Howard Pulley All-Star Team Full Of Minnesota's Best Basketball Prospects
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- This is the basketball off-season, but it's hardly an off-season for most who are invested in it.
Like the Howard Pulley All-Star team, featuring some of the best the state has to offer. The team has high standards -- and high ceilings -- with a focal point leader who has everyone's attention.
They gather in Maple Grove to prepare to go to Virginia for their first tournament, and they expect to be good.
"We've been top 5," head coach Antuan Harris said. "We've had some great teams over the years,"
But is this year's team a top 5 team?
"I'll let you know after this weekend," Harris said. "Don't know yet!"
Jarvis Thomas is a power forward for Orono High School, and he's good enough that he's getting attention and offers.
"Right now the offers I have are Oregon State, Iowa State, Arizona State, Marquette, Nevada, Cal State-Bakersfield," he said.
The focal point has offers too -- he's just trying to select the right college. Apple Valley's Tre Jones is their leader. After leading his high school team to his second state title, he's got a lot of options: Arizona, Baylor, Duke, Oregon, Minnesota and UCLA.
He understands the game, because his older brother Tyus has been down the same road and moved on to the NBA with the Timberwolves.
"I've seen my brother go through it all, and I knew for myself what I had to work on, just watching him," he said. "Just putting in all the work and trying to prove myself every single day."
Playing with pressure is part of what Howard Pulley is supposed to teach you. College coaches will watch, and the competition dictates the intensity.
"I want to show them what I can do without doing too much that I mess up or something," Hopkins and Howard Pulley forward Zeke Nnaji said.
The goal is a scholarship, and to make sure you're part of a team concept -- something a veteran coach understands all too well.
"It's one of those things where you walk in right away and you say, 'It's team first.' You work hard together, and when you're done you'll get out of it what you're supposed to." Harris said. "You'll get what you're supposed to get, and that's what I preach first day of track practice."
