Five finalists for 2024 Minnesota Mr. Basketball Award revealed
Cherry’s Isaac Asuma, Park Center’s Casmir Chavis, Breck’s Daniel Freitag, Wayzata’s Jackson McAndrew and Totino-Grace’s Isaiah Johnson-Arigu are the five finalists for the 2024 Minnesota Mr. Basketball Award, the committee announced on Sunday.
The committee previously released a 35-player watch list for the award — which is given to the most outstanding senior player in the state — on Jan. 15. That was whittled down to the committee’s top-10 candidates on Feb. 26, and down to five finalists on Sunday. The winner will be announced following the state tournament.
Asuma, a Gophers commit, has led Cherry to a 28-2 record and a Class A state tournament berth. According to stats made available by MaxPreps.com, Asuma is averaging 20.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game for the top-seeded Tigers, who will take on Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in the state tournament quarterfinals at 11 a.m. Thursday at Target Center.
Cherry's Isaac Asuma brings the ball up the court during a high school boys basketball game against Nevis on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, at Cherry School in Cherry, Minn.
Nolan O'Hara / Bring Me The News
Chavis, a Washington commit, is Park Center’s leading scorer at 21.9 points per game, according to stats available on mnbasketballhub.com, and has led the Pirates to a Class 4A state tournament appearance. Park Center will open the tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against Eagan at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at Target Center.
Freitag, a Wisconsin commit, averages 25.5 points per game, according to the MN Boys Basketball Hub, for Breck, another state tournament-bound team. Freitag and Breck will take on Waseca in a Class 2A state tournament quarterfinal at Williams Arena on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
McAndrew, the top-ranked recruit in Minnesota’s 2024 class and a Creighton commit, averages 23.9 points per game, per stats on the MN Boys Basketball Hub, and has led state tournament-bound Wayzata to a 27-1 record. The top-seeded Trojans will take on Rogers in a Class 4A quarterfinal at 10 a.m. on Wednesday at Target Center.
Finally, Johnson-Arigu, a Miami commit, is averaging 19.3 points per game, per the MN Boys Basketball Hub, for another state tournament-bound team in Totino-Grace, and the top-seeded Eagles will face Stewartville in a Class 3A quarterfinal at 10 a.m. on Wednesday at Williams Arena.
The top-five seniors in the state will get one last chance to make their case for the Mr. Basketball Award at the state tournament, and the winner of the award will be announced during the week of March 24.
