Blake Ellwein Scouting Deepdive
Draftstack goes deep into the profile of South Dakota’s top-ranked 2026 prospect, 6’9” G/Wing Blake Ellwein of Huron High School and South Dakota-based AAU program TEAM Warwick
Blake Ellwein is a well-known name in the South Dakota basketball community.
I reside in South Dakota, and I specifically rank South Dakota prospects, so I have a strong familiarity with Ellwein and his overall profile.
I will attack this piece as if the reader has never heard a mention of Blake Ellwein. So, I will cover the basics of his profile, at first.
I will first introduce Ellwein with a highlight video that will present his 6’9” length and abilities at that size. He’s a fine-cut diamond in South Dakota. A true gem.
A prospect of Ellwein’s caliber comes around maybe every 5-8 years in South Dakota. There’s no real basis or understudying behind this statement, but I want to paint a less-blemished picture on Ellwein and his status as a prospect in South Dakota.
He currently holds offers from Drake University, South Dakota State University, University of South Dakota, North Dakota State University, (D2) Augustana University, (D2) Northern State University, and (NAIA) Dakota Wesleyan University.
I connected with him a couple days ago and he told me that there are no new schools actively recruiting him.
In the 2024-2025 high school season with Huron High School, Ellwein backed-up his elite profile with a First-Team All-State honor in the highest class of high school basketball in South Dakota. His averages were 21.4 ppg., 7.2 rpg., and 2.1 apg. He also scored his 1,000th career point this past season, which is uncommon in South Dakota AA basketball to reach that number prior to your Senior season. AA basketball is far superior than the two classes below it and it sits atop in its own clear tier.
What makes Ellwein different than the other 2026 South Dakota prospects gunning to be the top prospect?
Length Separation
Obviously, his 6’9” Wing length is the key separator within Ellwein’s profile. Basically, Ellwein’s length has a trickle-down effect with every other aspect of his profile. For instance, his guard-like skills carry more weight that he’s 6’9”, and if he owned the identical skillset at 6’0”, he would not not have a gambler’s chance of being featured on Draftstack.
Defensive Versatility and rim-protection
Ellwein moves very well in a tight coordinate, and it always him to defend out of position, or more-so players with smaller frames and with potential to have a minor quick-twitch advantage.
Again, his length reigns supreme once again when we look at his defensive versatility. Ellwein is one of the top rim-protectors in the region and will jump up and challenge high-end Midwestern talent at the rim. He’a a transition chase-down shot-blocker, and he’s at 100% full-throttle when he can anticipate one of those opportunities — in even the slightest manner. He brings a large scale of net force directed at the ball and an absorbing opponent.
Handling, 2-level shooting, & at-the-rim ability
Ellwein doesn’t have any limitating to his overall game and effectiveness because of a poor handle on the ball at 6’9”. In fact, his ball security and being able to properly distribute the ball in the half-court could be considered a net-positive for him and him being able to consistently perform.
Blake owns a shotmaking arsenal that is his second biggest separator for him. He can pull from three in transition and pull and shot-make from range in any reasonably-thinkable scenario.
His middle-game is elite — and he’s able to show a fade-game that is uncontestable, has high-level shot-creation in the midrange, and can make high level of difficulty shots from the middle area.
Blake is becoming a noticeably better at-the-rim offensive player and finisher. He’s starting to attack contact without hesitation and he’s doing it much more often. He’s becoming much more undeterred by high hands and rim-resistance, in general. This new development has taken his game up a couple notches, as it was one of his notable weaknesses in the past.
Ellwein has the length and skill replication of top-tier high school prospects in the United States. The likes of those that get NIL deals that can alter someone’s lifestyle and family future.
What is Ellwein missing?
In the past — you could say — Ellwein was on scale 6 in a 1-10 ten-point scale, in terms of his level of offensive assertiveness + consistent game-to-game killer instinct offensive mentality. I think he may have pushed it up to a 7.5 or so this offseason with TEAM Warwick 17U-Kvaale. So, we’re heading in the correct trend.
I think Ellwein would need to be near the 10-point maximum or dang close, to give the high-dollar boys a run for their money.
Blake Ellwein has all the tools to hang with the nation’s best, but does he believe that internally — being a small-town South Dakota kid?
Go show yourself, Mr. Ellwein.