Tyler Cook leads loaded group of bigs in Prime Time League draft
Matthew BainIOWA CITY, Ia. — There were no surprises in Wednesday night's Prime Time League draft. Certainly not at the top, at least.
Hawkeye forward Tyler Cook was the No. 1 overall pick in eastern Iowa's top summer basketball league. Nicholas Baer went No. 2 and Jordan Bohannon went No. 3. Wyatt Lohaus was the first Northern Iowa player off the board at No. 4. And Hawkeyes Jack Nunge and Ahmad Wagner rounded out the top six.
Cook highlights an especially loaded summer class of post players.
"I think it's going to be fascinating to see the competition among the bigs," said PTL director Randy Larson, who created the league 31 years ago. "Because you've got guys that are proud to be starters. We've got guys like Tyler Cook that think, 'I want to get as many minutes as I can get.' And we've got incoming guys that have high credentials.
"This year, I think you could be one of eight big guys that think there's a chance of getting significant minutes."
In all, 49 current, former or aspiring college basketball players were drafted to PTL's six teams. Each team has two Hawkeyes and two Panthers. Iowa's Cordell Pemsl and UNI's Austin Phyfe and Miles Wentzien won't play because of injuries. And Connor McCaffery will focus on baseball for Iowa City West this summer.
Games will be played from June 18-July 23 in North Liberty and Waterloo.
Larson said he'll still take new players on a case-by-case basis, and that anybody interested should contact him as soon as possible.
Rosters
Team #1: Marion Iron Company (Coach: Kevin Sanders)
Tyler Cook, Iowa
Dom Uhl, Iowa
Juwan McCloud, Northern Iowa
Hunter Rhodes, Northern Iowa
Niko Gosnell, Lone TreeHS/Kirkwood CC
Tra’von Fagan, Cedar Falls HS/Tyler CC
Trevon Montgomery, ex-Pleasant Valley HS
Aaron Lyons, ex-Buena Vista
Matt Coiner, ex-Bettendorf HS
Team #2 Culver's (Coach: Ron Nove)
Nicholas Baer, Iowa
Isaiah Moss, Iowa
Bennett Koch, Northern Iowa
Tywhon Pickford, Northern Iowa
A.J. Green, Cedar Falls HS
Joshua Carter, Dubuque Wahlert HS/Highland CC
Tim Loan, ex-Briar Cliff
Dadrian Hoambrecker, Iowa City West HS
Team #3 L.L. Pelling (Coach: Jordan O'Neil)
Jordan Bohannon, Iowa
Isaiah Brown, Northern Iowa
Ryan Kriener, Iowa
Ted Friedman, Northern Iowa
Seybian Sims, Iowa City West HS
Jake Hughes, ex-Upper Iowa
Harley Shear, ex-Anoka Ramsey CC
Jonny Dahl, ex-John Wood CC
Team #4 Westport Touchless Autowash (Coach: Ray Swetalla)
Wyatt Lohaus, Northern Iowa
Maishe Dailey, Iowa
Luka Garza, Iowa
Luke McDonnell, Northern Iowa
Matt Mims, Cedar Rapids Xavier HS
Bryan Forbes, ex-Briar Cliff
Michael Baer, ex-Bettendorf HS
Jason Capper, St. Ambrose
Team #5 Vinton Merchants (Coach: Randy Larson)
Jack Nunge, Iowa
Klint Carlson Northern Iowa
Brady Ellingson, Iowa
Adam McDermott, Northern Iowa
Jake Timm, ex-Coe
Kingsley Botchway, ex-D.W. Daniel HS, South Carolina
Ross Westemeyer, ex-Regina HS
Brant DeMeulenaere, Kirkwood
Team #6 The Jill Armstrong Team Skogman Realty (Coach: Dan Ahrens)
Ahmad Wagner, Iowa
Christian Williams, Iowa
Spencer Haldeman, Northern Iowa
Kendall Jacks, Wayne State
Jordan Ashton, ex-Northern Iowa
Tanner Lohaus, Northern Iowa
Zach Schlabaugh, Coe
Amel Kuljuhovik, Lakeland CC
Schedule
Sunday, June 18 (North Liberty)
3:00 Jones gym - Marion Iron vs. Culver's
3:00 Roberts gym - L.L. Pelling vs. The Jill Armstrong
4:30 Roberts gym - Westport vs. Vinton
Thursday, June 22 (Waterloo)
6:00 SportsPlex - L.L. Pelling vs. Westport
6:00 SportsPlex - Marion Iron vs. The Jill Armstrong
7:30 SportsPlex - Culver's vs. Vinton
Sunday, June 25 (North Liberty)
3:00 Jones gym - Westport vs. The Jill Armstrong
3:00 Roberts gym - Culver's vs. L.L. Pelling
4:30 Roberts gym - Marion Iron vs. Vinton
Thursday, June 29 (Waterloo)
6:00 SportsPlex - Marion Iron vs. Westport
6:00 SportsPlex - L.L. Pelling vs. Vinton
7:30 SportsPlex - Culver's vs. The Jill Armstrong
Sunday, July 9 (North Liberty)
3:00 Jones gym - Vinton vs. The Jill Armstrong
3:00 Roberts gym - Marion Iron vs. L.L. Pelling
4:30 Roberts gym - Culver's vs. Westport
Thursday, July 13 (North Liberty)
6:00 Jones gym - Marion Iron vs. Culver's
6:00 Roberts gym - L.L. Pelling vs. The Jill Armstrong
7:30 Roberts gym - Westport vs. Vinton
Sunday, July 16 - Playoffs (North Liberty)
1st and 2nd place teams will have byes
4th place team vs. 5th place team, 3:00, Jones Gym
3rd place team vs. 6th place team, 4:30, Jones Gym
Thursday, July 23 - Semifinals (Waterloo)
1st place team plays winner of the 4th place vs. 5th place game, 6:00, SportsPlex
2nd place team plays winner of 3rd place vs 6th place game, 7:30, SportsPlex
Sunday July 23 - Championship (North Liberty)
7:00, Jones Gym
Matthew Bain covers preps, recruiting and the Hawkeyes for the Iowa City Press-Citizen, The Des Moines Register and HawkCentral. Contact him at mbain@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @MatthewBain_.