AAU Live Recruiting Weekend #2 April 28-30

[HawkHoops80]

Hey all, last year I had fun with writing up these AAU weekend posts and following who the coaches are watching, so I figured I would do them again this year. For those that are new to this, coaches cannot go out at watch or talk in person with recruits during the summer with a few exceptions--"live" recruiting weekends are one of those times that they can, so coaches will be out around the country watching AAU games and recruiting Friday-Sunday. Last year it was pretty clear after the first few live weekends that Fran had made TJ Power, JP Estrella and a few others his priority--we all know what eventually happened with those recruitments later on, but we should have a sense of who is on top of the recruiting board after 1 or 2 of these weekends. Fran seems to like to make his priorities known to the kid by following him around--last year I don't think he missed a single game of TJ Power's all summer.

2024 recruiting is kind of at an interesting spot. We have the 2 open scholarships that may or may not be filled via the portal/Nimmers. Krikke's scholarship is earmarked for 2024 commit Cooper Koch. And of course we have 2 true seniors on this year's squad in Patrick McCaffery and Tony Perkins who both could utilize their covid year to return for the 2024-25 season.

I tried to make this list as comprehensive as possible. If you think I missed someone who we are recruiting, please let me know and I will happily edit the post and find out who they are playing AAU for.

2024s:

Nike EYBL--Atlanta, GA
New York Rens--Tyler Betsey F
Phenom University--Kon Knueppel G, Jack Daugherty F
Team Takeover--Donnie Freeman F, Nate Guerengomba G, Patrick Ngongba III F, Garrett Sundra F
Florida Rebels--Liam McNeeley F
Arizona Unity--Jovan Milicevic F
Howard Pulley--Jackson McAndrew F

Adidas 3SSB--Council Bluffs, IA
Indiana Elite--Cooper Koch F, Travis Perry G, Raleigh Burgess C (currently injured)
BABC--Caleb Middleton C
Utah Prospects--Jaxson Johnson F
Brookwood Elite--Oliver Faubert F

Under Armor--Mesa, AZ
Team Thrill--Luke Bamgboye C
KC Run GMC--TJ Williams G
Breakaway Basketball--Jason Jakstys C
Illinois Wolves--Cole Certa G, Jaheem Webber C
ProOne Basketball--Ty Davis G

NXT League--St. Louis, MO
Iowa Barnstormers--Caden Wilkins F

NY2LA--Indianapolis, IN
MidPro Academy--Braylon Roman G

2025s-- keep in mind that some of these guys may play "up" a grade with 17U ball.

EYBL
Florida Rebels--Joshua Lewis F
Bradley Beal--Jeremiah Fears G
Mean Streets--Melvin Bell G, Trey McKenney G
Indy Heat--Trent Sisley F, Jalen Haralson G
Expressions Elite--Jason Sonon G, Jaylen Harrell G
Howard Pulley--Jalen Wilson G
MacIrvinFire--Aleks Alston G
ProSkills--Hudson Greer F

3SSB
Indiana Elite--Malachi Moreno C, Dezmon Briscoe F
D1 Minnesota--Jack McCaffery F
BABC-- Erhunmwunse Oswin C
Team Loaded-- Nate Ament F
Mass Rivals--Ebuka Okorie G

UAA
Wisconsin PGC--Kai Rogers C, TJ Stutley G
KC Run GMC--Amalachi Wilkins F
Martin Bros Select--Davis Kern F, Caleb Haack F

NY2LA
MidPro Academy-- Braden Freeman F

RL Hoops--Kansas City, MO
All Iowa Attack--Trevin Jirak F

 

[skydog0784]

Hey all, last year I had fun with writing up these AAU weekend posts and following who the coaches are watching, so I figured I would do them again this year. For those that are new to this, coaches cannot go out at watch or talk in person with recruits during the summer with a few exceptions--"live" recruiting weekends are one of those times that they can, so coaches will be out around the country watching AAU games and recruiting Friday-Sunday. Last year it was pretty clear after the first few live weekends that Fran had made TJ Power, JP Estrella and a few others his priority--we all know what eventually happened with those recruitments later on, but we should have a sense of who is on top of the recruiting board after 1 or 2 of these weekends. Fran seems to like to make his priorities known to the kid by following him around--last year I don't think he missed a single game of TJ Power's all summer.

2024 recruiting is kind of at an interesting spot. We have the 2 open scholarships that may or may not be filled via the portal/Nimmers. Krikke's scholarship is earmarked for 2024 commit Cooper Koch. And of course we have 2 true seniors on this year's squad in Patrick McCaffery and Tony Perkins who both could utilize their covid year to return for the 2024-25 season.

I tried to make this list as comprehensive as possible. If you think I missed someone who we are recruiting, please let me know and I will happily edit the post and find out who they are playing AAU for.

2024s:

Nike EYBL--Atlanta, GA
New York Rens--Tyler Betsey F
Phenom University--Kon Knueppel G, Jack Daugherty F
Team Takeover--Donnie Freeman F, Nate Guerengomba G, Patrick Ngongba III F, Garrett Sundra F
Florida Rebels--Liam McNeeley F
Arizona Unity--Jovan Milicevic F
Howard Pulley--Jackson McAndrew F

Adidas 3SSB--Council Bluffs, IA
Indiana Elite--Cooper Koch F, Travis Perry G, Raleigh Burgess C (currently injured)
BABC--Caleb Middleton C

Under Armor--Mesa, AZ
Team Thrill--Luke Bamgboye C
KC Run GMC--TJ Williams G
Breakaway Basketball--Jason Jakstys C
Illinois Wolves--Cole Certa G, Jaheem Webber C

NXT League--St. Louis, MO
Iowa Barnstormers--Caden Wilkins F

NY2LA--Indianapolis, IN
MidPro Academy--Braylon Roman G

2025s-- keep in mind that some of these guys may play "up" a grade with 17U ball.

EYBL
Florida Rebels--Joshua Lewis F
Bradley Beal--Jeremiah Fears G
Mean Streets--Melvin Bell G, Trey McKenney G
Indy Heat--Trent Sisley F, Jalen Haralson G
Expressions Elite--Jason Sonon G
Howard Pulley--Jalen Wilson G
MacIrvinFire--Aleks Alston G

3SSB
Indiana Elite--Malachi Moreno C, Dezmon Briscoe F
D1 Minnesota--Jack McCaffery F

UAA
Wisconsin PGC--Kai Rogers C, TJ Stutley G
KC Run GMC--Amalachi Wilkins F
Martin Bros Select--Davis Kern F, Caleb Haack F

NY2LA
MidPro Academy-- Braden Freeman F

Thank you for doing this HawkHoops, this is good info and fun to follow…

 

[Franisdaman]

2024 recruiting is kind of at an interesting spot. We have the 2 open scholarships that may or may not be filled via the portal/Nimmers. Krikke's scholarship is earmarked for 2024 commit Cooper Koch. And of course we have 2 true seniors on this year's squad in Patrick McCaffery and Tony Perkins who both could utilize their covid year to return for the 2024-25 season.

I tried to make this list as comprehensive as possible. If you think I missed someone who we are recruiting, please let me know and I will happily edit the post and find out who they are playing AAU for.

2024s:

Nike EYBL--Atlanta, GA
New York Rens--Tyler Betsey F
Phenom University--Kon Knueppel G, Jack Daugherty F
Team Takeover--Donnie Freeman F, Nate Guerengomba G, Patrick Ngongba III F, Garrett Sundra F
Florida Rebels--Liam McNeeley F
Arizona Unity--Jovan Milicevic F
Howard Pulley--Jackson McAndrew F

Adidas 3SSB--Council Bluffs, IA
Indiana Elite--Cooper Koch F, Travis Perry G, Raleigh Burgess C (currently injured)
BABC--Caleb Middleton C

Under Armor--Mesa, AZ
Team Thrill--Luke Bamgboye C
KC Run GMC--TJ Williams G
Breakaway Basketball--Jason Jakstys C
Illinois Wolves--Cole Certa G, Jaheem Webber C

NXT League--St. Louis, MO
Iowa Barnstormers--Caden Wilkins F

NY2LA--Indianapolis, IN
MidPro Academy--Braylon Roman G

2025s-- keep in mind that some of these guys may play "up" a grade with 17U ball.

EYBL
Florida Rebels--Joshua Lewis F
Bradley Beal--Jeremiah Fears G
Mean Streets--Melvin Bell G, Trey McKenney G
Indy Heat--Trent Sisley F, Jalen Haralson G
Expressions Elite--Jason Sonon G
Howard Pulley--Jalen Wilson G
MacIrvinFire--Aleks Alston G

3SSB
Indiana Elite--Malachi Moreno C, Dezmon Briscoe F
D1 Minnesota--Jack McCaffery F

UAA
Wisconsin PGC--Kai Rogers C, TJ Stutley G
KC Run GMC--Amalachi Wilkins F
Martin Bros Select--Davis Kern F, Caleb Haack F

NY2LA
MidPro Academy-- Braden Freeman F

RL Hoops--Kansas City, MO
All Iowa Attack--Trevin Jirak F

Good stuff. Staff will be busy.

Some thoughts: I have been updating my 2024 recruiting thread and keeping track of open scholarships since June, 2022. As you and I discussed (and agreed) last weekend in that thread, there are 4 open scholarships right now (not 2, as you wrote above) because Tony & PMac have not given any indication on what their plans are beyond next season. And who knows what PMac will do, with the mental health issues he's dealing with. If things have changed over the last few days and if either is definitely coming back for 2024-2025, let me know and I will update my thread and change the # of open scholarships available from 4 to 3 or 2.

This is what I wrote in the 2024 recruiting thread on how the 4 open scholarships for 2024 eventually could get allocated.

* PMac and/or Tony could take one or two of them if they use their free covid year.

* If a transfer (who Fran adds this spring) has more than one year remaining, that would take away another scholarship.

* The staff obviously has some high school prospects who they've offered who are high on their board (it will be interesting to see who the coaching staff is watching this spring and summer). Will any of them commit?

You replied with "yeah I agree with this take."


This is what you will find in the original post of my 2024 recruiting thread, showing where things currently stand (9 on scholarship, 4 scholarships available):


Updated April 17, 2023

We currently have 4 scholarships available the 2024 class. This number, of course, will change as players commit to the 2023 & 2024 classes and as players come and go via the Transfer Portal or leave early for the NBA Draft.

The covid "free year" issue: at one time we had 6 players scheduled to graduate/be done in May, 2024: Keegan Murray (entered 2022 NBA Draft), Josh Ogundele (entered transfer portal), Ahron Ulis (entered transfer portal), Kris Murray (declared for the 2023 NBA Draft), Tony Perkins and Patrick McCaffery. Will Tony and/or PMac take advantage of the free, additional covid year and return for the 2024-2025 season? If so, they would count against the 13 scholarship limit. Stay tuned.


In Men's basketball, of course, you can have 13 on scholarship.


2024-2025 Roster (9 on Scholarship; 4 scholarships available):


FRESHMEN: 1 player

6'7" PF Cooper Koch (****)


SOPHOMORES: 4 players

6"10" C Owen Freeman (***)

6'0" PG Brock Harding (***)

6'7" SF Pryce Sandfort (***)

6'8" PF Ladji Dembele (****)


JUNIORS: 2 players

6'3" PG Dasonte Bowen (***)

6'5" SG Josh Dix (***)


SENIORS: 2 players

6'7" F Payton Sandfort (***)

6'11" C Riley Mulvey (***)


Notable Walk on players:

SENIORS: 1 player

Luc Laketa--a 2021 6'6" wing/forward; on May 13, 2021, it was announced he would be joining the roster as a preferred walk on.


JUNIORS: 1 player

Carter Kingsbury--a 2021 6'5", 230 lb shooting guard; on July 10, 2021, it was announced he would be joining the roster as a preferred walk on. Carter ended up redshirting the 2021-2022 season so he is now scheduled to graduate in 2026.


SOPHOMORES: 1 player

Amarion Nimmers--a 2022 6'3" combo guard; on April 30, 2022, it was announced he would be joining the roster as a preferred walk on. On Nov 14, 2022, it was announced that Amarion would redshirt during the 2022-2023 season so he is now scheduled to graduate in 2027.



LINK:

2024 Recruiting. Orig Post Updated April 17th. 28 Offers So Far (incl. Cooper Koch). 4 Scholarships Available (NOT counting PMac & Tony)

Updated April 17, 2023 We currently have 4 scholarships available the 2024 class. This number, of course, will change as players commit to the 2023 & 2024 classes and as players come and go via the Transfer Portal or leave early for the NBA Draft. The covid "free year" issue: at one time we...

iowa.forums.rivals.com

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Thanks for all of the work and info guys. Almost too much to take in, until the coaches narrow down their targets a little. Adding Krikke and possibly Mack have little impact on future recruiting, which seems desirable with Owen and Ladji on board as freshmen, hopefully ready for big roles in 2024. What about Brauns, who some say is a sure addition, maybe off scholarship? Does he have 2 years left to play? The team is going to change more this coming year than it has in a while, so predicting the future seems really hard...

 

[HawkHoops80]

Thanks for all of the work and info guys. Almost too much to take in, until the coaches narrow down their targets a little. Adding Krikke and possibly Mack have little impact on future recruiting, which seems desirable with Owen and Ladji on board as freshmen, hopefully ready for big roles in 2024. What about Brauns, who some say is a sure addition, maybe off scholarship? Does he have 2 years left to play? The team is going to change more this coming year than it has in a while, so predicting the future seems really hard...

Brauns will have 2 years to play. If Iowa doesn't land Mack I would be surprised if he isn't on scholarship, but I guess I don't have any inside info on that. We shall see.

 

[Franisdaman]

Thanks for all of the work and info guys. Almost too much to take in, until the coaches narrow down their targets a little. Adding Krikke and possibly Mack have little impact on future recruiting, which seems desirable with Owen and Ladji on board as freshmen, hopefully ready for big roles in 2024. What about Brauns, who some say is a sure addition, maybe off scholarship? Does he have 2 years left to play? The team is going to change more this coming year than it has in a while, so predicting the future seems really hard...

There are constant moving pieces, that's for sure. Last year Ogundele was gone and then he was back. We all assumed Connor was done and then he decided to come back and we still had 2 scholarships we didn't use.

For 2024-2025, it will be interesting to see if both PMac & Tony take advantage of the free covid year. If so, Fran only has 2 more scholarships to give out. I think this is why it is hard for Fran to offer prospects like Caden Wilkins when he might have just 2 scholarships left and he has prospects higher up on the board that they'd like to land.

It will be interesting to see if Mulvey is still around for his senior year as well.

 

[HawkHoops80]

I am here in Council Bluffs for the Adidas circuit. Fran and Eldridge are here

 

[perryhawk]

Hey all, last year I had fun with writing up these AAU weekend posts and following who the coaches are watching, so I figured I would do them again this year. For those that are new to this, coaches cannot go out at watch or talk in person with recruits during the summer with a few exceptions--"live" recruiting weekends are one of those times that they can, so coaches will be out around the country watching AAU games and recruiting Friday-Sunday. Last year it was pretty clear after the first few live weekends that Fran had made TJ Power, JP Estrella and a few others his priority--we all know what eventually happened with those recruitments later on, but we should have a sense of who is on top of the recruiting board after 1 or 2 of these weekends. Fran seems to like to make his priorities known to the kid by following him around--last year I don't think he missed a single game of TJ Power's all summer.

2024 recruiting is kind of at an interesting spot. We have the 2 open scholarships that may or may not be filled via the portal/Nimmers. Krikke's scholarship is earmarked for 2024 commit Cooper Koch. And of course we have 2 true seniors on this year's squad in Patrick McCaffery and Tony Perkins who both could utilize their covid year to return for the 2024-25 season.

I tried to make this list as comprehensive as possible. If you think I missed someone who we are recruiting, please let me know and I will happily edit the post and find out who they are playing AAU for.

2024s:

Nike EYBL--Atlanta, GA
New York Rens--Tyler Betsey F
Phenom University--Kon Knueppel G, Jack Daugherty F
Team Takeover--Donnie Freeman F, Nate Guerengomba G, Patrick Ngongba III F, Garrett Sundra F
Florida Rebels--Liam McNeeley F
Arizona Unity--Jovan Milicevic F
Howard Pulley--Jackson McAndrew F

Adidas 3SSB--Council Bluffs, IA
Indiana Elite--Cooper Koch F, Travis Perry G, Raleigh Burgess C (currently injured)
BABC--Caleb Middleton C

Under Armor--Mesa, AZ
Team Thrill--Luke Bamgboye C
KC Run GMC--TJ Williams G
Breakaway Basketball--Jason Jakstys C
Illinois Wolves--Cole Certa G, Jaheem Webber C

NXT League--St. Louis, MO
Iowa Barnstormers--Caden Wilkins F

NY2LA--Indianapolis, IN
MidPro Academy--Braylon Roman G

2025s-- keep in mind that some of these guys may play "up" a grade with 17U ball.

EYBL
Florida Rebels--Joshua Lewis F
Bradley Beal--Jeremiah Fears G
Mean Streets--Melvin Bell G, Trey McKenney G
Indy Heat--Trent Sisley F, Jalen Haralson G
Expressions Elite--Jason Sonon G
Howard Pulley--Jalen Wilson G
MacIrvinFire--Aleks Alston G

3SSB
Indiana Elite--Malachi Moreno C, Dezmon Briscoe F
D1 Minnesota--Jack McCaffery F

UAA
Wisconsin PGC--Kai Rogers C, TJ Stutley G
KC Run GMC--Amalachi Wilkins F
Martin Bros Select--Davis Kern F, Caleb Haack F

NY2LA
MidPro Academy-- Braden Freeman F

RL Hoops--Kansas City, MO
All Iowa Attack--Trevin Jirak F

Awesome stuff.....thank you so much for doing this!!!

 

[HawkHoops80]

Indiana Elite & Cooper Koch up now. Fran, Izzo, Pearl, Caliparri, Buzz Williams and Shaka Smart all watching

 

[Franisdaman]

Too bad 4 star and 6'10 PF Raleigh Burgess (Cooper's AAU teammate) is injured.

Raleigh took an unofficial visit the weekend of Sat Sep 17, 2022 (Nevada football game).

 

[HawkHoops80]

Watching Jack McCaffery now.
Coop had a good game—hit several open 3s, played passing lanes on defense well.

Sounds like Gatens is at Under Armor and Sherm is at EYBL

 

[HawkHoops80]

 

[Franisdaman]

Rivals reports him with 2 offers so far: Auburn & Georgia Tech

 

[HawkHoops80]

Jack was the best player on the court and it wasn’t even really close. He just does a lot of things really well— good ball handler at that size, had some nice post moves, made good decisions.

Xzavion Robinson is a hell of an athlete and posterized a kid right at the end of the game to seal it.

 

[Franisdaman]

Jack was the best player on the court and it wasn’t even really close. He just does a lot of things really well— good ball handler at that size, had some nice post moves, made good decisions.

Xzavion Robinson is a hell of an athlete and posterized a kid right at the end of the game to seal it.

it appears Jack's biggest weakness is who his father is

 

[HawkHoops80]

 

[HawkHoops80]

 

[HawkHoops80]

New name to watch.

 

[Franisdaman]

View embedded media

New name to watch.

Not sure it's a new name.

I have had him listed in the orig post of my 2024 Recruiting thread under "Iowa is interested but has not yet offered."

Fran was watching him in AAU games almost a year ago, on July 7, 2022.

He's a smart kid, too; he has a 4.05 GPA.


From July 7, 2022:

 

[perryhawk]

You two posters combine to provide better basketball recruiting coverage than the paid sites……thank you!!

 

[Franisdaman]

Jack was the best player on the court and it wasn’t even really close. He just does a lot of things really well— good ball handler at that size, had some nice post moves, made good decisions.

Xzavion Robinson is a hell of an athlete and posterized a kid right at the end of the game to seal it.

In the video that follows, Jack had a steal, leading up to the poster.

Jack then had a block.

Nice to see him playing some nice D. And you can't teach 6'9. Good grief, I wonder if he's done growing....

Check this out & Watch:

 

[HawkHoops80]

Fran down at eybl today. Watching Guerengomba, Ngongba, Sundra, and Donnie Freeman this morning for TTO

 

[HawkHoops80]

Eldridge still here in Council Bluffs. He’s watching the Indiana Elite 15s now with Painter.

Koch is scheduled to play at 10:40

 

[HawkHoops80]

 

[Franisdaman]

8:09 a.m. ET: Iowa head coach Fran McCaffrey is here watching five-star small forward Liam McNeeley.
— Jamie Shaw, National Basketball Recruiting Analyst


Iowa offered Liam on July 23, 2021.

Liam has not visited Iowa City.

 

[HawkHoops80]

 

[HawkHoops80]

8:09 a.m. ET: Iowa head coach Fran McCaffrey is here watching five-star small forward Liam McNeeley.
— Jamie Shaw, National Basketball Recruiting Analyst


Iowa offered Liam on July 23, 2021.

Liam has not visited Iowa City.

View embedded media

While Liam was playing in the game, Fran was probably there watching Nate Guerengomba, Donnie Freeman, Patrick Ngongba and Garret Sundra as that’s who Liam’s team was playing.

 

[Franisdaman]

While Liam was playing in the game, Fran was probably there watching Nate Guerengomba, Donnie Freeman, Patrick Ngongba and Garret Sundra as that’s who Liam’s team was playing.

just quoting Jamie Shaw, the National Basketball Recruiting Analyst who does this stuff for a living...unlike us....

 

[HawkHoops80]

Cooper Koch had another nice game. Ended with 17 points and was 3-6 from 3. He’s a good passer as well.
Flory Bidunga, Koch’s teammate, is the real deal. That dude is going to make a lot of money playing basketball.

 

[HawkHoops80]

Fran watching Liam McNeeley and Jeremiah Fears

 

[HawkHoops80]

Sherm watching Jalen Wilson v Trent Sisley&Jalen Haralson

Gatens just walked past me here in Council Bluffs.

 

[Franisdaman]

8:09 a.m. ET: Iowa head coach Fran McCaffrey is here watching five-star small forward Liam McNeeley.
— Jamie Shaw, National Basketball Recruiting Analyst


Iowa offered Liam on July 23, 2021.

Liam has not visited Iowa City.

View embedded media

Now that Fran is watching Liam for the 2nd time today, I guess he thinks he has a chance.

 

[hawkjt]

I am pleased to see Fran pursuing guys like Dembele(African big men) who seem to be flocking to the US these days.
It feels like we might have more success with these recruits who might not have grown up as blueblood fans unlike US born recruits.
Go Fran go!

 

[HawkHoops80]

 

[HawkHoops80]

Koch had 14 on 4/5 shooting from 3. Indiana Elite is just so much better than some teams and blew out both of their opponents today.

 

[HawkHoops80]

Fran is back in Council Bluffs to watch Jack. Not the best performance out of him—needs to be stronger with the ball.

 

[HawkHoops80]

Fran and Gatens watching Indiana Elite 16s Malachi Moreno and Dezmon Briscoe. Fran is the only HC here.

 

[HawkHoops80]

 

[HawkHoops80]

Watching 2025 Jason Sonon

 

[HawkHoops80]

Koch finished a very good weekend strong. 15 points on 3/4 shooting from 3. Hit one of his threes in transition after he grabbed the defensive rebound and led the fast break. Scored on a post up with a baby hook. Continues to impress me as a passer, especially with his post-entry stuff. Indiana Elite won in a blowout again.

He’s already very good, but adding 5-10 pounds of muscle once he gets into a college weight program will do wonders.

Fran and Gatens in attendance.