Where Are They Now

We’ve been doing this for 5 years now, and that’s a nice round number. So let’s take a look back over 5 years and see what stands out. The Best of the Best Center—Abi Scheid, 6-2, class of 2016, Elk River and Northwestern I remember we always had Abi in our top 10 in her class, with a high of maybe #6 or #7. People said, She’s not that good. Really? In addition to scoring 20 ppg over 4 years at Elk River, she is a great passer out of the post. Now averaging 13 ppg and 5 rebounds while starting all 21 games in her sophomore season at Northwestern. No other Minnesota post has scored in double figures in D1 over the past 5 years. Power Forward—Alex Wittinger, 6-1, class of 2015, Delano and Illinois Maybe the strongest Minnesota player we’ve seen. She is now in her 3rd year at Illinois and over 2+ seasons she has scored 13 ppg with 8 boards and 3 blocks while starting 55 of 65 games. Small Forward—Rachel Ranke, 6-2, class of 2017, Eastview and Kansas State One of the best 3-point shooters we’ve seen, she is scoring 12 ppg and making 34% of her 3s and 82% of her FT as a freshman at K State. Only Maddy Dean (at Drake) and Kenisha Bell (at Marquette) had a higher scoring average as a freshman (in D1). Point Guard—Kenisha Bell, 5-9, class of 2014, Bloomington Kennedy and Marquette/Minnesota Bell was recruited by Minnesota, then opted out and played at Marquette for a year, then transferred back to Minnesota. I have to admit, I did not think she would be as dominant as she is. She is a 21-5-6-3 as a junior at Minnesota this year after having the highest scoring freshman season in D1 of anybody at 14 ppg. The best ball defender we’ve seen in 5 years. Shooting Guard—Carlie Wagner, 5-10, class of 2014, NRHEG and Minnesota She is the only Minnesota girl to become a Minnesota Gopher right out of high school. Everybody else has transferred in. When will the Gophers start to recruit Minnesota? But, OK, yes, Carlie is a volume shooter but, still, she is the highest scoring D1 college player to come out of Minnesota over these 5 years. Her 12 ppg as a freshman is #4 during that period, but her 19-19 and 18 ppg has been exceeded only by Kenisha Bell. 2nd Team Center—Kristin Scott, 6-2, class of 2017, Kasson-Mantorville and Iowa State Off to a nice start at 6 ppg and 7 boards in 19 games (4 starts) so far in her freshman year. Shooting 37%. Power Forward—Annika Jank, 6-3, class of 2017, Edina and Colorado Her 11-7 numbers as a freshman are about equal to Alex Wittinger’s. No other 4 can match those numbers for a first-year D1 player. Small Forward—Carmen Backes, 6-2, class of 2018, Chisago Lakes and Wisconsin This is where she projects but, admittedly, it is tough to compare a high school senior to a player who has at least a few college games under her belt. It will be interesting to see how Backes compare will with Cayla McMorris (Park Center) (14 ppg now as a senior) and Courtney Fredrickson (Minnetonka) (9 ppg as a sophomore) at Wisconsin. Point Guard—Temi Carda, 5-6, class of 2017, Lakeville North and Creighton The Bluejays continue to recruit more Minnesotans than anybody other than South Dakota State, and Carda looks in her 1st season at Creighton to be headed for a successful career. Right now she is at 7-4-1 and shooting 40-29-75% as a freshman. Only Kenisha Bell and Taylor Thunstedt (North Dakota) had better numbers as a freshman point guard. Shooting Guard—Taylor Koenen, 6-2, class of 2016, Shakopee and North Carolina Off to a great start, she started the final 12 games of her freshman season and has started all 21 games so far this year. She is averaging 8 ppg and 6 boards in 1+ seasons. As a sophomore she is shooting 44-20-64%. 3rd Team Center—Megan Walstad, 6-3, class of 2018, Eastview and Milwaukee It will be interesting to see how Walstad matches up with Lizzie Odegard, formerly of Minnetonka and in the future a teammate at Milwaukee. We project Walstad a little higher. Power Forward—Jamie Ruden, 6-2, class of 2016, Rochester JM and Arizona State Got hurt in her freshman year, she is now scoring 10 ppg in her 2nd year while shooting a solid 46%. Small Forward—Courtney Fredrickson, 6-2, class of 2016, Minnetonka and Wisconsin Has hit the ground running at Wisconsin, starting 38 of 59 games in her 1st 2 seasons, while scoring about 8 ppg with 4.5 rebounds. Point Guard—Taylor Thunstedt, 5-8, class of 2014, New London-Spicer and North Dakota Has started 86 of 87 games the past 3 years while scoring about 14 ppg and making 39% of her 3-pointers. Shooting Guard—Madi Guebert, 5-8, class of 2015, Eastview and South Dakota State Now in her 3rd year at SDSU, she has started 87 of 87 games, and has averaged about 14 ppg on 41-38-86% shooting. The Best of the Rest Center 4. Bryanna Fernstrom, 6-5, class of 2014, Chisago Lakes and Iowa State/Minnesota, 7 ppg, 4 years 5. Yokie Lee, 6-6, class of 2018, Byron and Kansas State 6. Lizzie Odegard, 6-2, class of 2016, Minnetonka and Milwaukee, 4 ppg, 1+ seasons 7. Mikayla Hayes, 6-3, class of 2017, Park Center and Florida, 2 ppg 1st year 8. Tara Dusharm, 6-5, class of 2015, Foley and St. Louis. 6 ppg this year. 9. Mariah Sexe, 6-2, class of 2017, East Ridge and Lehigh, 3 ppg-3 reb-2 asts 1st year 10. Katie Quandt, 6-3, class of 2014, Lakeville South and Boston College, 3.5 ppg 3 seasons 11. Hannah Spaulding, 6-2, class of 2015, Annandale and St. Thomas, 20 ppg this year 12. Katie Quandt, 6-3, class of 2014, Lakeville South and Boston College, 4 ppg 3 years Power Forward 4. Chase Coley, 6-3, class of 2014, Mpls. Washburn and Iowa, 11 ppg as a sophomore, 6.5 ppg 4 years 5. Elle Thompson, 6-2, class of 2014, Chaska and South Dakota State, 9 ppg 4 seasons, started every game the past 3 years 6. Emma Grothaus, 6-3, class of 2018, Mahtomedi and Lehigh 7. Kayla Mershon, 6-3, class of 2018, Minnetonka and Nebraska 8. Laura Bagwell-Katalinich, 6-2, class of 2016, Holy Angels and Penn/Cornell 9. Sam Trammel, 6-1, class of 2015, Eastview and Michigan, 2 ppg as a freshman 10. Kylie Brown, 6-1, class of 2014, Simley and Creighton, 1 ppg 4 years 11. Taylor Hagen, 6-2, class of 2015, Blooming Prairie and Northern Iowa, 3 ppg 3 years 12. Megan Hintz, 6-2, class of 2016, Dover-Eyota and Moorhead State, 11 ppg-6 rebounds this year Small Forward 4. Cayla McMorris, 6-0, class of 2014, Park Center and Wisconsin, 10 ppg 4 years, 14 ppg this year 5. Monica Burich, 6-2, class of 2015, Roseville and Colorado/Drake, 4 ppg as sophomore 6. Tori Andrew, 5-10, class of 2017, Orono and Yale, 8 ppg as freshman 7. Ashley Bates, 5-9, class of 2016, Hopkins and Hampton, 7 ppg 2 years 8. Maddy Dean, 5-9, class of 2014, Jordan and Drake, 12 ppg 3 years 9. Lyndsey Robson, 6-1, class of 2017, Apple Valley and Green Bay, 1.5 ppg as freshman 10. Mary Burke, 5-11, class of 2018, Mountain Iron-Buhl and UM Crookston Point Guard 4. Maddy Loder, 6-0, class of 2018, Orono and George Washington 5. Kiara Russell, 5-8, class of 2016, Osseo and Arizona State, 5 ppg 2 years 6. Rae Johnson, 5-8, class of 2017, St. Michael-Albertville and Iowa State, 4 ppg as a freshman 7. Danielle Gitzen, 5-10, class of 2015, Chanhassen and Missouri State, 6 ppg 3 years 8. Anna Schmidt, 5-7, class of 2015, Waconia and Concordia St. Paul, 18 ppg 3 years 9. Hannah Hedstrom, 5-9, class of 2016, Minnetonka and Lehigh, 4.5 ppg 2 years 10. Alaina Jarnot, 5-8, class of 2016, Maranatha and Monmouth, 5 ppg 2 years 11. Heaven Hamling, 5-9, class of 2018, Grand Rapids and Stephen F. Austin 12. Alexis Alexander, 5-7, class of 2014, South Dakota State, 4 ppg 4 years Shooting Guard 4. Sydney Lamberty, 5-10, class of 2014, Park and Creighton, 11 ppg 4 years 5. Sam Haiby, 5-11, class of 2018, Moorhead and Nebraska 6. Gabi Haack, 5-10, class of 2017, Elk River and Bradley, 9 ppg as a freshman 7. Andrayah Adams, 5-10, class of 2016, St. Paul Como and St. John’s, 11 ppg as a sophomore 8. Nia Hollie, 6-0, class of 2016, Hopkins and Michigan State, 4 ppg 2 years 9. T.T. Starks, 5-10, class of 2015, Hopkins and Iowa State/Arizona, 3 ppg 2 years 10. Megan Walker, 5-10, class of 2018, Minnetonka and Lehigh 11. Morgan Hill, 5-9, class of 2018, Mpls. South 12. Tia Elbert, 5-7, class of 2014, Tartan and Marquette/Indiana, 9 ppg as a freshman The Best of the Best of the Best Our Players of the Year over 4 years were Carlie Wagner, Madi Guebert, Taylor Koenen and Gabi Haack. We’ll have to see about this year. Looking back over 5 years, the high school player who created the most excitement was clearly Carlie Wagner. Just flat out larger than life. She is also the only one of our Players of the Year who is among our 1st 5 today. That makes her the biggest star of the past 5 years, yes. But right now it also looks like, in another 5 years, we might look back on Kenisha Bell is the best of the best, but Carmen Backes and Taylor Koenen still have the upside to take over the top spot someday.