Iowa's summer basketball league, Prime Time League (PTL), is off to a high-scoring start for at least one new Hawkeye.
Prime Time is a place for high school, college, and professional players around the state of Iowa to hone their skills in preparation for the season.
Over the past two decades, several great Iowa basketball greats have participated in PTL, including NBA players like Ryan Bowen, Reggie Evans, and Ricky Davis.
"[Davis] was by far the most electrifying high school player that I have seen come through the PTL," remembered former Hawkeye legend Kenyon Murray.
Incoming freshman Melsahn Basabe appears to be following in Davis's PTL footsteps.
Cedar Rapids Gazette writer Scott Dochterman labels Basabe an "electrifying dunker ." He has been the star of the summer on both ends of the court, and has proved he can take control of a game when he needs to.
“I wanted to play hard to show people I respected the Iowa fan base,” Basabe mentioned in a post game interview. “But I put pressure on myself. I don’t want to embarrass myself.”
If his Prime Time League stats are any indication, the 6-7 power forward shouldn't have to worry about embarrassing himself come Big Ten Conference action.
The New York native continues to put up impressive numbers, averaging over 34 points and 10 rebounds a game in the three league match-ups so far this summer. He is also shooting better than 50 percent from behind the three-point line.
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As longtime ESPN announcer Chris Berman would say, get ready for some prime time.
Iowa's summer basketball league, called Prime Time League (PTL), is almost ready to begin. Prime Time is a place for high school, college and professional players around the state to hone their skills in preparation for the season.
Iowa City attorney Randy Larson started the league 24 years ago. Larson, who also coaches Iowa City Regina boys' basketball, is League Director.
Over the past two decades, several great Iowa basketball greats have participated in Prime Time.
Former Hawkeye player and current Iowa Basketball Video Coordinator Ryan Bowen has first-hand experience with PTL.
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Roy Marble Jr. is the son of Iowa's all-time leading scorer Roy Marble. Marble Sr. scored 2,116 points his career at Iowa from 1986-89 and is the only player in Iowa history to score more than 1,800 points.
Marble Jr. seems to have inherited his dad's basketball gene.
He averaged around 26 points and eight rebounds a game at Southfield-Lathrup High School in Michigan. As a junior, he averaged 22 points, nine rebounds and 4.5 assists.
Marble Jr tweeted out a link to the following video tonight, and it's clear he is going to be a major force in the Big Ten in the years to come.
