David Joplin, Brookfield Central clicking at the right time

Brookfield Central (20-1), the defending Division 1 state champion, is hitting its stride at the perfect time on the high school basketball calendar.

A big part of that success is credited to junior forward David Joplin, who has played the best basketball of his career in the month of February. The 6-foot-7, 215-pound prospect scored 36 points on Feb. 14 against Sussex Hamilton, and he followed up that performance with a 34-point, 16-rebound outing in a win over Brookfield East last Friday.

"It feels pretty good," Joplin told BadgerBlitz.com on Friday evening. "We clinched our conference championship tonight and we're ready to keep going. We want to get on a roll right now and have some confidence going into the playoffs."

Joplin and junior guard Ben Nau form a solid one-two punch for the Lancers. But Central also features seniors Malik Abdul-Wahid, who is headed to Winona State, and Eric Radisevic, who recently picked up an offer from UW-Parkside.

"We're a little younger this year," Joplin said. "I think we have four seniors but about seven juniors. We've had players who have been there last and we know what it takes to get back to Madison.

"For me, I think I'm just taking my time more and doing a better job of understanding what the team needs me to do. I need to find myself in the offense and pick my spots, and I've been better at that recently."

On the recruiting front, Joplin, who played on the EYBL circuit last year with MeanStreets (IL), has offers from DePaul, Georgetown, Green Bay, Milwaukee, UNLV and Valparaiso. The Hoyas offered following Joplin's performance against East.

"I'm definitely hearing from Butler and Loyola a lot," Joplin said. "And then Georgetown has come in recently and been very interested. So I'm excited about those schools, but I'm really just focused on the season right now."

Wisconsin, which currently has commitments Matthew Mors, Chucky Hepburn and Chris Hodges in the 2021 class, hosted Joplin for a visit last fall. The Badgers likely have room for one or two more scholarship players in the junior cycle, with Joplin, Hamilton's Patrick Baldwin Jr. (already has an offer) and Monroe's Cade Meyer the top in-state prospects on the Badgers' board.

"It was a pretty nice visit and it was a good to see the game and the atmosphere," Joplin said. "Wisconsin seems like a nice place to play and I like the coaches there. It was would be cool to play for your home-state school. We'll see what happens this summer.

"I'm just trying to make sure I can go to college and play where I want to play. Maybe somewhere warm, but I'm just looking for the best fit."