Two KCII local basketball players have chosen to test their skills against a collection of college basketball talent. The Prime Time Basketball League is in its 29th season under the direction of the organization’s founder Randy Larson, which encourages good basketball habits for players who are serious about improving their skills over the summer.

Soon to be seniors Derek Anding of Washington and Eli Gingerich of the Iowa Mennonite School have both signed up for the league to put their skills to the test against players from the University of Iowa, the University of Northern Iowa, and several other Division II and NAIA institutions. Anding and Gingerich are among the youngest players competing in the league.

Larson drafted Gingerich for his Westport Touchless Autowash team, and has been impressed with his play thus far. “He has knocked down three three-point shots already.” Larson said, “He isn’t afraid to shoot the ball but he plays the game the right way as you expecting being the son of a coach but he is really developing his game and I think local high school fans from IMS are going to awfully happy with the way he plays.”

Anding joins former IMS basketball player Christian Swartzentruber on the BlendCard/McCurrys’ team.

Larson says their are other notable performers from Southeast Iowa a part of the league, “Winfield-Mount Union’s most famous alumni is Jess Settles, and he is coaching in the league,” Larson said, “One of his players is Michael Alderman, who played at Mid-Prairie and was a big star and has been at William Penn for the last two years after going to DMACC for a while.”

The Prime Time Basketball League plays on Thursday and Sundays at the North Liberty Community Center with three nights of games being played at the Waterloo Sportsplex. The league goes through the month of July. To learn more about the summer league, listen to an interview with Larson on this week’s PM Sports Page, found OnDemand at KCIIRadio.com.