Prep Profile – New Hampton

New England Recruiting Report | Friday, October 26th, 2012

Noah Vonleh has been the story at New Hampton this fall, first making headlines with his move back to the class of 2013 and recently by trimming his list down to six schools.  

On Friday, that attention shifted to first year senior point guard Travis Jorgenson, who announced that he was re-opening his commitment after having been committed to his hometown University of Missouri for over the last year.  The move makes Jorgenson one of the top five rated available point guards in the country according to the ESPN database.
 
Vonleh and Jorgenson are not only among the best available national prospects at their respective positions, but they’re also the core tandem of a New Hampton team that should be poised to contend in Class AAA of the NEPSAC.  

Vonleh’s talents are well known within the New England region.  He’s a physical specimen with incredible natural gifts and the ability to score the ball inside and out, handle in the open floor, protect the rim with his shot-blocking, and dominate the backboard.  

Jorgenson is the ideal running mate because he’s a throwback style point guard who plays a high percentage brand of basketball, runs the show above all else, distributes the ball, and has a three-point shot that punishes his defender every time he leaves him.  That’s a bit of a theme for this year’s New Hampton squad as head coach Peter Hutchins has once again assembled, what should be, AAA’s best shooting team.  

Post-graduates Cole McConnell, Dustin Triano, Trevor Glassman, and Garrett Dorfman can all stroke the long ball.  Incoming juniors Anthony Pate, Mike Leblanc, and Peyton Prudhomme are no less dangerous from long range.  Even sophomore big man Jeremy Miller seems to have polished up his release in recent months.  

Together, their collective ability to space the floor and extend the defense will create maximum spacing for Vonleh to utilize his individual tools on the offensive end.  

On the defensive end, Vonleh should benefit from the addition of senior big man Tory Miller, who ran with Jorgenson on Kansas City Pump n’Run during the AAU season.  Miller has the physical tools to provide a major interior presence and he’ll be one of the major keys for the Huskies this season as his ability to battle the league’s premier big men will be critical to New Hampton’s chances of contending for a championship.  

New Hampshire native Mike Auger is another player who could play a pivotal role on the interior.  While still just a junior and coming off a shoulder injury that cost him the summer AAU season, Auguer has spent plenty of time running side-by-side with Vonleh on the Mass Rivals and provides a terrific combination of size, toughness, and developing skill.  

Add Leblanc and Miller to the mix and Hutchins has a deep and versatile frontcourt roster that has the potential to beat you both inside and out.  

In the backcourt, look for Lincoln Davis, who is already committed to Fairfield, to play an important role and provide an ideal compliment to Jorgenson.  Davis is a big guard who handles, passes, and makes decisions with the ball well enough to play the point but also has the size and quickness to defend either of the three perimeter positions.   

Throw in a scoring swingman who can make shots in bunches like Pate, a big wing with skill and intelligence like McConnell, and one of the gutsiest guards you’ll find in Triano and the backcourt has similar depth and versatility to the frontcourt.  

Two years agao, when New Hampton advanced to the NEPSAC finals in 2011 they had a similarly constructed team with versatility, positional balance, and un-matched firepower behind the three-point line.  This season, they’re hoping that recipe proves equally successful while the presence of one of the country’s top stars enables them a chance to take that one last step.