Future Hawkeye Peter Jok Declared Iowa Mister Basketball

Peter Jok was once the number one rated high school recruit in America.

After a challenging, injury-stunted high school career, he'll just have to settle for the best high school player in Iowa.

via Iowa Prep Sports

Iowa signee Peter Jok of West Des Moines Valley is the 2013 Iowa Mr. Basketball. The 6-foot-6 wing averaged 23.6 points for the Tigers, shooting 42 percent from 3-point land and 92 percent from the free-throw line.

Jok joins Iowa City West High's Jeremy Morgan and Wyatt Lohaus, both future University of Northern Iowa Panthers, on the first team voted on by the 2013 Iowa Newspaper Association. Morgan, a senior, had also been in discussion by many high school basketball watchers as the state's best player.

Also See: A nice article on Jok's overcoming the challenges of life as a Sudanese immigrant, as well as the painful rehabilitation of his knee injury, to eventually become a Hawkeye

Jok rebounded from a lackluster junior year following his recovery from a knee injury, which led some Hawkeye fans to question his recruitment with the only Hawkeye scholarship this year (the other scholarship going to Wisconsin transfer Jarrod Uthoff). He proved these doubters wrong with a stellar senior campaign, but sadly was unable to take his skills to state, as West Des Moines Valley was defeated by Des Moines Roosevelt, a school he had previously attended before transferring to Valley.

Poetic justice, some (Roosevelt fans) might say. But maybe there's a little justice in Jok ending his high school career number one, where he started.