Minnesota High School Grads in Division I (Men) by Alan Holst

This is a look at the season so far by Minnesota high school products playing Division I men’s basketball. It is written by my friend Alan Holst who tracks this sort of thing a lot more rigorously than I do. Thanks, Alan.

The best Minnesota high school product has been Jon Leuer, who leads all Minnesotans in scoring and seems likely to be drafted by the NBA this June, possibly in the first round. Leuer and Jordan Taylor have combined to score half of Wisconsin’s points so far this season.

Noah Dahlman, Jamar Diggs and Cameron Rundles have combined to score 60% of Wofford’s points so far this season.

The Gophers often start four Minnesota high school products. Wisconsin (Mike Bruesewitz in addition to Leuer and Taylor) and Wofford start three on a regular basis.

Nine Minnesota high school products lead Division I teams in scoring.

FIVE BEST PLAYERS Major Conferences

Blake Hoffarber (Hopkins) Minnesota 13.6 ppg, 4.6 apg, 3.4 rpg, 1.5 spg, .423 fg, .828 ft, .394 3pg leads Gophers in scoring, assists, free throw percentage, and has half of his team’s 3’s

Jon Leuer (Orono) Wisconsin 19.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.6 bpg, .485 fg, .810 ft, .466 3pg leads Badgers in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots

Trent Lockett (Hopkins) Arizona State 14.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.7 apg, 0.9 spg, .571 fg, .678 ft, .222 3pg leads team in scoring and rebounding, second in assists

Trevor Mbakwe (St. Bernard’s, Henry Sibley) Minnesota 13.4 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 1.2 bpg, 1.0 spg, 0.6 apg, .617 fg, .585 ft leads Gophers in rebounding and field goal percentage, second in scoring

Jordan Taylor (Benilde-St. Margaret’s) Wisconsin 16.1 ppg, 4.9 apg, 3.9 rpg, 0.9 spg, .437 fg, .871 ft, .377 3pg leads Badgers in assists and steals, second in scoring

FIVE BEST PLAYERS Other Conferences

Kwadzo Ahelegbe (Tartan) Northern Iowa 12.6 ppg, 2.2 apg, .391 fg, .833 ft, .259 3pg leads team in scoring and assists

Noah Dahlman (Braham) Wofford 19.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.5 apg, .565 fg, .796 ft leads team in scoring, second in rebounding, reigning Southern Conference Player of the Year

Jamar Diggs (DeLaSalle) Wofford 12.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2.2 spg, .406 fg, .795 ft, .314 3pg leads team in assists and steals

Mike Muscala (Roseville) Bucknell 13.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.3 bpg, .506 fg, .831 ft leads team in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots

Nate Wolters (St. Cloud Tech) South Dakota State 19.2 ppg, 6.1 apg, 3.8 rpg, 1.5 spg, .439 fg, .798 ft, .488 3pg leads team in scoring, assists, steals, and 3pg, 18th nationally in apg

BEST FRESHMAN

Jordair Jett (St. Bernard’s) St. Louis 9.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.2 spg, .454 fg, .548 ft, .444 3pg leads team in steals and 0.3 ppg behind team scoring leader

Honorable mention to Marshall Bjorklund (Sibley East) of North Dakota State, who is 4th nationally in field goal percentage and leading his team in rebounding.

TOP SCORING AVERAGES

19.5 Jon Leuer (Orono) Wisconsin (leads team in scoring)

19.2 Nate Wolters (St. Cloud Tech) South Dakota State (leads team in scoring)

19.1 Noah Dahlman (Braham) Wofford (leads team in scoring)

16.2 David Hanson (Maranatha) Cal Poly (l

16.2 David Hanson (Maranatha) Cal Poly (leads team in scoring)

16.1 Jordan Taylor (Benilde-St. Margaret’s) Wisconsin

16.0 Zach Filzen (Northfield) Buffalo (leads team in scoring)

15.8 Cory Johnson (Duluth East) Valparaiso

14.7 Trent Lockett (Hopkins) Arizona State (leads team in scoring)

13.8 Mike Muscala (Roseville) Bucknell (leads team in scoring)

13.6 Blake Hoffarber (Hopkins) Minnesota (leads team in scoring)

13.4 Trevor Mbakwe (St. Bernard’s, Henry Sibley) Minnesota

13.3 Cameron Rundles (DeLaSalle) Wofford

12.8 Jamar Diggs (DeLaSalle) Wofford

12.6 Kwadzo Ahelegbe (Tartan) Northern Iowa (leads team in scoring)

11.2 Eric Carlson (Shakopee) North Dakota State

10.5 Freddy Coleman (St. Paul Johnson) North Dakota State

TOP SCORING GAMES

37 Noah Dahlman vs. Elon

36 Nate Wolters vs. North Dakota State

33 Noah Dahlman vs. Xavier

33 Cory Johnson vs. Oakland

29 Jon Leuer vs. South Dakota

29 Nate Wolters vs. Southern Utah

28 David Hanson vs. Pepperdine

28 Nate Wolters vs. Western Michigan

26 Cameron Rundles vs. George Mason

25 Kwadzo Ahelegbe vs. Missouri State and TCU

25 Noah Dahlman vs. Cornell

25 Cory Johnson vs. Toledo

25 Nate Wolters vs. Iowa and Central Michigan

WHAT IF

If the Gophers started Leuer, Taylor, Hoffarber, Mbakwe, and Lockett, with Dahlman, Jared Berggren (who leads all Wisconsin reserves in scoring so far this season) and Big Ten starters Mike Bruesewitz, Al Nolen, and Rodney Williams coming off the bench, Minnesota would have an all-homegrown contender for the national championship.