Top Wisconsin high school basketball players get ready for the next level
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Spor
Patrick Baldwin Jr. participating in the team USA camp.
March 10, 2021
When talking about top high school basketball players you probably don’t think any of them live in Wisconsin. But this year there’s a lot of players going to major D1 colleges for basketball.
Brandin Podziemski is a 6’4” star shooting guard from St John’s Military Academy who scored 2000 points in his high school career. He has multiple D1 offers but has narrowed the list down to 5 and those schools are Kentucky, Illinois, Miami, Vanderbilt, and Wake Forest. He is often compared to Tyler Herro, an NBA shooting guard who came out of Wisconsin.
But a lot of people think he could be better than Herro because he can do everything Herro can, but he is bigger. “I watched him play this year and what stood out to me was that he is 6’6” but he can move like a 6’2” point guard,” junior Jordan Gruel said.
Next up is Patrick Baldwin, a 6’10” McDonald’s All American 5 star coming out of Sussex. Baldwin is ranked number 1 in the state and is number 2 in the country. This season he only played in two games because of an ankle injury, but last season he averaged 24.2 ppg 11 rpg and 4.2 apg.
Baldwin isn’t your typical 6’10” big who just scores in the paint. He can shoot, and he handles the ball well which makes him basically unguardable. “He is 6’10” and he can do everything a guard can do,” junior Julien Calvert said.
Next is Tyrese Hunter, a 6’0” point guard from Racine St. Catherine’s. He is ranked 2 in they state and has committed to Iowa State. This season he averaged 20 ppg 6 rpg and 4 apg while shooting 54 percent from the field. Event though he is only 6’0” he doesn’t let that stop him from getting buckets in the paint.
His game reminds fans of NBA player Russell Westbrook because he is a guard who looks to get in the paint and get to the line. Nowadays most point guards just look to shoot three-pointers, but Hunter looks to attack the paint first, which makes people sag off him, allowing him to shoot the 3. “I like to watch him play because he shows that smaller guards can still get in the paint and finish,” freshman Jack Bauer said.
