Boys’ basketball 2016-17: Players to Watch

A look at the top boys' basketball players for the 2016-17 season:

l — Austin Ash (Mount Vernon): Senior shooter averaged team-best 16 points per game last season, making 42.6 percent of his 3-point attempts and 88.4 percent from the free-throw line. Invited to walk on to Iowa basketball team.

l — Drake Brewster (Cedar Rapids Kennedy): Six-foot-5 senior forward averaged 12.6 points and led his team in rebounding last season. Has inside-outside game.

l — Brant DeMeulenaere (Belle Plaine): A 6-4 shooter, the senior led Belle Plaine with a 17.7 scoring average last season. Was 61 of 151 from 3-point range.

l — Derrick Diggins (Cedar Rapids Kennedy): Junior guard has lots of offensive potential, leading Kennedy in scoring last season (12.6 PPG). Came off the bench most of the season.

l — Jake Hilmer (North Linn): Had a tremendous freshman season at point guard. Averaged 16.5 points, shot 80 percent from the free-throw line, had an assist-to-turnover rate of 204-63) and finished with 102 steals. The best is yet to come.

l — Cooper Kabela (West Branch): The senior forward averaged 17.6 PPG and 7.1 rebounds per game last season. Makes his living on the interior, as evidenced by his 147 free-throw attempts. He made 101 of them.

l — Tristen Kautman (MFL/Mar-Mac): Senior guard missed the post-Christmas portion of his team's season with a knee injury. Terrific shooter who averaged 18.4 PPG when he was healthy.

l — Abe Kinrade (Maquoketa): The 6-6 senior forward averaged 14.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season. Has committed to play college basketball at Air Force.

l — Devontae Lane (Iowa City West): Seems as if the senior guard has been a Trojans starter forever. Second-team all-state in Class 4A last season. Held an Iowa State offer at one point, but says at the moment he wants to play college football instead.

l — Connor McCaffery (Iowa City West): Senior guard is entering his fourth season as a starter. Averaged 15.5 PPG last season and led West in assists. Headed to Iowa to play for his father, Fran.

l — Patrick McCaffery (Iowa City West): The thin-as-a-rail, 6-8 forward averaged 4.7 PPG last season as a reserve but emerged over the spring and summer in AAU ball and is considered by some to be among the top sophomores in the country.

l — Matt Mims (Cedar Rapids Xavier): Hard to believe he's still just a junior. Has a grown-up game at point guard, averaging 12.1 PPG last season and had exactly a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Likely a Division I college player eventually.

l — Max Smith-Drahos (Cedar Rapids Prairie): Senior guard quietly emerged as one of the Metro's better players last season, averaging 15.2 PPG. Was second on his team in assists and rebounds and shot 81.5 percent from the free-throw line.

l — Hunter Strait (Cedar Rapids Washington): Finished third on his team in scoring last season (12.9 PPG), but don't let that fool you. Junior point guard is a Division I college player eventually who already has been wooed by several schools.

l — Robby Sweers (Clayton Ridge): Folks in Northeast Iowa will tell you the senior guard is one of the best players in the area. Averaged 19.0 PPG last season, led his team in assists and steals and even averaged over five rebounds per game.

l — Max Techau (Cedar Rapids Xavier): The 6-7 senior center transferred in from Kennedy and provided an important interior presence on its run to the 3A state title. Averaged 13.4 PPG and 6.6 RPG, shooting 60 percent from the field.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com