Six-foot-8 JR Trevor Mbakwe Sees Season End

Trevor Mbakwe, a 6-foot-8 junior power forward from Henry Sibley who is considered the top player in Minnesota among the Class of 2007, along with Bloomington Jefferson center Cole Aldrich, saw his season come to an end with a 79-75 loss to St. Paul (MN) Cretin Derham Hall. Mbakwe finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds in the loss as the Warriors were outscored 51-36 in the second half. GoldenSports.Net caught up with Mbakwe's head coach Tom Dasovich to learn the latest on his recruitment.

Trevor Mbakwe averaged 21.2 points per game this season as he led the Warriors to a 17-11 mark. He scored in double figures in all but one game (nine points versus North St. Paul) and has 20 more points in 15 of his 26 contests. Mbakwe averaged 24.3 points and 13.6 rebounds per game last season and was named first-team All-Metro by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

 

Mbakwe briefly transferred to Marietta (GA) Wheeler this fall, but returned to Minnesota in September.

 

Mbakwe helped lead Henry Sibley to a 16-11 mark as a sophomore. He spent the summer playing for the Howard Pulley Panther program. He was invited to the Nike All-American Camp, but elected to bypass the event.

 

Mbakwe is considering Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Miami, Florida and Marquette, although Dasovich said that the Illini have not shown as much recent interest.

 

"Illinois has kind of dropped off. They signed a bunch of power forward types. (Bill Cole, a 6-foot-9 player from Peoria (IL) Richwoods and Mike Tisdale, a 6-foot-11 player from Riverton (IL) High) and are not as in the mix."

 

Dasovich said that he expects Mbakwe to make his college decision before the start of next season.

 

"We have talked about making a decision during or after the AAU season. I would expect him to decide in the late summer or early spring. I'm in contact  with the coaches frequently."

 

Dasovich said that Henry Sibley will likely be invited to several top basketball events.

 

"We will likely play in the Target Center again (for the Timberwolves Shootout). We are playing Cretin Derham Hall in in the Breakdown Tournament. We have a couple of out-state options."

 

Mbakwe will play for the Howard Pulley AAAU team this spring and summer and at the Nike All-American Camp. The Howard Pulley team will travel to Europe for two weeks in August.