Mason Klabo, a 6-foot-1, 160-pound 2025 guard from Fargo (ND) Davies, is considered the top player in North Dakota in his class. He averaged 5.9 points per game as an eighth grader, but elevated his scoring to nearly 28 points per game as a freshman. His strong play earned him a scholarship from North Dakota State.
Klabo recently attended Minnesota’s camp for the top eighth and ninth graders and the Minnesota Team Camp and played well in front of the Gopher coaching staff in both events. Klabo also shined with his Howard Pulley AAU team at the EYBL event in Kansas City, attracting the attention of coaches from Minnesota, North Dakota State and Wisconsin among others with his strong play as he led the team in scoring and his newly shaved head. Several coaches compared him with the Woody Harrelson character in the movie “White Men Can’t Jump,” as he surprised many opponents who might have underestimated him based on his appearance.
The Gopher Report recently caught up with Klabo to learn the latest on his Minnesota camp experience, early recruitment and upcoming sophomore year.
The Gopher Report: You were here for the Gopher team camp and this camp. How much do you think these camps help you as a player?
Mason Klabo: It’s a lot different competition out here than it is in North Dakota, so getting to play against different heights, different type of people, different type of playing styles, always helps me on the offensive side and also on the defensive side. Just getting better on defense, guarding the best players out here in Minnesota, so just coming out here and playing hard, playing with my team here on Saturday and then coming here and playing individually has been a lot of fun and I’ve learned a lot of stuff.
The Gopher Report: You had a really good freshman season. Averaging about 27 or 28 points per game. You also played on varsity as an eighth grader. How much do you think your game improved from eight grade to this past year?
Mason Klabo: You know, we had really good seniors my eighth grade year, so I was just more of a role player. I came in, knocked down shots. Played defense and then, my freshman year, I had a pretty big role on the team. I also grew a couple of inches, gained ten or twenty pounds just from playing and getting stronger over the summer. With me growing into my freshman year and grew into my type of play, getting to the rim better. Finishing over people. Finishing through and also, “let’s keep on knocking down shots” as just growing eight grade to ninth grade season.
The Gopher Report: How far did you make it the postseason last year?
Mason Klabo: We lost in the semis by five points to West Fargo.
The Gopher Report: What’s it going to take to get even farther and maybe win a state title?
Mason Klabo: We are going to have to get to that same spot and get over that hump, because we have gotten to the semis I think five years in a row and we just can’t get over that hump. To get over that hump, we’ve got to play better together. We’ve got to play better defense and we just have to trust each other and trust Coach Manson and I think this year, we have a really good chance to getting to that state title and hopefully, winning it.
The Gopher Report: Has Davies ever won a state title?
Mason Klabo: 2014.
The Gopher Report: Do you have a lot of the other main guys coming back?
Mason Klabo: I think we have three starters back. One actually just got hurt before this team camp, so we don’t know if its knee and if he is going to come back, but Raymond Brown, who averaged 11 points and was All-Conference last year, he’ll be back and me and him can hopefully carry and lead these younger guys coming in. Just role players and hopefully, we can contribute well and they can contribute well and hopefully, we can get over that hump..
The Gopher Report: You are officially a sophomore. Does that feel weird already?
Mason Klabo: It does. It went by really fast. Freshman year was a lot of fun. I made a lot of friends going in to high school. Not being the oldest guy on the team, technically, but being there for three years now and pretty much being the oldest guy is a lot different, for sure
The Gopher Report: It’s a little bit hard with recruitment, because coaches can’t call you directly, but they can send you message or mail or contact your coaches. I know that North Dakota State already offered you. What was that feeling like from the homestate school?
Mason Klabo: Oh, it was amazing. Just going to their games, football and basketball, since I was young and then seeing them at the game and then giving me the offer the next day was amazing. It was one of the greatest feelings in the world to know that all the work that you put in hasn’t paid off totally, but someone think that you can play for the school. That made me feel really good.
The Gopher Report: What other schools are you hearing from besides North Dakota State?
Mason Klabo: A little bit from Minnesota, UNI, Oregon State. Nothing crazy.
The Gopher Report: I know that Minnesota has a little bit of a connection because of Coach Thorson. He was a head coach in the Fargo area. Did you know him before the team camp?
Mason Klabo: No. I’ve heard of him and he has a best friend and their daughter goes to my school, so that also has a connection and I just figured out on Saturday that Jason Kemp was a NDSU coach for a couple of years. I didn’t know that, so there’s actually a bunch of connections that come from my hometown.
The Gopher Report: What would it mean to have the opportunity to play Division I basketball?
Mason Klabo: It would mean a lot. It’s been the goal since I could start dribbling, just to come here and play at the big level, D1 level, so that is the main goal, for sure.
The Gopher Report: Do you come from a basketball family?
Mason Klabo: My sister played at UND and then she went overseas and played in Belgium. My brother played football at NDSU for a little bit and my uncle played football at NDSU and was an All-American who went down and played with the Browns for a couple years. My dad played at UND and my mother was an All-American at UND, too.
The Gopher Report: Do you think that athletic background helps you as a player?
Mason Klabo: My dad can tell me something about it. My mom can tell me something about a sport and my brother can tell, so all these different outlets of how people can help me with my game, has helped me tremendously.
The Gopher Report: I know that you have three years before you need to decide on a school, but have you thought about what might be the main factors that would that would make you pick School A over School B or C?
Mason Klabo: I just think whatever feels comfortable. Just getting a really good connection with the coaches, because I have a really good friendship and relationship with my high school head coach, so if I can make that same relationship with a different coach at a different school, I think that will make everything work and I think that would be the school that I could choose.
The Gopher Report: You are playing with Howard Pulley. How much do you think that helps you as a player ?
Mason Klabo: Oh, it helps tremendously. Going down there and playing the best kids in the nation, those Top 25 kids, you play them every weekend in the EYBL. That has helped me to play, to defend the ball and just get better.
The Gopher Report: You had a couple of your teammates at the camp. Was it nice to see some familiar faces when you show up at a camp like this?
Mason Klabo: When you come down here and you don’t know what to expect and you have made a bunch of friendships from the Minneapolis area from Fargo, it is really nice to be out here and play.
