Every year the state of Minnesota hands out the Minnesota Mr. Basketball Award. It’s an annual award that has been handed out since 1975 when Gene Glynn from Waseca won. The following year NBA Hall of Famer Kevin McHale was awarded the award. More recently Tyus Jones, McKinley Wright, Amir Coffey, Tre Jones, and Matthew Hurt. That's quite the list.
For 2020 the top 10 players were announced. Those 10 are as follows in no particular order.
Jalen Suggs, Minnehaha Academy
The six-foot five-inch Gonzaga bound guard is the obvious front-runner for the award. Minnehaha Academy is currently ranked Top 5 nationally by ESPN, they are 17-2 overall, and Suggs is averaging 22.3 points per game.
College choice: Gonzaga
Ben Carlson, East Ridge
The East Ridge Senior Forward bound for Wisconsin is averaging 24.4 points per game and 11.8 rebounds while navigating a less talented roster.
College Choice: Wisconsin
Kerwin Walton, Hopkins
Kerwin Walton of Hopkins might be the best shooter to play Minnesota High School basketball. Yeah, I remember Blake Hoffarber. After a summer that Walton caught the eyes of every top recruiter, he's taken that momentum into the high school season. After the six-foot five-inch Senior put 39 on Buffalo, 42 on Torino Grace, and then 38 on Eden Prairie within 5 days he's averaging 26.7 points a game.
College choice: TBD
Dawson Garcia, Prior Lake
Imagine being six-foot ten-inches tall and have the ability to shoot, pass, post-up, dribble like a guard and run the floor then you'd be Dawson Garcia. The lefty forward is scoring 31.7 points and grabbing 10.1 boards. His shooting splits are 55-78-39, that's close to the Karl-Anthony Towns magic 50-80-40 shooting splits.
College Choice: Marquette
Drake Dobbs, Eden Prairie
Drake Dobbs is the starting point guard and leading scorer at 19 points per game for the undefeated Eden Prairie Eagles. The Eagles have beaten Hopkins twice, DeLaSalle, Wayzata twice, Cretin-Derham Hall, Prior Lake, Eastview, Park Center, Edina twice, and Shakopee. They're currently 22-0.
College Choice: Liberty
Steven Crowl, Eastview
The six-foot eleven-inch Senior Center from the 17-2 Eastview Lightning, Steven Crowl is leading a four senior starting five at 26.2 points per game.
College Choice: Wisconsin
Dain Dainja, Park Center
Dain Dainja is a 6'8 power forward that uses size and brute strength to punish interior defenders while also sprinkling in some wing type movements. He's averaging 21.8 points per game in a talented 15-4 Pirates squad.
College Choice: Baylor
Gabe Madsen, Rochester Mayo
Rochester Mayo features twins, Gabe and Mason Madsen. Together they form the backcourt at Rochester Mayo, and together they'll be at Cincinnati next year together. This season Gabe is leading in scoring at 27.9 points per game. The six-foot five-inch wing uses an array of drives and shooting ability to put points up.
College Choice: Cincinnati
Nate Heise, Lake City
Nate Neise is scoring 29.7 points per game for small school Lake City. Neise put 39 on Minneapolis North, 35 in Caledonia, and 34 points on Rochester Mayo. Impressive individual games vs big opponents. Heise had led Lake City to a 19-2 record so far.
College Choice: Northern Iowa
Noah King, Caledonia
Caledonia has been headed by a King for many of the last years. And even after 2020 they'll still have one more left in high flying Eli King. But currently, older Bro Noah isn't quite ready to move on. The elder King is leading Caledonia in scoring at 23.6 points per game and Caledonia to a 20-1 record.
College Choice: Undecided