WBCA names Diamond Stone and Henry Ellenson co-Mr. Basketball recipients

The state of Wisconsin has turned out some pretty impressive big men over the years.

Don Kojis of Milwaukee Notre Dame in the 1950s, Jim Chones of Racine St. Catherine’s in the 1960s, Kurt Nimphius of South Milwaukee in the 1970s, Joe Wolf of Kohler in the 1980s, Jim McIlvaine of St. Catherine’s in the 1990s and Brian Butch of Appleton West in the 2000s are among the top frontline players in state prep basketball history.

And now two additional names can be added to the list of stellar big men who have played high school basketball in the state.

Henry Ellenson of Rice Lake and Diamond Stone of Dominican are dominant 6-foot-10 players who share this year’s Mr. Basketball award, which is presented annually by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

The accolades for Ellenson and Stone are truly remarkable.

Both played on the Gold-medal winning Team USA U17 squad last summer and both were selected to participate in the McDonald’s All-American game next month in Chicago.

Both are also ranked among the top 10 players nationally in the class of 2015 by ESPN with Ellenson at No. 5 and Stone at No. 7.

Both are four-year starters for their schools and both received recruiting attention from programs from across the country.

Ellenson, who signed a national letter of intent to play college basketball at Marquette last November, is averaging 27.4 points, 12.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots per game. He helped Rice Lake to victories in 47 of 48 games within the Big Rivers Conference the past four seasons and also led the Warriors to WIAA State Tournament appearances as a junior and senior.

An extremely versatile player who can handle the ball, pass and shoot, Ellenson is effective both from the perimeter and in the post.

The son of former Menomonie all-state pick John Ellenson and younger brother of Marquette junior Wally Ellenson and Valley City State sophomore Elwood Ellenson, Henry Ellenson is considered the most dominant big man in the history of high school basketball in northern Wisconsin.

Stone has led Dominican to the WIAA Division 4 state championship in each of the past four years and is attempting to join Randolph’s Ryan Tillema as the only players to start on four consecutive state championship teams. He is averaging 24.4 points and 11.4 rebounds per game while shooting 67 percent from the floor. He also averages 2.8 blocked shots per game for the Knights.

Stone trimmed his list of potential colleges to Wisconsin, Maryland, Connecticut and Oklahoma State last fall and plans to announce where he’ll play college basketball following the state tournament.

The son of former UW-Whitewater standout Bob Stone, Diamond Stone can absolutely dominant in the lane with his scoring and rebounding, but he can also step outside and make the mid-range jump shot.

Having two players of such high stature made is extremely difficult to pick one of the other as both Ellenson and Stone have achieved so much during their high school careers.

The WBCA also named co-Mr. Basketball winners in 2007 when Scott Christopherson of Aquinas and Keaton Nankivil of Madison Memorial shared the award.