State tournament takeaways: Scott Black and Steve Durant look back on the 2026 Minnesota boys’ state prep basketball tournament—and look ahead to teams that might be playing in next year’s state tourney.

It’s been said by some that winter in Minnesota doesn’t really end until the boys’ state high school basketball tournament wraps up. Well, the 2026 edition of Minnesota’s oldest state high school tournament concluded on March 28, when champions from four different classes were crowned. The weather in Minnesota following that state tournament wasn’t necessarily summerlike, but talk of the tourney remained a hot topic for days afterward.In this episode with podcast host Bob Edholm, Scott Black and Steve Durant, two Boomers who follow boys’ high school basketball as closely as anyone in the state, share their thoughts on the 2026 state tournament. Scott and Steve saw several of those games in person, including the quarterfinals at Target Center as well as the finals at the University of Minnesota’s Williams Arena.The 2026 edition of the boys’ state high school basketball tournament had a little bit of everything—upsets of some top-seeded teams, unexpected championship matchups, and breakout performances by several players who were just underclassmen.For years (for decades, actually) Scott and Steve have attended boys’ high school basketball games during the regular season as well as postseason. By the time the state tournament rolls around every year in late March, they’re familiar with many of the best teams and best players in the state.In this podcast episode, Scott and Steve also talk about some of the better teams and players who didn’t make it to the state tournament this year because they lost in their single-elimination sectional tournament. And based on what they saw in this past basketball season, Scott and Steve share their thoughts on which high school squads might appear in the 2027 state tournament.So, listen, learn—and maybe even laugh out loud a few times—as Bob Edholm and his two guests, Scott Black and Steve Durant, talk about Minnesota boys’ state high school basketball.