Sam Haiby is our 2018 Player of the Summer
I don’t get up to Moorhead very often, so mostly I remember watching Sam Haiby play with North Tartan over the past 4 summers. The first time would have been the summer after 8th grade as Tartan rolled to the…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingI don’t get up to Moorhead very often, so mostly I remember watching Sam Haiby play with North Tartan over the past 4 summers. The first time would have been the summer after 8th grade as Tartan rolled to the AAU title with Haiby, Maesyn Theisen and Erika Hicks at the guards. They would each hit a bomb or 2 to get a lead and then, in the second half, Tartan would play all 3 together and they would play a little bit of keep away. Nobody could take the ball away from Haiby, Theisen and Hicks.
Fast forward to 2017. Hicks is doing her thing at Champlin Park, handling and protecting the ball, and scoring both inside and out. Theisen is doing the same at Sauk Centre, is still playing for North Tartan though she’s no longer the alpha player she was then, and reportedly is headed for UMD. And Haiby? She’s got some Little League experience, pitching for a boys (or, rather, a mixed) baseball team. She has emerged as the premiere athlete among the 3, and now she’s headed to Nebraska to play basketball in the Big 10.
Last spring she leapfrogged all the way from #7 to #1 in our 2018 player rankings after long-time #1 Carmen Backes suffered her 2nd major injury in as many seasons, and we decided a totally fresh look at the rankings was in order.
What we saw was that Haiby had become a devastating scorer—31 points in a huge upset over St. Michael-Albertville in the Section 8AAAA semi-finals. 23.9 ppg on 46 percent shooting for the season. She hits the 3 from the top of the key. With her strength and her athleticism, she gets to the rim at all. She hauls down 8 rebounds per game, with 4 or 5 assists. No wonder Nebraska took an interest. No wonder she is our #1-rated player in the class of 2018 as well as our Summer Player of the Year for 2018 in 2017.
She will play for coach Amy Williams, who played at Nebraska herself in the class of 1998. She now has 11 seasons as head coach under her belt with 200 wins and 131 losses. She coached South Dakota to a 32-6 record in 2016. She was 96-44 in 4 years at USD.
But, first, another year for an improving Moorhead program, though whether they’ll be improved year over year is another question, as they lose powerful post Brooke Thonsfeldt and return a young, fairly small but very athletic team. This year, a section finalist won’t be good enough, now that a section championship and a trip to the state tournament is in sight.
I was able to talk to Sam at the Meltdown a couple weeks ago.
What did you like about Nebraska?
The first day I noticed that the facilities are unbelievable, top of the line. And I had a really great connection with Amy (Williams) herself and the rest of her coaching staff.
What do you want to get better at to play in the Big 10?
There’s always a bunch of work to put in. I go to the rim well but you always need to work on finishing. But, mostly, my outside shot, my 3-point shot could use some work, too.
How do you think Nebraska will use you?
I think they have me playing mostly off the ball, but I can bring it up when they need me to.
What do you like about playing summer ball for North Tartan?
This is one of the best times of the year, and Tartan is one of the best clubs in the Midwest—proven to be so. I’ve definitely been blessed to play for this club.