With one week of the Prime Time League playoffs in the books, two teams have been eliminated from title contention. Four teams remain, and the following is The Daily Iowan’s power rankings.
No. 1 Dan Ahrens
Ahrens’ team claims the top spot in the rankings, mostly because — really — which other team else could it be? Ahrens finished the regular season in first place at 3-1 and will be a tough team to beat at full strength after coming off a bye week in the first round.
Led by Hawkeye forward Jarrod Uthoff’s MVP-caliber season, Ahrens has a player who could dominate his way to a championship. Uthoff is the league’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer.
The 6-9 swingman is joined by Northern Iowa’s 6-7 Jeremy Morgan and the 6-6 Dondre Alexander to form an imposing perimeter scoring threat unmatched in Prime Time. With Northern Iowa’s Bennett Koch and former Wisconsin-Milwaukee forward Malcolm Moore in the paint, Ahrens’ squad is just too complete and dynamic to not be the favorite.
No. 2 Randy Larson
As good as Ahrens has been, Larson’s squad is the proverbial “getting hot at the right time” team.
In Week 4 of the regular season, Larson handed Ahrens his only loss with an emphatic 22-point upset in Waterloo. Ahrens was missing several players, including Moore, but Larson kept his team rolling as it advanced through the first round of the playoffs.
Larson has the first and third league-leading scorers in Matt Bohannon and Adam Woodbury, with both players having legitimate arguments for MVP contention, particularly Woodbury. The turning point for Larson and Company, however, and what makes them truly dangerous, has been the emergence of Anthony Clemmons.
In the past two weeks, Clemmons has averaged 22 points and 7.5 assists, and in round one seemed to have found a rhythm coexisting with Bohannon on the perimeter. If the guards continue to play well, it creates a defensive nightmare with Woodbury down low.
No. 3 Ron Nove
Coming in at third is the second team to receive a first-round bye. Ron Nove’s team finished the regular season at 2-2 and won the rights to the second-place bye via coin flip, but it was likely deserving of second place before Larson’s team caught fire.
Nove’s squad has been carried by Hawkeye standout Aaron White, who has averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds in his four games this summer. White missed a game while attending the LeBron James Skills Academy, which likely had a large effect on the team’s loss in Week 4.
After White, Nove has the deepest team in the league, statistically speaking. Juco transfer Trey Dickerson has played well in his limited time in the Prime Time after arriving in Iowa City midseason, posting 17 points and 6.5 assists per game.
Dickerson and White included, Nove has seven players averaging double-digit scoring.
No. 4 Kevin Sanders
Kevin Sanders’ team comes in at fourth place, though it is important to note that coming in “last” for Sanders’ squad isn’t necessarily a knock on it. Sanders has a nicely rounded, fundamental basketball team, perhaps more so than any other remaining.
Sanders has been led by Iowa big man Gabe Olaseni, who is averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds per game. After Olaseni, the team fills out very well in an admirably traditional format.
Iowa alumnus Jason Price has been the league’s best distributor, averaging 8.5 assists per game at point guard. Price fits nicely alongside Hawkeye off-guard Josh Oglesby, who averages 18 points per game.
Northern Iowa’s Paul Jesperson ties everything together, scoring 20 points per contest as a stretch forward around Olaseni.