2024 - 2025 High School Preview: Class 5A - Impactful Freshman

In this piece we highlight five prospects out of the 2028 Class in Iowa, that will be competing at the 5A level this Winter. Each player listed is someone with a superior skill-set compared to most their age. Now it's all about finding their personal place within their program's system and adapting from there.   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!    One of the more surprising prospects, that I didn't know too much about until this past three months is sharpshooting PG - [player_tooltip player_id='920716' first='Bentley' last='Dill'] of Cedar Rapids - Kennedy High School. Dill is a stud. Someone that can let it fly with the best of them, usually making it a majority of the time when she does shoot the ball. Other than that, Dill can handle, defend, rebound, and communicate well with the others around her. Understanding what the Kennedy roster looks like moving into this season is important. I think that Dill is someone that could take over right away. I think within the first two weeks, she see's the floor and once that happens, it's going to be really tough to pull her off.     [player_tooltip player_id='1044957' first='Paige' last='Andernacht'] is a player with a ton of game, along with solid size and coordination. Andernacht is someone that we have talked about quite a lot up until this point in her journey, as she is set to have a fantastic high school career over the next four seasons. It might take a minute as she is at Johnston behind V. Tech commit, [player_tooltip player_id='311351' first='Amani' last='Jenkins'] but following this, I would expect Andernacht to take over as her team's starting PF or Center. She is a bruiser down-low, she understands the game of basketball to a T, and she doesn't settle. I've been the road all Spring long watching prospects from all over the Country and Paige is definitely in the conversation for one of the best 2028's the state of Iowa has to offer.     [player_tooltip player_id='880901' first='Abbajay' last='Peters'] of Waukee High School and [program_tooltip program_id='714272' first='Iowa' last='Battlers'] AAU is someone to know out of the 2028 Class, if you don't already. Peters recently played up a grade level this AAU season, holding her own and killing it a majority of the time. The two times I saw her on the road, she was fantastic. She was leading her team by example, controlling tempo and pace on both ends, she wasn't taking any plays off, and most of the time - she was killing her personal matchup in 1v1 situations. At Waukee, I'm not sure if she will see a TON of Varsity time but she should see some. She is someone that can really GO so for tempo purposes, i'd give her a shot if I was on this coaching staff.     There are a lot of questions and some uncertainty to [player_tooltip player_id='880911' first='Victoria' last='Burpo'] as a prospect. In the terms of, I'm not sure if she is going to sink or swim right away when she hits the Varsity floor. If she works on the correct things and plays her natural position, I don't think there are too many players in the state that can match her natural size and physicality in the paint. Burpo is someone that understands how to eat up space by the rim, how to play off of others, and she knows what she does best. As long as the coaching staff can get her prepared and put in the situations that best suit her, then we are talking about someone that could make some major waves these next four years. She has been a force over the last year on the AAU scene. Now it just needs to translate to high school ball.     I've done extensive research on Bettendorf's upcoming Freshman guard, [player_tooltip player_id='643486' first='Jhaliana' last='Guy'] and I am fairly confident that she will have a season to remember with the Bulldogs. She can handle, score at every offensive level, she can defend her own position well, and she is only worried about what she can control. As of most recent, Guy was offered by USC this past weekend, after their coaching staff came into town last week to watch her at open gym. This comes as no surprise as Guy has already visited USC earlier this Summer, exploring what could be her future home one day but never-mind any of that. Right now the only thing that should be on her mind is the season in front of her. If she locks into that and takes it one game at a time, then she is going to turn heads this Winter. Much more than people expect.

In this piece we highlight five prospects out of the 2028 Class in Iowa, that will be competing at the 5A level this Winter. Each player listed is someone with a superior skill-set compared to most their age. Now it's all about finding their personal place within their program's system and adapting from there.