A Look at the 2024 Watchlist

Featured Photo is (Solon) taken by Mason Asher. The 2024 class in Iowa is very talented and some of the prospects in the class are already seeing dividends of their hard work they’ve put in over the past few years. As those players see their hard work pay off, there are many high school programs who are happy to see them in their program and more importantly having them for the next four years. There are a few players who have already turned into household names with colleges and others who are just getting on their radar. There are a few players who will be in consideration for a spot in the Top 50 once I update into a ranked list in spring with 100 players Below I take a look at a few of the prospects in our recently released 2024 Watchlist who are making an impact for their high school teams already.

There are already quite a few point guards making a big impact on their high school teams this season. One of the most notable, and the only with a public offer from a D1 school, is . The Solon product has helped boost Solon out to a 10-3 record this year. While it is not the best record in the state it certainly is notable seeing how Solon has won a combined 18 games the last three years. Levin is scoring 18.3 points a game this season to lead her team and sits second in the state in scoring average for a freshman. She also dishes out 3.8 assists a game and nabs 4.2 steals a game. She is a quick guard who puts pressure on both the offense and defense with her play every possession. College coaches will love how hard she plays the game on both ends of the floor. Levin is definitely one of the players who we are considering for the top spot in the 2024 class when we transition to a list of ranked players rather than a watchlist. I feel pretty comfortable in saying already at this point that the only other player in the conversation for the top spot in the class in the spring is Johnston’s off-ball guard . Tanke is a very tough player who can play well on both the inside and on the perimeter. She averages 13.6 points a game and shoots over 64 percent from the floor. On a team that is as deep as Johnston and with the amount of good teams they play that immediately jumps off the board at you. She is also a knock down shooter from beyond the arc who is going to get her fair share of high major college interest. She is going to be a major player for Johnston in the CIML for the next four years and you are already seeing that now. might be the freshman of these three who you have never heard of but a glance at the freshmen leaderboards shows you that she’s a name that you really need to put on your radar. The Westwood forward is scoring 19.3 points a game and is grabbing 11.6 rebounds a game. Both of those marks allow her to lead the freshmen class throughout the state. Johnson is going to help Westwood build on their streak of six straight winning seasons over her next four years. They are already 10-2 on the season and that is a lot to do of the play of Johnson on both ends. She is a very athletic forward who can play spots 3-5 pretty easily on the floor. She is still coming into her own as as she keeps developing she will get even better. Her ceiling is among the highest in the class. Another player who you can’t overlook is Mason City’s . Mason City is just 2-10 this year but they play some very tough competition in the CIML. Spotts leads the team in scoring with 16.8 points a game and shoots 45 percent from beyond the arc. Spotts is a menace on the defensive end and can take her man one-on-one with ease. She came to the Elite 360 event back in November and she really impressed me then and continues to impress as she gets into her high school career. She’s a tremendous guard who has the ability to break her man of the dribble but she is also very unselfish with the ball in her hands. Mason City has a long lineage of high level Division 1 talent and Spotts is no question going to fit in right with all of them. might be the best pure point guard of the bunch as she averages 12.0 points a game while dishing off 5.3 assists a game. She leads the freshmen in assists per game this season, a remarkable feat considering all of the talent that North Linn lost last year. While dishing off a ton of assists, Kurt has only turned the ball over 3.2 times a game which is a testament to her levelheadedness and game management skills that she possesses. North Linn is going to be another tough out this year and Kurt is going to be a big reason for that. She is a calm player with the ball in her hands and loves to get others involved. As she continues to improve on her game she might become one of the best passers in the state as early as next year.

Besides those five players above who have, in one way or another, been impressive statistically there are a lot of freshmen throughout the state who have high ceilings. Some of those might not be playing varsity due to a number of talented upperclassmen on the roster and others might not be contributing as much as they could due to the same reasons. Below I’ll look at a few other freshmen who have impressed me thus far this season on the 50 player watchlist. The point guard spot is very deep in the 2024 class and you can’t disregard what Aliyah Al-Hameed (Ankeny Centennial), (Johnston), (Dallas Center-Grimes), and (Cedar Falls) have done so far. In terms of all of these players they could impact the game much more but they are all on team’s with a lot of upperclass talent. Bickford and Knutson are the two who have made the biggest impact this year but the other three have definitely had an impact on their team this year as well and will take a big role in future years. One player who hasn’t been mentioned is for Collins-Maxwell. She’s been a dynamite figure this season so far for undefeated Collins-Maxwell. There is a lot of talent on the wing in the class as well. (Sioux City East), (Valley), (West Hancock), (Southeast Polk), and (Iowa Falls) are a few who have impacted the game already this year at the varsity level. Flattery is intriguing with her athleticism, Jaeger has been great on the boards this year, Leerar is an attacking wing who is helping West Hancock out quite a lot, Solseth has seen the floor on a very crowded Southeast Polk team, and Sharar is scoring 13.2 points and grabbing 7.2 rebounds a game this year as one of the most impactful freshmen in the class. Another player on the watchlist who hasn’t seen any varsity time yet this year is from Norwalk. She’s a very solid wing who can shoot it and has a good feel for the game. She’ll make an impact on the floor in the coming years. The posts are not as deep as the guards but are just as good at the top. Indianola’s is scoring 6.8 points a game this year and is among one of the top players in the freshman class. She’s going to be up there with Levin, Tanke, Spotts, Johnson and others when it is all said and done. She is an impact post player on both ends of the floor. (Valley), (North Scott), and (Norwalk) are some others who are going to be mainstays in the post for their respective team. Those three have already made an impact this year and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.