Top Iowa Preps 2007-2010

I’ve compiled my own rankings of the top prep players in Iowa from 2007-10 using rivals.com and espn.com as a guide. These rankings provide a nice way to look at where the best talent in the state has come from and what colleges that talent has gone to.

It also makes it easy to look at the strength, or lack of strength, of each class. The 2007 group was woefully bad, producing mostly mid-major talent. The 2008 class, however, included three solid prospects in Matt Gatens, Grant Gibbs and L.A. Pomlee. Kaylon Williams, who started immediately at Evansville, also came from out of high school in 2008.

The 2009 class is headed by Iowa recruits Eric May and Brennan Cougill. Other than that, the pickings are slim. The 2010 class might be the best in a while, mostly because Harrison Barnes is one of the top five players in the nation. Iowa offered Barnes, Chanse Creekmur and Zach McCabe from the ‘10 group. The no. 5 rated player in that class, A.J. Derby, has 14 scholarship offers--for football.

2010

1. Harrison Barnes, SF, 6-6, 190, Ames
College Choice: Undecided; Speculation has him choosing between UNC, Duke, Kansas and Iowa State
ESPN Rating: 98
Rivals Stars: *****

2. Jordan Dykstra, PF, 6-8, 215, Rock Valley
College Choice: Iowa State
ESPN Rating: 70
Rivals Stars: ***

3. Chanse Creekmur, SF, 6-6, 200, Marshalltown
College Choice: Undecided
Rivals Stars: ***

4. Zach McCabe, SF, 6-6, 201, Sioux City
College Choice: Undecided
Rivals Stars: **

5. A.J. Derby, SG, 6-4, 215, Iowa City
College Choice: Undecided
ESPN Rating: 70

2009

1. Eric May, SF, 6-5, 200, Dubuque
College Choice: Iowa
ESPN Rating: 86
Rivals Stars: ***
2008-09 HS Stats: 24.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 50.7 fg%, 38.1 3pt%

2. Brennan Cougill, C, 6-9, 260, Sioux City
College Choice: Iowa
ESPN Rating: 88
Rivals Stars: ***
2008-09 HS Stats: 18.2 ppg, 13.3 rpg

3. Reece Uhlenhopp, PF, 6-7, 225, Urbandale
College Choice: Drake
ESPN Rating: 87
Rivals Stars: **

4. Nate Hutcheson, SF, 6-7, 185, Marion
College Choice: Western Michigan
ESPN Rating: 84
Rivals Stars: ***

5. Matt Morrison, SG, 6-1, 170, Solon
College Choice: Northern Iowa
ESPN Rating: 78
Rivals Stars: **

6. Malcolm Moore, PF, 6-6, 220, Iowa City
College Choice: Tyler (Texas) Junior College
ESPN Rating: 87

7. Zach Bohannon, SF, 6-7, 185, Marion
College Choice: Air Force
ESPN Rating: 80
Rivals Stars: **

8. Seth Van Deest, PF, 6-9, 200, Bettendorf
College Choice: Drake
ESPN Rating: 81

9. Jon Puk, C, 6-10, 215, Iowa City
College Choice: Albany
ESPN Rating: 79

10. Gabe Knutson, PF, 6-8, 205, Waukee
College Choice: Lehigh
ESPN Rating: 77

2008

1. Matt Gatens, SG, 6-5, 205, Iowa City
College Choice: Iowa
ESPN Rating: 91
Rivals Stars: ***
2008-09 Season: 10.8 ppg, 3.8 rpb, 2.2 apg, 40.3 3pt%

2. Grant Gibbs, PG, 6-5, 175, Marion
College Choice: Gonzaga
ESPN Rating: 89
Rivals Stars: ***
2008-09 Season: DNP; redshirted

3. L.A. Pomlee, PF, 6-8, 210, Davenport
College Choice: Iowa State
ESPN Rating: 87
Rivals Stars: ***
2008-09 Season: DNP; redshirted

4. Kaylon Williams, PG, 6-4, 185, Cedar Rapids
College Choice: Evansville
Rivals Stars: ***
2008-09 Season: 6.3 ppg, 4.9 apg, 4.3 rpg; will transfer from Evansville

5. Austin Pehl, C, 6-9, 220, Cedar Falls
College Choice: Northern Iowa
ESPN Rating: 78
Rivals Stars: **
2008-09 Season: DNP; Redshirted

2007

1. Brent Barz, C, 6-10, 210, Johnston
College Choice: Northern Iowa; left the team
ESPN Rating: 81
Rivals Stars: ***

2. Clayton Vette, PF, 6-9, 245, Waverly
College Choice: Iowa State; left the team
ESPN Rating: 76
Rivals Stars: **

3. Kaleb Korver, 6-4, 175, Pella
College Choice: Creighton
Rivals Stars: **

4. Jordan Printy, SG, 6-4, 188, Marion
College Choice: Indiana State
ESPN Rating: 75
Rivals Stars: **

5. Tyler Sash, PG, 6-0, 195, Oskaloosa
College Choice: Iowa (football)
ESPN Rating: 75