North Dakota Preps

ND Preps has been a little slow the past couple of months since the season ended. Figured it would be good to get a little debate going. Since we are a little over halfway into this decade, who are your top players from the decade, organized by regions preferably. List it however you want (starters with key reserves, top 15 players overall, etc.)

Top 10, no particular order, simply my opinion.

Adam Randall- Kidder County
Phillip Schanillac- Midway Minto
Melvin Langstaff- Warwick
Dan Yale- Berthold
Jacob Hagler- North Star
Jacob Volk- Trinity
Trevor Zacher- Beulah
Brad Heidlebaugh- Rugby
Hayden Sadowsky- Hettinger Scranton
Brody Nieuwsma- Strasburg Zeeland

The Schwab wrote:Top 10, no particular order, simply my opinion.

Adam Randall- Kidder County
Phillip Schanillac- Midway Minto
Melvin Langstaff- Warwick
Dan Yale- Berthold
Jacob Hagler- North Star
Jacob Volk- Trinity
Trevor Zacher- Beulah
Brad Heidlebaugh- Rugby
Hayden Sadowsky- Hettinger Scranton
Brody Nieuwsma- Strasburg Zeeland

I've been a big Niewsma fan for some time, but I don't think he is at the same level as most of these players and he is better than Sadowsky. I can think of 3-4 players from Region 3 alone that I would put ahead of Brody and I don't think I can make a great argument for their inclusion.

Who are the players from Region 3 since 2010 that you would rank higher? I may put Trent R from Linton on there, it was an absolute joke that he wasn't all state as a senior.

The Schwab wrote:Top 10, no particular order, simply my opinion.

Adam Randall- Kidder County
Phillip Schanillac- Midway Minto
Melvin Langstaff- Warwick
Dan Yale- Berthold
Jacob Hagler- North Star
Jacob Volk- Trinity
Trevor Zacher- Beulah
Brad Heidlebaugh- Rugby
Hayden Sadowsky- Hettinger Scranton
Brody Nieuwsma- Strasburg Zeeland

I am most familiar with Region 1 players. There should be a minimum of 2 players from Region 1 on any list for "half decade team". First Britton Bussman from Milnor. I he was dominant in high school without having to take a million shots. He started as a freshman at VCSU and transferred after one year to MSUM and redshirted. I have heard that they are excited about his prospects this coming season. My #2 player from region 1 would be Jordan Haseleu a point guard from Maple Valley. I can only think of 2 points in the last 15 years I would rank higher than Jordan (1. Craig Nelson MPCG and #2 Jacob Hagler North Star).

Schwab, I like your list for the most part. But, Brody, Hayden, and Volk (I may be in the minority on Volk, I only saw him in the state tourney and wasn't impressed as he didn't seem very athletic) are all players I would put behind a number of region 1 players I didn't mention. Langstaff I only saw once in person and he shot a lot. He was smooth, but I'm not sure what to think. Is he currently playing somewhere? It is difficult because each player, no matter who we talk about, is stuck in their particular situation (teammates, coaches, competition) which can influence positively or negatively how their play is perceived.

Bussman was in my thought process, I'd have no problem having him on that team. Volk was a very very good high school player, he played at DSU for a time. What region 1 players would you have in front of those 3 guys?

The Schwab wrote:Bussman was in my thought process, I'd have no problem having him on that team. Volk was a very very good high school player, he played at DSU for a time. What region 1 players would you have in front of those 3 guys?

Ok, I'll play. But I want to limit things a little bit and instead of comparing to all 3, I'll just compare to Brody. I'm just going to give a list of players from region 1 that graduated from 2011-2016, so I am taking underclassmen out of this. In no particular order...
James Richman Maple Valley. His size and leaping just are not found often in B. On UND's bench
Carter Mauch Hankinson. Bigger and better athlete than Brody. Very efficient and did it all. FB U-Mary
Carter Kretchman OG. Beyond clutch. We all saw what he did at state his junior year.
Ellery Bresnahan Central Cass. Brody has size over Ellery, but Ellery has every other category. UND Baseball
Josh Hansana North Sargent. Silky smooth athlete and leaper. Efficient. Football NDSCS and VCSU
Justin Arp Sargent Central. WOW D1 football athlete that made opponents look like little brothers. NDSU FB
Jeff Illies Wyndmere Lidgerwood. D1 football athlete. Man among boys. NDSU FB
Evan Holt OG. Big, strong, athletic, strong shooter. Played significant role in MSUM's tourney run this spring.
Christian Adams OG. I feel he may be the most even player compared to Brody. Just was in a much different situation with his team.
Wyatt Mund Milnor. He made good athlete look slow as he was so smooth with the ball.
D'Angelo Burns F-C-T. Very good scorer like Brody, and in the same type of situation where he also needed to take a lot of shots. I give him the nod over Brody because he handles the ball better. Was at NDSCS BB

Please don't take what I wrote as trying to cut Brody or the other 2 players I originally mentioned down. They are all very good all-state caliber players. But when you stat to talk about the best in the state over a 5 year run they competition goes up dramatically.

All of those guys listed are very very athletic, as is Brody. When it comes to just basketball, and what they did in Basketball, I will take Brody.

I am going to admit my bias right out front but a player who never really seemed to get his due when he was playing is Adam White. I am not sure you will find many more productive post players this decade or certainly over a 4 year high school career. Honestly cant think of a game where he wasnt guarded by a double or triple team or some type of junk defense, even when going up against other all staters.

And I would take both Jon Purintun and Aaron Stemen over Niewsma and Sadowsky as I believe they were better overall players and certainly better defenders than Brody.

The Schwab wrote:Top 10, no particular order, simply my opinion.

Adam Randall- Kidder County
Phillip Schanillac- Midway Minto
Melvin Langstaff- Warwick
Dan Yale- Berthold
Jacob Hagler- North Star
Jacob Volk- Trinity
Trevor Zacher- Beulah
Brad Heidlebaugh- Rugby
Hayden Sadowsky- Hettinger Scranton
Brody Nieuwsma- Strasburg Zeeland

I'd be intrigued to see an All-Decade team from each region...a whole state is just too tough to do IMO. Several good names listed here...several good names missing. Maybe 15 players would have been easier then 10...but someone will always be left off the list.

Region 7 All Decade Team:

Beulah- Trevor Zacher, Casey Duppong
Trinity- Jacob Volk, Robbie Morey
New England- Dan Prince
Hettinger-Scranton- Hayden Sadowsky
Beach- Landon Lechler
Bowman- Brock Boos
Mott-Regent- Chad Mosbrucker
Hazen- Austin Cieslak

There's a rough top 10 for region 7

Austin Default graduated in 2008. He should be there somewhere. I'd take Stetson Carr over Cieslak as well.

I was approaching this as from 2010 to present, but if it's the last 10 years, the Dufault would be on the list without a doubt. I also thought about Stetson Carr as well, that was probably my toughest decision.

I missed that in the original post. I assumed you were only taking kids that are finished as well since no Wyatt Carr.

correct

EHS who would be your top 10 or 15 from region 3 since that seems to be your area of expertise? d_fense how about region 1?

baloncesto wrote:EHS who would be your top 10 or 15 from region 3 since that seems to be your area of expertise? d_fense how about region 1?

I'll take a stab at Region 1 tonight...plenty of names to choose from in that region.

baloncesto wrote:EHS who would be your top 10 or 15 from region 3 since that seems to be your area of expertise

Hard to put the word expert anywhere near my name but I'll give it a shot. Keeping it to 15.

2010 - Present

LHMB - Trent Roemmich, Tanner Purintun, Jon Purintun
Napoleon - Wade Rath Wald
Kidder County - Adam Randall
Strasburg Zeeland - Brody Niewsma
South Border - Hunter Pinke, Michael Jacobson
Central Prairie - Nic Moser
LLM - Aaron Stemen, Tyler Thielges, Brady Thielges
Edgeley Kulm - Connor Entzi
Ellendale - Tanner White, Adam White

Oakes, BCN, PBK, MK and Litchville Marion all have had some exceptional players but none that I would rank ahead of those listed above.

Some honorable mentions... Bryce Meehl Oakes, Anthony Olson LLM, Jared Meiklejon LLM, Brennen Vance Ellendale, Ryan Schneider LHMB, Jonah Swartzenberger Napoleon, Dillon Carpenter LM, ? Smith from LM, Kelsey Larson LHMB. I'm sure I am missing some.

Drew Thielges should also be in the HM list at a minimum.

baloncesto wrote:EHS who would be your top 10 or 15 from region 3 since that seems to be your area of expertise? d_fense how about region 1?

Here is my list of 15 from 2010-2011 through seniors this year from Region 1.
Milnor- Britton Bussman ‘14, Wyatt Mund ‘14
W/L- Jeff Illies ‘14
Hankinson- Carter Mauch ‘15
M/V- Jordan Haseleu ‘14, James Richman ‘14
C.C.- Ellery Bresnahan ‘13
O.G.- Evan Holt ‘11, Carter Kretchman ‘15, Christian Adams ‘15
Enderlin- Daniel Lindgren ‘15, Graham Hurlburt ‘16
N.S.- Josh Hansana ‘12
FCT- D’Angelo Burns ‘14
Sargent Central- Justin Arp ‘12
Kindred- Eric Bachmeierh’14

The Class of ’14 was loaded.

Some players that I considered, that didn’t make the cut, but I thought I’d mention….. Austin Johnson ’11 Milnor, Andrew Greenmyer ’11 North Sargent, Shayden Akason ’11 OG, Jordan Funfar ’13 OG, Mattew Workin ’14 Richland, Dawson Peterson ’14 North Sargent, Grady Bresnahan ’16 Central Cass, and Cody Springer ’16 Northern Cass.

Region 5 all-decade team (random order) 2010-present:
Adam Peltier- TLMM
Brett Schreiner- Washburn
Jeff Rasmussen- Washburn
Taylor Krenz- Flasher
Zackary Schmidt- Flasher
Peyton Gabrielson- Flasher
Joey Dwyer- Shiloh
Zac Martin- Shiloh
Donovan Lambert- Shiloh
Mykle Rud- Garrison
Kendrick Eagle- Solen
Dystin Luger- Solen
Dustin Iverson- Grant County
Kole Iron Shield- Standing Rock
Cory Keating- Wilton Wing

Honorable Mentions:
Kevin Klemisch- TLMM
Kenneth Thunder Hawk- Solen
Aaron Hultstrand- Shiloh
Spencer Rebel- New Salem
Ian MacDonald- Garrison
Kirby Saint John- Standing Rock

Here are some good players that graduated in 2010 that I did not count because of how briefly they played in this decade: Christian Iron Shield- Standing Rock, Jared Kautzman- New Salem, Jarad Wolf- New Salem, Shea Brown- Center, Grant Singer- TLMM.

District 15 all decade team 2010-present IMO

Parshall- Jaren Enockson Cole Hendrickson

New Town- Mike Young Bird Jr Alex Baker Preston Smith one of the Grady boys

Manderee- Devin Yellow Wolf, Mike Deville

Stanley- Jordan Schell and i think there was a Smith that was pretty good i don't remember lol

North Shore Plaza- Dustin Bailey and i think there was an Edwards to if i remember right

Watford City- Trey Jacobson Nick Liebel

Anyone want to revisit this topic now that the decade is coming to a close, we have some down time, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we could really use some sports/sports talk?

Region 1 Top 20 Players of the Decade: 2010-11 through 2019-20 (Grouped by Team)

Shayden Akason, Oak Grove
Evan Holt, Oak Grove
Carter Kretchman, Oak Grove
Christian Adams, Oak Grove
Andrew Christianson, Oak Grove
Briton Bussman, Minor
Wyatt Mund, Milnor
Jake Hanson, Milnor/North Sargent
Carter Mauch, Hankinson
Cody Mauch, Hankinson
Jordan Haseleu, Maple Valley
James Richman, Maple Valley
Ellery Bresnahan, Central Cass
Matt Zimmerman, Central Cass
Jeff Illies, Wyndmere-Lidgerwood
Cole Myers, Richland
Logan Nelson, Northern Cass
D’Angelo Burns, FCT (now Tri-State)
Graham Hurlburt, Enderlin
Eric Bachmeier, KIndred

Run4Fun2009 wrote:Region 1 Top 20 Players of the Decade: 2010-11 through 2019-20 (Grouped by Team)

Shayden Akason, Oak Grove
Evan Holt, Oak Grove
Carter Kretchman, Oak Grove
Christian Adams, Oak Grove
Andrew Christianson, Oak Grove
Briton Bussman, Minor
Wyatt Mund, Milnor
Jake Hanson, Milnor/North Sargent
Carter Mauch, Hankinson
Cody Mauch, Hankinson
Jordan Haseleu, Maple Valley
James Richman, Maple Valley
Ellery Bresnahan, Central Cass
Matt Zimmerman, Central Cass
Jeff Illies, Wyndmere-Lidgerwood
Cole Myers, Richland
Logan Nelson, Northern Cass
D’Angelo Burns, FCT (now Tri-State)
Graham Hurlburt, Enderlin
Eric Bachmeier, KIndred

Run: Pretty impressive list. I might swap Grady Bresnahan for Matt Zimmerman from CC. Both very good players, I believe the younger Bresnahan was an all-state selection his senior year. Pretty talented family. Also, nice get on Illies, I had forgotten about him.