Iowa Eight: Introducing the state's top boys' basketball talents of 2016
The Iowa Eight is the Register's preseason list of the eight best boys' basketball players in the state of Iowa. Incoming freshmen through seniors are eligible.
The team is selected based on Register staff observations and consultations with high school, college and recruiting contacts.
Jal Bijiek
School: Des Moines North
Class: 2017
Height: 6-7
Position: Forward
Key Stats: Class 4A’s runaway leader in blocked shots was credited with 112 last season, while averaging 14.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Bijiek was North’s second-leading scorer as a junior.
College choice: Mid-major interest includes offers from North Dakota and Southeast Missouri State.
Why he’s one of the Iowa Eight: Any highlight reel of Iowa high school boys’ basketball might have to devote half its clips to Bijiek’s dunks and blocks with the Polar Bears. He’s a lanky leaper who runs the floor, and those explosive plays may just be scratching the surface of his potential.
“He’s probably the most electric player in the state,” Prep Hoops Network recruiting analyst and Register contributor T.J. Rushing said. “If there’s a ball anywhere near the rim, his main objective is to soar and slam it home.”
Bijiek projects well because of a wingspan approaching seven feet and a rapidly developing skill set. His dribbling and passing improved as a junior — his first season with the varsity team — and he occasionally unleashes a turnaround jumper that is perhaps the toughest shot to defend in the state.
Bijiek’s numbers should rise as he played alongside a 20-point scorer in Dontre English last season. With crafty point guard Tyreke Locure setting him up, expect more viral videos soon.
“They’ve built this amazing chemistry,” Rushing said. “He’s going to be able to find Jal for alley-oop after alley-oop. He should lead the state in dunks.”
Xavier Foster
School: Oskaloosa
Class: 2020
Height: 6-10
Position: Center
Key Stats: Foster has yet to play a minute of varsity ball. The 14-year-old does have a wingspan of 7-1 and wears size 17 shoes.
College choice: Iowa, Iowa State and Creighton offered before high school practices even began. Top programs and blue-bloods have started sniffing around, including Kansas.
Why he’s one of the Iowa Eight: It’s too early to speculate how high Foster’s ceiling is. But USA Basketball camps, calls from college basketball’s top programs and hype around one of Iowa’s most highly-touted players over the last decade make him the first incoming freshman to earn an Iowa Eight nod.
Foster already has elite size and athleticism. Next up is the all-important learning process.
“People that come watch us — or him — will often see him play well and other times not so well,” Oskaloosa coach Ryan Parker said. “Part of that is him being 14 years old and 6-foot-10. We talk daily about handling those ups and downs.”
Fans traveling to see the state’s next big thing this season will get a variety of dunks, blocks and jump shots interspersed with freshman mistakes and growing pains. Parker says playing hard consistently against varsity competition will be a challenge for a once-dominant kid just one year removed from junior high.
Both of Foster’s parents were basketball players at William Penn, but being an Oskaloosa native could only insulate him for so long from national attention.
“You don’t want to go too high or too low on the guy,” Rivals.com national recruiting director Eric Bossi told the Register last month. “For all we know, he may be the next Harrison Barnes or the next Greg Brunner. It’s just too early to determine that.”
A.J. Green
School: Cedar Falls
Class: 2018
Height: 6-3
Position: Guard
Key Stats: Last season’s shooting percentages looked great — 47 from the field, 44 from 3-point range, 90 on free throws — and weren’t knocked by Green’s usage rate. He averaged 17.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game as a sophomore, and he played his best in big games.
College choice: Green’s father, Kyle, is a Northern Iowa assistant, but staying home is no shoo-in. UNI and Minnesota have offered, with Power 5 interest coming from Iowa State, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Stanford.
Why he’s one of the Iowa Eight: If being “clutch” is a skill, Green has it in spades. Scout.com rates the junior as a four-star recruit and the No. 87 player in his class, nationally, so his silky guard skills are unquestioned, but last season’s Class 4A semifinal run by Cedar Falls showed his competitiveness might be his best asset.
“He wants the ball in crucial situations, and he plays his best in big games,” Cedar Falls coach Ryan Schultz said. “That’s a very special characteristic in a young player.”
Green was confident stepping onto the state’s biggest stages as a sophomore. He outdueled Linn-Mar senior (and current Hawkeye) Jordan Bohannon in a substate epic, capping a 31-point game with a buzzer-beater in overtime. He controlled state tournament games and was often the only reliable scoring option.
Green is an outstanding shooter with the quickness and ball-handling to handpick the shots he wants. And he’s grown a few inches since the start of last season.
“He can flat out score in multiple ways, with range,” Schultz said. “The great thing about A.J. is that he has all the intangibles to go with the basketball ability. He’s a great leader, fiercely competitive, self-driven and intelligent. He’s really the whole package.”
Sam Ingoli
School: Dowling Catholic
Class: 2018
Height: 6-5
Position: Forward
Key Stats: The versatile wing averaged 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game as a sophomore on a balanced, senior-driven team. Ingoli also got to the free throw line for more than 30 percent of his points.
College choice: North Dakota was Ingoli’s first offer last year, and now interest is coming in at every level. Drake and South Dakota are close, with Ingoli’s contact stretching out to Virginia Tech.
Why he’s one of the Iowa Eight: Ingoli is the modern wing every coach wishes they had. Instead of trying to meet his freshman hype, the athletic guard-slash-forward dug in defensively and played within coach Mike O’Connor’s system. Ingoli’s talent and vision are on display in the open floor, but his immediate value comes as one of Iowa’s most versatile and disciplined half-court defenders.
“He can play any position, one to four,” O’Connor said. “But he can guard any position one to five.”
As Ingoli’s scoring comes along, so will increased attention. But coaches and scouts watching closely can see his impact from one possession to the next. Adding offense could make him a rising star in the CIML.
“His jump shot was always good, but I don’t believe he was confident with it last year,” O’Connor said. “That changed drastically this past summer with us and on the AAU circuit.”
Devontae Lane
School: Iowa City West
Class: 2017
Height: 6-1
Position: Guard
Key Stats: Lane averaged 12.9 points as a sophomore and 13.7 as junior while playing aggressive perimeter defense in coach Steve Bergman’s loaded lineup. Last season’s output included 78 percent free throw shooting and around two assists and steals per game.
College choice: Basketball recruitment took a backseat to football this fall, where an Eastern Michigan offer is bolstered by Power 5 interest. Mid-major hoops options are likely dependent on how this winter goes.
Why he’s one of the Iowa Eight: No player in Iowa can go from overlooked to overwhelming as fast as Lane. With a football body and aggressive approach, he’s a physical mismatch on the perimeter who has played next to stars for his entire career.
Since breaking out for 22 points in his first varsity start as a sophomore, Lane always seems on the verge of taking over the game with steals, stops, jump shots or drives to the hoop. And he’s always won games.
“Devontae’s work ethic and leadership have been much improved,” Iowa City West coach Steve Bergman said.
“He’s really trying to help the younger guys, he’s in great shape and he’s playing harder than last season.”
Able to run the point or play at off-guard, Lane has averaged 14.5 points per game in the last two seasons at Wells Fargo Arena, including 24 in a 2016 quarterfinal against Des Moines Hoover’s outstanding defense.
Connor McCaffery
School: Iowa City West
Class: 2017
Height: 6-6
Position: Guard
Key Stats: The top Trojan scorer for the last two seasons is also the primary offensive playmaker. McCaffery averaged 15.5 points and 4.9 assists per game last season leading West back to the state championship game, chipping in 37-percent shooting from 3-point range.
College choice: An Iowa recruit for his father Fran’s squad since 2014, McCaffery’s baseball talent has made the process more complicated. He’ll wait to sign and potentially try both sports with the Hawkeyes.
Why he’s one of the Iowa Eight: It’s tough being a premier player in Iowa for four whole seasons. It’s even tougher when you’re handling attention from your father’s job as head coach of the Hawkeyes. McCaffery has matured and performed admirably and retained his consensus four-star status in the process.
ESPN rates the multi-sport star as No. 84, nationally, in his senior class.
“Connor is really well-rounded,” Bergman said. “His basketball knowledge and instincts are elite level and his 3-point shooting has improved every year. I expect that to continue.”
McCaffery has been extremely productive as a big point guard, too. He’s averaged more than four assists per game in his career and has been near the top of Class 4A in free throw makes and attempts as an able slasher.
Recruiting noise has quieted since committing to his dad, but McCaffery keeps developing and winning games for West.
Austin Phyfe
School: Waverly-Shell Rock
Class: 2017
Height: 6-10
Position: Center
Key Stats: Coach Nate Steege allows Phyfe to anchor a perennially stout defense, but the post still gets his numbers. Phyfe averaged 14.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game last season while shooting an efficient 64 percent from the field.
College choice: Phyfe followed his verbal commitment to Northern Iowa by signing this month. Air Force, North Dakota and South Dakota State had also offered, with interest from Creighton and Colorado.
Why he’s one of the Iowa Eight: Phyfe is about the perfect fit for UNI coach Ben Jacobson’s program. And that may be the highest compliment to give a prep big man in Iowa. The son of former Panther post Steve Phyfe, Austin can be a skilled center, a capable passer and shooter, or a standout rebounder and enforcer.
Phyfe’s statistics will never be juiced in Waverly-Shell Rock’s defense-first system, but he gets high-profile games with one of Class 3A’s top teams.
“Number one: He is a great person on and off the court,” Steege said. “He is very unselfish and always has a team-first mentality. When you get a guy with that much size and talent with that mindset, you have a very special player.”
Phyfe held his own as a sophomore in a state tournament showdown against Dubuque Wahlert’s Cordell Pemsl, now an Iowa freshman. Last season, he developed into a double-double threat with plenty of room to grow. No more baby fat on this big man.
“He has really changed his body this offseason,” Steege said. “He is very lean and improved his athleticism. Much stronger and more explosive athlete.”
Joe Wieskamp
School: Muscatine
Class: 2018
Height: 6-6
Position: Forward
Key Stats: The wing-turned-post averaged 21.6 points and 10 rebounds per game last season, which are the top returning marks in 4A. Wieskamp shot 53 percent from the field in the process and, more importantly, got Muscatine to 15 wins and the substate finals.
College choice: A Hawkeye commit for almost 18 months, Wieskamp has continued to draw eyes at national events but is firm on his verbal.
Why he’s one of the Iowa Eight: The only reason Wieskamp wasn’t a viable Mr. Basketball candidate last season is because he was a sophomore. A consensus four-star recruit, the soft-spoken star is ranked either No. 42 or 43 nationally by major scouting services and is the first eastern Iowa player to average 20 points and 10 rebounds in a game since Jarrod Uthoff in 2011.
And he almost carried the Muskies to a stunning state tournament berth.
“Joe Wieskamp played to his ranking,” Bossi wrote at a July AAU event. “(He’s) a good-sized two-guard with athleticism and shooting touch.”
He’s been asked to play every position and protect the rim for his high school team. Former Southeast Polk coach Gary Belger is now in charge at Muscatine and knows his responsibility to the young star.
Putting Wieskamp is a position to succeed could mean pushing the Muskies over the hump. He’s that good.
“The great thing is, he’s a great team guy, a great player who makes every other athlete on the team better,” Belger told the Quad City Times. “I think the other kids will play their role too — and join in to play good defense.”
Just missed
Bailey Basala, North Scott: The former Moline, Ill., transfer is now a 6-6 senior and an Air Force commit. Basala averaged 17.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as a rangy threat in the MAC last season.
Tyreke Locure, Des Moines North: No freshman in 4A had a bigger impact than this talented point guard last season. Quickness and court vision helped Locure average 13.3 points and 7.2 assists per game.
Patrick McCaffery, Iowa City West: Connor’s younger brother flashed his potential last season and is considered a four-star prospect in 2019. Patrick is 6-7, lean, and likely bumping his playing time up this season. He picked up an unsurprising offer from Fran in junior high.
Matthew Mims, Cedar Rapids Xavier: A transfer from Prairie, Mims helped guide Xavier to a 3A title as a smooth-handling point guard. The 5-11 junior has an offer from North Dakota and known interest from Davidson, Drake and more mid-majors.
Jason Taylor, Rock Valley: Upside is high when you’re a 6-11 underclassman from northwest Iowa. Taylor averaged 9.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game as a sophomore and has added skill while getting healthy ahead of his junior year.
LAST YEAR'S LIST: Jordan Bohannon, Levi Jansen, Ryan Kriener, Tanner Lohaus, Connor McCaffery, Cordell Pemsl, Jaylan White, Joe Wieskamp.