Zachary Lyon:
Future150 Regional Analyst. Covering high and middle school basketball: NC, SC & VA
West Palm Beach, FL (Future150) -- As we head into the heat of the AAU season Balsa Koprivica is a name you need to get used to hearing, if you have not already heard it yet. I'll let you in on why this guy is going to be so special.
For starters Balsa stands at 6'11 and weighs about 250 pounds, and he's still in the eighth grade. No that wasn't a typo. Balsa has not even started high school yet and already has the physical attributes of most starting four and five guys in the NBA.
If the physical attributes don't impress you go watch some film on him, his feet are as graceful as a guard and he already has a great midrange jump shot added to his game.
Balsa played on the varsity squad at University School in Florida this past season. Even though he was by far the youngest out of all the competition he still looked like a man among boys on the court. Kind of ironic if you think about it.
"Since I played varsity this year as an eighth grader, my game got a lot better and I've gotten stronger down low," said Koprivica. "My goal for next season (as a freshman) is to win the state championship."
Future opponents of Balsa deserve your pity. He's already a nightmare to go against now. He will be absolutley unstoppable in his upperclassmen years. Coaches will be slobbering over Balsa's talent combined with his crazy attributes at such a young age.
What aspect of his game does he think will help him shine this season and help him start to gain that ultimate exposure that all these kids truly want?
"Being able to score at (multiple) levels," said Koprivica. "When there is a smaller guy covering me I'll take him down low and score there, other times I can step out for the mid-range jumper or dribble past my man and take it in for a dunk." Balsa also added, "I'm looking forward to playing in the NYBL and Adidas Gauntlet. I would like to win both of them, and I know my team has the talent to win both of them."
The big man will no doubt be one of the most talked about players in the 2019 class this AAU season and deserves every bit of the hype he recieves. He's has shown what he can do on the floor, now he just needs to play consistently and dominate the competition like everyone knows he is fully capable of.
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