Jarrod Uthoff, Josh Oglesby keep opening more and more college basketball coaches' eyes

It's seemed like a sudden explosion, the interest shown by major-college basketball coaches in Cedar Rapids high school players Josh Oglesby of Washington and Jarrod Uthoff of Jefferson.

The two seniors-to-be have attracted more and more interest from more and more college programs as the months have passed. A big factor is the exposure and opportunities they've gotten playing for Jamie Johnson's Iowa Barnstormers AAU program.

“AAU” is a dirty acronym to some basketball fans who think of power-mad organizers trying to get cozy with college coaches.

But Johnson sure seems to have been doing right by kids for several years. He said he thinks all 11 of his 11th-grade boys players will get scholarships from Division I or Division II teams.

“We've had a lot of kids go on to college sports,” he said, “but this year's a little different. We've really got some hot names now. Coaches are really taking an interest in our players, and not just Jarred Uthoff and Josh Oglesby.”

Wes Washpun, Oglesby's Washington teammate, has gotten scholarship offers from D-I North Dakota State and South Dakota State, and Johnson expects more to come his way after the Las Vegas trip.

Seth Tuttle of Sheffield is on the Barnstormers, and has accepted a scholarship offer from Northern Iowa. Johnson said college coaches have told him they wished Tuttle had waited, but Tuttle saw UNI as the right fit for him.

Johnson works in the business office of the VA Medial Center in Iowa City during the week, and runs the Barnstormers in his free time.

“I had worked for (recruiting writers/event-stagers) Bob Gibbons and Van Coleman,” Johnson said. “After I got my current job, I wanted to stay involved in the sport, so I started this program six or seven years ago.”

“Jamie has done a good job building the Barnstormers into a solid, well-recognized program that competes for titles on regional levels,” Coleman said. “He really promotes his players.”

The Barnstormers began with one boys' team, and has grown to six boys' teams from grades 6 through 11, and a 7th-grade girls' team. Players from around Iowa travel to tournaments throughout the Midwest and beyond.

On Thursday, the Barnstormers' 11th-grade team with Oglesby and Uthoff will cap their season by beginning play in a Las Vegas tourney featuring hundreds of teams from across the nation.

“We've won four of six tournaments,” Johnson said. “We just went undefeated at the Next Level Invitational in Milwaukee and beat some really good teams. We're looking forward to finishing strong.”

Oglesby is a 6-foot-5 combo guard. He has a well-rounded game, scoring and passing, and can play the point when required.

“Back in the seventh grade you could see he was one of those kids who had something special if he worked hard,” Johnson said.

“He's never rested on his laurels. He wants to take it to that next level, and that's what separates some kids from the others.”

Oglesby is hoping for a scholarship offer from Iowa, but the Hawkeyes apparently are waiting on a guard from the Philadelphia area named Devin Coleman.

Oglesby hasn't lacked for attention, though. He has scholarship offers from UNI, Illinois, Minnesota, Butler, Northwestern, Arizona State and Boston College.

Uthoff is still wrapping his mind around being a major-college prospect. A year ago, he flew to New York to visit the University at Albany-SUNY, a mid-major Division I program. In March, he leaned toward deciding between Northern Iowa and Creighton.

“He was ready to commit not long after the state tournament,” said Johnson. “I told him I thought he needed to be patient. I said I thought good things were going to happen for him in the spring, great schools, good opportunities.”

The list seemingly has grown each week. There's certainly nothing wrong with UNI or Creighton, but also making offers were Butler, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Virginia, Wisconsin, and recently, Iowa.

“It's a really neat thing,” Johnson said. “Jarrod's such a humble kid, and he's worked really hard the last few years.”