4A and is an
intelligent floor leader. Also signing on was Kuemper Catholic guard
Alex Schleisman. This talented athlete had a nice senior season and
has proven to be one of the most athletic wings in Iowa.

Iowa Wesleyan and Coach Al Magnani have been
working the State of Iowa hard to bring some standout preps to the school and
they recently landed one. Decorah forward Brett Humpal signed a his
Letter of Intent to attend the school earlier this week. Humpal is a very
skilled forward who can play inside as well as outside. He also is a very
underrated athlete who quarterbacked the football team to the Class 3A State
title game.

The Junior Colleges around Iowa have also been
recruiting the State hard. One school who saw a recent change in the
coaching staff was Indian Hills, but that did not stop them from landing two
in-state preps. Both are from the Des Moines area and are great athletes.
Des Moines Hoover forward J'Sean Gaddy blew up this summer and will be
showcasing his skills at the junior college level. Also joining him will
be Des Moines East point guard Ashton Sauls, who spurned football offers
to continue playing basketball.


J

ust because Upper Iowa is the only Division II
school in Iowa does not mean they should be not included on this list. The
Peacocks were able to end the recruiting period with a signature from Wapsie
Valley point guard John Schutte. Although he is undersized, this
senior put up some monster numbers and even led the State in scoring (And yes he
did average more than Casey Harriman).

One prep who decided to leave the State to
continue his basketball career at the DII level was Grant Franzen of
Waverly-Shell Rock. This very underrated athlete was taking a hard look at
Quincy or going the Junior College route but felt comfortable with Coach Marty
Bell and the Hawk program. Quincy had shown him a great deal of interest
and Coach Bell attended their game against Decorah, the same one that
IowaPreps.com was at as well.


What about the Division III schools? The
interesting thing about these schools is that the players basically give a
non-binding verbal commitment and might send a deposit to reserve their spot at
the school. With that in mind, the players may say they are coming but it
is never 100% sure until the player gets to campus in the late summer. And
that is exactly the reason why a lot of Division III schools are being extremely
tight lipped on recruiting. There have been a ton of rumors about a lot of
players going to Iowa Conference schools, but until I get a player or a coach to
confirm the rumors, I will not be posting them. Or maybe I will, depending
of course on how good the rumors are.
This post was edited on 4/22 2:13 PM by LukeFeddersenif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}