Pryce Sandfort became part of the Iowa Basketball family when he signed his letter of intent in November. If he didn’t already realize that, he found out on Tuesday when he was announced as the state’s high school player of the year.

“Pretty much all the coaches reached out to me and congratulated me,” Sandfort said. “That meant a lot to me. I know how busy they are with preparing for March Madness, and they still are showing support.”

Sandfort (6-7, 190) averaged 24.9 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.7 blocks and 1.7 steals in leading Waukee Northwest to last Friday’s Class 4A State Championship Game. Tuesday, he and his family were driving to Birmingham, Ala. for the Hawkeyes NCAA Tournament game against Auburn on Thursday. His older brother, Payton Sandfort, earned the Big Ten’s Sixth of the Year award as an Iowa sophomore this season.

Pryce was a sophomore when he teamed up with Payton, Drake’s Tucker DeVries and ’23 Iowa State signee Omaha Biliew in winning the 4A Championship with Waukee in ’21. Biliew joined Pryce as a IPSWA first-team all-state pick this year.

DeVries won Mr. Basketball when Payton was a senior, but Pryce won’t rub it in. After all, big brother can show off his new Big Ten honor.

“I won’t brag about it to Payton too much because he had his own amazing accomplishments in his high school career. Both of us were really fortunate throughout our high school careers with the opportunities and accomplishments we had,” Pryce said.

Pryce Sandfort chose the Hawkeyes ahead of reported scholarship offers from Seton Hall, Davidson, Drake, Clemson, Nebraska and Washington State. He officially visited Iowa and Drake.

Rivals, 247Sports, ESPN and On3 rank Pryce Sandfort as a four-star recruit. He’s rated among the Top 101 recruits nationally in the ’23 Class with 247 being the highest at 88.

Sandfort finished his prep career with 1,695 points. He became the 15th future Hawkeye to capture Iowa’s Mr. Basketball since the award began in ’81.

“It’s very special to me because I know the players who have won it in the past. To be a part of that group of people is truly a honor. Also, just to represent my home state like that is really special to me and all the hard work that was put into winning this award,” he said.

He’ll be watching future teammates compete this week on a stage he hopes to be on next season. He’ll resume working on doing his part to make that happen when he returns from Alabama.

“I’m going to get back to work as soon as I can. I’m going to be working on speed and strength along with everything overall within my game,” he said.

Hawkeyes to Win Iowa’s Mr. Basketball

Todd Berkenpas, ’81 (Maple Valley)

Al Lorenzen, ’84 (Kennedy)

Wade Lookingbill, ’88 (Fort Dodge)

Jess Settles, ’93 (Winfield-Mt. Union)

Dean Oliver, ’97 (Mason City)

Glen Worley, ’00 (Iowa City West)

Jeff Horner, ’02 (Mason City)

Carlton Reed, ’04 (Waterloo East)

Matt Gatens, ’08 (Iowa City High)

Brennan Cougill, ’09 (Heelan)

Jarrod Uthoff, ’11 (Jefferson)

Peter Jok, ’13 (West Des Moines Valley)

Jordan Bohannon, ’16 (Linn-Mar)

Joe Wieskamp, ’18 (Muscatine)

Pryce Sandfort, ’23 (Waukee Northwest)