THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: MODE Prep gets its feet wet at the national prep school basketball level

Prep school basketball tournaments are just different than high school basketball tourneys. 

Sometimes, the other team doesn’t show up. 

The shot clock is 24 seconds, compared to 30 or 35 in high school — if that state even has a shot clock. 

And then there’s the talent level. 

MODE Prep of Liberty Lake, with three coaches from North Idaho, and two players from Coeur d’Alene, made its debut in the national world of prep school basketball last weekend, losing three close games with a shorthanded squad in a Grind Session (sponsored by adidas) tournament in Hopkinsville, Ky. 

“All things considered, I was very encouraged with how we played,” said MODE Prep head coach Jon Adams, the former Coeur d’Alene High boys basketball coach.  

“The first team we played (Code Academy from Ontario, Canada) had three 6-10 guys we could not match up with. We got down early and battled back, and I told the kids, ‘You can compete at this level.’ We’ve got a lot to work on, and a lot to work with.” 

MODE PREP lost 73-63 to Code Academy in its first game last Thursday. 

MODE’s Friday opponent didn’t show up to the tournament, so MODE played two games on Saturday, falling 79-75 to Wesley Christian from Kentucky and 68-63 to Orangeville Prep of Ontario. 

MODE was without Vuk Zelic, a 6-7 wing from Serbia and, according to Adams, the team’s best all-around player, for most of the tournament with an ankle injury. He saw some 15 minutes of playing time in MODE’s third game. 

“All of them were winnable games,” Adams said. “If we have Vuk we could have won all of them.” 

Aside from Zelic, MODE had just six healthy players — two of them sophomores from Coeur d’Alene, Collin Simon and Hudson Reid. 

Neither were expected to be on MODE’s top national team. But when MODE had to field just one team instead of its planned three teams, Simon and Reid got a taste of the big time a little sooner than expected. 

“It’s like sink or swim; we threw them in the deep end,” Adams said. “Collin, he’s just a pure shooter; he shot the lights out. Hudson, he’s a dog, he does all the dirty work.” 

OF THE others, Adams said Zuby Toms, a 6-2 guard from Las Vegas, averaged 27 points per game in the three games last weekend.  

Matt Cummins, a 6-1 combo guard from Las Vegas who played the point last weekend, averaged 12 points and eight assists. 

Adams said Alassane Doucoure, a 6-10 junior post from Mali, Africa, “probably had a double-double every game. He’s an NBA-caliber player.” 

Adams, who coached high school basketball as recently as last season, said “they let a lot more go,” at the prep school level.  

“There’s a lot of great athletes that can break you down one-on-one,” Adams said of last weekend’s play. “But the teams that play together and play collectively, they’re going to be more successful.” 

That is in contrast to what you often see at prep tournaments, where players often are out to show off their individual skills. 

Based in part on its roster and how it played at the tourney in Kentucky, Adams said MODE Prep will likely end up in the Elevation Division, the second of three levels of tournaments offered by the Grind Session.  

Although he hoped MODE would wind up in the top division, “we’ll be more competitive in the second division,” Adams said. 

NEXT UP for MODE Prep is the Great Western Fall Classic in Draper, Utah, where the Liberty Lake squad is slated to play four games in three days, starting today.

Most of MODE Prep’s games are far, far away from Liberty Lake. But if you’re curious about seeing MODE Prep in person, they have a game scheduled against Elite Prep of Seattle on Nov. 13 at North Idaho College, time TBA. 

By then, the fledgling prep school will have a few more games under its belt. 

“A month ago, they didn’t even know each other,” Adams said of his players. “A good team doesn’t happen overnight.” 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.