Advertisement
football Edit

FREE: Iowa Mavs 15s Spring/Summer Review

Recently we had multiple readers request that we do more on the excellent
work that the coaches, players, and teams were able to do this summer on the AAU
Advertisement
basketball circuit. We have responded with a FREE look at the Iowa Mavs 16s and have contacted a number of other AAU coaches who
have helped.  A special thanks to Greg Stephen in helping track down the
information for this article. 
Other links of interest:
Top 50
Most Recruited Players |
Top
150 in 2013 |
Top
100 in 2014 |
Top 50
in 2015 |
Mr.
Basketball Rankings |
2013
Preseason Rankings |
Early
Conference Peaks |
Scholarship Offer Lists |
Top
Prospect Databases
Submitted by Brett Putz, who coached for our Mavericks program the last three
summers. Brett, a standout HS player out of Iowa in high school and then at St.
Cloud State University, took a position this fall as an Assistant Men's Coach at
St. Cloud.
As a whole, how did the spring and summer go for this team overall?
As a whole I thought the season went very well. Both teams started out a little
slow but that is to be expected for 14-15 year old experiencing AAU basketball
for the first time. I thought Ty Stumbo (Laurens-Marathon) had a fantastic
spring. He was far and way the leader on the floor for his squad and did so many
things to help his team win. He's a 6'1 pg who I think could end up being about
6'4-6'5 like his brother. Sadly, he broke his foot at a team camp and wasn't
able to compete in our summer events. I thought Treye Spencer (SE Polk) and Josh
Koeppel (Solon) did a very nice job stepping up and filling the role that was
left after Ty's injury. Both players are knock down shooters and are also
developing a nice all around game. Zach Schlabaugh (Williamsburg) and Brady
Stewart (Williamsburg) also had very nice seasons as well. Zach is as skilled of
a point guard as we've had in our program… once he grows and fills out a little
bit, he will be much more well known than he is right now- the kid can play with
anyone. Brady plays so hard and wants to help his team in any way he can. He's
very raw offensively but rebounding and defensively he is very good. Keyan
McAreavy (Clear Creek Amana) was very good this summer as well. He's a heady
combo guard who had a lot of experience playing AAU already. He was a big part
of the success we had later in the summer.
Who made the biggest strides as a player?
There is no
doubt that Roman Youngblut (Assumption) and Brian Specht (Maquoketa) made the
most strides this year. At the start of the year both players were skilled and
athletic but very tentative with how they played. To their credit, they worked
hard and by the end of the summer they were our best defenders. Both players
have a lot of potential, Roman's dad was a defensive lineman at Iowa State and
Brian's dad played college basketball in the IIAC. Both parents are 6'6 so
everyone is hoping they both continue to grow.
As a whole, how did the tournaments go overall?
We had a
lot of success at the in-state level all year. When we went to the bigger
tournaments like in Milwaukee and Minneapolis, I thought we competed very well,
we just had little mistakes that you can't have against the great teams. We
ended up winning the Consolation Bracket at the Jimmy V Classic in the Wisconsin
Dells, so that was a great way to end the summer with this group of kids. The
thing about this group is they would compete against anyone regardless of
athleticism, talent, and skill they never quit… that is big credit to them. I
can remember a couple games where we were down about 20 at half time and battled
back and made it a tie game late in the 2nd half. That's the type of team this
was, they were a lot of fun to coach.
What were the main strengths of this team?
Our post play
and shooting were by far our biggest strengths. We had a great rotation of four
quality big men to rotate throughout the summer. Hunter Grenier (Assumption) was
so consistent all year. If he didn't get the rebound he was always the first guy
down the court and got countless lay-ups off of his hustle. Sam McCarty (Osage)
might be one of the more skilled big kids around. He has great footwork and
moves around the hoop, yet sometimes he relies on his moves too much and needs
to just remember to play. He's a smart kid and sometimes thinks to much out on
the court. Joe Welch (Xavier) is very versatile as well, he's a kid who can play
both inside and out. He's very good around the high post and makes good
decisions with the basketball. Brady Cotton (Iowa City High) had a nice summer,
when his feet are set he's as good a shooter as there is, he's also developing
into a nice pg setting up his teammates nicely for open shots. Derek Smith
(Marion) is also a very good shooter and might have been our most consistent
shooter in July. He's another kids who I could see adding a few extra inches to
his frame that will really help his development.
Where can readers find out more information regarding your program?
They can visit the website at www.Iowamavs.com
or check us out on facebook (Iowa Mavericks Basketball) and twitter.
@IowaMavsAAU
Advertisement