Iowa's best high school boys basketball players: Meet the state's top shooting guards
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking a position-by-position look at some of the top players in Iowa high school boys basketball. This list focuses on the shooting guards.
There are hundreds of standout boys basketball players in Iowa and these lists are not intended to be comprehensive. If you know of any other shooting guards worthy of our attention, please email nate@scorebooklive.com.
Jake Benzing, 6-2, Sr., Solon
A second-team all-stater, Benzing led the Spartans to an 18-6 record and a Class 4A substate final. He ranked among the top 20 in 4A scoring with 425 points (17.7 per game), had a team-high 167 field goals and 136 rebounds. Solon was unbeaten at the holiday break, with Benzing averaging 19 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
Kyle Cason, 6-0, Jr., West Des Moines Valley
The sharpshooter plays an important role for a talented Valley team that won it all in Class 4A last season. He is averaging 12.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, with 11 3-pointers through seven games. He canned 27 from beyond the arc as a sophomore.
Tre’Von Coney, 6-2, Sr., Bettendorf
Coney is an athletic wing who transferred from Davenport North, where he averaged nearly 18 points per game. He has started all eight games for the Bulldogs, contributing 9.0 points and 4.1 assists.
Waukee's Mason Costello (Photo by Matthew Putney)
Mason Costello, 6-3, Sr., Waukee
Costello has been a starter since his sophomore season and will be relied upon much more for an inexperienced Warriors squad. He averaged 8.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and four assists while shooting 44.3 percent as a junior. Costello is the only Waukee player averaging double figures thus far this season, improving his average to 17.4 points per game.
Cyrus Courtney, 6-1, Sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy
An outstanding football player, Courtney led Class 5A in receiving with 1,056 yards and 11 touchdowns. He uses his athletic ability to his advantage in basketball, averaging 5.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game, along with 2.8 steals.
Landon Craven, 6-1, Sr., Des Moines Christian
Craven contributed 15.1 points, 4.3 steals and 4.2 rebounds per game for a Class 2A state tournament entry last season and was a second-team all-stater. He is shooting 46 percent from the field while averaging just over 10 points in nine games this season.
Kiki Deng, 6-4, Jr., West Des Moines Valley
Deng was the defensive stopper for last year’s Class 4A state champions. He averaged 9.8 points and 3.1 rebounds, but scored 12 a game in the state tournament. Valley is 6-1 this season, with Deng ranking second on the team at 13.3 points per contest.
Zach Driscoll, 6-2, Jr., Decorah
Driscoll transferred to Decorah from MFL-MarMac, where he earned second-team Class 2A all-state honors as a sophomore. Driscoll is averaging 10.5 points and five assists for a talented Vikings squad that won its first eight games this season.
Fitzgerald Grant, 6-2, Sr., Sioux City East
Grant will stay at home to play for Morningside University next season. He averaged 14.5 points on 59-percent shooting as a junior, showing an ability to go strong to the basket. This season, “Fitzy” is leading the Black Raiders with an average of 13.8 points and 6.5 rebounds through nine games.
Payton Hagans, 6-0, Sr., Mount Pleasant
Before an injury sidelined him just before the post-season, Hagans put up some gaudy numbers, averaging 20.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.4 steals per contest last season, earning second-team Class 3A all-state honors. Heading into the 2024 portion of his schedule, Hagans leads the Southeast Conference and ranks second in 3A with an average of 24.7 points per game.
Ben Helmers, 6-4, Jr., Algona
As a sophomore, Helmers helped the Bulldogs reach the state tournament for the first time since 1999, averaging 18.1 points on 54-percent shooting and 35 3-pointers. Helmers was named to the Class 3A all-state second team and has picked up where he left off, averaging 22 points and six rebounds through seven games.
Trey Hughes, 6-2, Sr., Iowa City Liberty
The second-leading scorer for the Lightning last season (11.5 ppg.), Hughes made his presence felt from beyond the arc, making 57 3-pointers and shooting 41.3 percent, 10th best in Class 4A.
Jackson Kutcher, 6-0, Sr., Mount Vernon
Kutcher is a three-year starter for the Mustangs. He threw in 71 3-pointers last season while averaging 16.7 points per game. Kutcher leads the team at an even 17 per game through eight games this season.
Jackson Lieurance, 6-1, Jr., Cascade
Lieurance emerged as a go-to scorer for the Cougars as a sophomore, averaging 18.1 points on 48.6-percent shooting. In the early going this season, he’s one of the top scorers in Class 2A at 20.1 points per game.
Jahlil Manago, 6-5, Jr., Waterloo West
Manago ranks fourth in Class 1A scoring at 22 points per game through six contests. As a sophomore, he contributed 8.6 points and 5.8 rebounds a game. He’s tough to defend because of his size and athleticism at the wing.
Dylan Marquart, 6-1, Jr., Dunkerton
One of the best pure shooters in the state, Marquart is the primary scorer for the Cougars at 23.6 points through seven games. That ranks eighth in Class 1A and Marquart is shooting 53 percent from the field, with 34 3-pointers in 70 attempts.
Karsten Moret, 6-3, Jr., Hull Western Christian
Moret had a strong AAU summer with Sioux City’s Arena Basketball Club and is second on the Wolfpack with a 14.3 average. He shot 45 percent from beyond the arc in the first nine games of the season.
Reggie Postel, 6-1, Sr., North Polk
Postel was a second-team Class 3A all-stater last season for a team that reached the state semifinals. He made 51 3-pointers while averaging 13 points per game, but has improved that average to 17.1 heading into 2024.
Taye Proctor, 6-0, Sr., Johnston
A second-team all-state football defensive back, Proctor is known as one of the better ball defenders in the Central Iowa Metropolitan Conference. He averaged a well-rounded 9.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game as a junior.
Jamarion Readus, 6-3, Sr., North Scott
Readus filled up the stat sheet while playing for Davenport North last season and has transferred to North Scott for his senior campaign. He averaged 18.9 points and 2.6 assists as a junior. He’s the leading scorer on a one-loss Lancers squad through eight games with a 16.8 average.
Toryn Severson, 6-4, Jr., Madrid
Severson is in his third season as a starter, having scored more than any freshman in the state and earning first-team Class 1A all-state honors as a sophomore. Severson’s 20.6 points-per-game average last season included a 44-point explosion and he is the seventh-leading scorer in 1A this season at 23.8 points through nine games.
Gavin Thomas, 6-1, Sr., Aplington-Parkersburg
Thomas, who has committed to NAIA Northwestern College, shot 46 percent from beyond the arc as a junior, averaging 15.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. The son of Aplington-Parkersburg Coach Aaron Thomas has made 51 percent of his shots through nine games this season, averaging 17.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
Grant Tigges, 6-4, Sr., Waukee Northwest
Tigges averaged 11.1 points per game and shot 48 percent from 3-point range for last season’s Class 4A state runners-up. This season, as expected, the Northwestern College signee has taken on a bigger scoring role, averaging 16.5 points while also pulling down 7.5 rebounds through nine games.
Jesse Van Kalsbeek, 6-1, Sr., MOC-Floyd Valley
A Northwestern College commit, Van Kalsbeek averaged a team-high 20.4 points per game, leading the Dutch to a Class 3A substate final. Coming off a season in which he earned second team all-state plaudits, Van Kalsbeek was averaging 21.2 points while shooting 58.4 percent from the field at the holiday break.
Abe Vos, 6-2, Jr., Ames
Vos was a solid role player at Des Moines Hoover last season and has transferred to Ames for his senior season. He was averaging 12.8 points and 6.0 rebounds for the Little Cyclones through six games.
Derek Weisskopf, 6-3, Sr., Williamsburg
A University of Iowa football recruit, Weisskopf is also a very talented hoopster. The athletic wing man averaged 19.2 points and 8.5 rebounds as a junior and has marks of 20.2 and 7.2 through six games this season.
Jack Wynter, 6-3, Sr., Ames
Wynter is a third-year starter, having led the Little Cyclones in scoring as a junior at 14.4 points per game. He contributed to Ames’ run to the Class 5A state title two seasons ago and is scoring 15.8 points through six games this season.
--Barry Poe I @SBLiveIA
