For state’s best uncommitted boys basketball players, July recruiting period is key

Fireworks continued across the Twin Cities after July 4th — this time in the form of hot shooting and highlight dunks on basketball courts.

Wayzata senior Nolen Anderson’s silky jumper and Faribault senior Ryan Kreager’s rim-rattling slams stood out among the Division I prospects in Minnesota shaking off rust to prepare themselves for heavy traveling and impressing college scouts during the always-important July evaluation recruiting period.

The next few weeks are the most critical for seniors narrowing their lists before official visits and the early signing period this fall. Anderson and Kreager, two of the state’s best in the Class of 2026, have yet to commit but are playing in front of scouts with D1 Minnesota’s 17U team at this weekend’s Adidas 3SSB championships in Rock Hill, S.C. They won again Saturday and will play Sunday for the championship.

East Ridge’s Cedric Tomes (Gophers), Wayzata’s Christian Wiggins (Iowa State), Maple Grove’s Max Iversen (North Dakota State) and Jaidyn Coon (Creighton), a Storm Lake, Iowa native, are D1 Minnesota 17U players who have already made their college decisions.

“I have a great support staff with Iowa State,” Wiggins said. “It just allowed me to focus [this summer] on continuing to get better.”

“[I] can’t wait for more options to come and to see what I have before eventually making a decision,” Kreager said. “My offensive game has improved the most with my finishing and touch around the basket.”

Kreager, standing 6-10 and rated a four-star recruit, went from zero DI scholarship offers to a half-dozen this AAU season, including Northern Iowa, Drake and Loyola-Chicago. He moved up on recruiting boards from relatively unknown to 247Sports’ No. 1 senior in the state after their updated rankings placed him at No. 114 nationally. He was also ranked No. 3 in the state by Prep Hoops.

Despite standing 6-7 and helping Wayzata win the state title in March, Anderson doesn’t show up in national recruiting rankings for the 2026 class, and there aren’t any stars next to his name on his recruiting profiles. He did, however, lead D1 Minnesota in scoring at the recent Prep Hoops Tune Up tournament in Shakopee, including 18 points on several three-pointers in a win against Howard Pulley’s 17U Nike EYBL team.

Anderson has picked up a few more DI offers this year and is receiving interest from Big Ten programs like Iowa and the Gophers.

“Everybody’s recruitment is different,” said Anderson, who had 24 points for Wayzata in the Class 4A state title game. “Some people [get more offers] earlier and some people get them later. I think I still have a little bit more to go. I’m not planning on committing here soon.”

Like Kreager and Anderson, Totino-Grace’s Dothan Ijadimbola is entering his final summer evaluation period.

The 6-6 senior has offers from Butler, Iowa, Iowa State, Oklahoma and Xavier and is excited to see what new opportunities come from D1 Minnesota’s success in the win column this summer.

“I feel like it’s all going to happen for all of us at some point,” Ijadimbola said of committing. “You start to realize that if we play as a team and keep winning more coaches will come to see us.”

Cretin-Derham Hall senior guard Jojo Mitchell plays for Howard Pulley’s 17U squad, which recently lost to D1 Minnesota. Though he was frustrated by the humbling loss, he’s kept his focus on the bigger picture — end-of-summer recruiting. South Dakota, South Dakota State and Wyoming are showing him the most interest.

College coaches see Mitchell as a point guard at the next level, so he’s been honing those skills.

“I feel like I’ve improved definitely with my facilitating,” Mitchell said. “That will open my game up a lot more. I know I can score and shoot, but I’ve been getting guys involved better.”

Mitchell and his CDH teammate Ty Schlagel are both playing with Howard Pulley in Nike EYBL tournaments in Augusta, S.C. to finish the AAU season, including this weekend.

Minnesota’s 2027 class arguably has the most potential in Minnesota.

Schlagel, the No. 1 player in the state’s 2027 class, nailed a buzzer-beating shot against Mac Irvin from Chicago to highlight Thursday’s 16U action in the Nike EYBL.

The versatile 6-7 forward recently went head-to-head with No. 2-rated 6-9 junior Ahmed Nur and D1 Minnesota 16U last Sunday. Other juniors followed closely by coaches will be Maple Grove’s Babu Ann and Jack Thelen, who play with D1 Minnesota 17U, and Totino-Grace’s Malachi Hill and South St. Paul’s Mustafa Mohamed, who play with Pulley 16U.

They’re all looking for possibly better DI offers.

“There are definitely multiple schools that have been recruiting me hard,” said Schlagel, who has offers from the Gophers, Iowa and Wisconsin. “But I’m still not super close to making my decision yet.”