Before this season began, Linn-Mar’s Zach Bohannon was in most people’s top-five when it came to who was favored to win the 2009 Iowa Mr. Basketball award.
Bohannon, a 6-7 senior headed for Division I Air Force, had a couple of things working against him. First of all, he’s a teammate of Nate Hutcheson, another 6-7 senior bound for D-I Western Michigan, whose name was also involved in Mr. Basketball discussions. It’s difficult pitting teammate against teammate in the Mr. Basketball vote. Secondly, the front-runners were widely considered to be Dubuque Wahlert’s Eric May and Sioux City Heelan’s Brennan Cougill, a pair of Class 3A first-team all-state performers as juniors who are heading to the University of Iowa to play basketball. Bohannon was a second-team Class 4A selection as a junior.
There were plenty of other names out there, as well, including Waukee’s 6-8 Gabe Knutson, who is headed to Drake. Hull Western Christian’s Trevor Wolsterstorff was also mentioned. He’s led Western Christian to the last two 2A state championships and was first-team all-state last season.
But Bohannon’s stock is rising.
He scored 40 points and grabbed seven rebounds in Linn-Mar’s somewhat lackluster 62-56 win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson Tuesday, and is now averaging 19.6 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.o assists and 2.8 steals for the 17-1 Lions. Those numbers rank favorably with Knutson (20.2 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 3.0 apg), May (23.8 ppg, 3.o apg, 2.8 steals) and Cougill (17.7 ppg, 14.6 rpg, 3.6 blks) and exceed most of the other candidates. Keep in mind Ames’ Harrison Barnes is a junior this season and therefore not eligible for the award until next year.
Bohannon is a strong inside player for Linn-Mar who is capable of moving out to the perimeter and making a 3-pointer here and there. He is a solid defender and passer and is as intelligent as he is physically gifted.
A key to winning the Mr. Basketball award is getting your team to the state tournament and performing well in three games there. The way Bohannon is playing lately – he had 35 points in a win over Iowa City High last week – he certainly needs to be considered to follow his brother Jason Bohannon, the 2006 Iowa Mr. Basketball out of Linn-Mar who is now at the University of Wisconsin, as a winner of the prestigious award.
