Let the games begin! It’s officially AAU season in Minnesota

Two important events happened over the weekend. First, we published our final all-state teams of the high school season on Friday. That marks the end of the line for the high school basketball season in my books. Second, AAU season officially tipped off in Bloomington at the Saturday Shootout, a one-day exhibition of sorts that enabled some teams to dip their collective toes in the water before business begins for real. I love AAU basketball – at least the way the girls play it in Minnesota – where the best of the best get together on the weekends to show what they can do with and against others of similar caliber. High school ball is fun, but driving two hours to watch one prospect play one game is far less efficient than watching 20 hours of great basketball over a couple of days. So what can we expect in 2019? Plenty of change, that’s what. It was an intriguing off season to say the least, especially with the departure of Paige Bueckers and friends from North Tartan, the addition of a potentially potent new team in the Class of 2022 and a whole lot of interesting player movement. Here are a few items of note as we head into the first tournament of the season – the Suns Spring Showcase coming up this weekend. The birth of Metro Stars 2020 Starks The biggest news of the off season in the Class of 2020 was the departure of Coach Tara Starks from North Tartan, a move that split a powerhouse squad into multiple parts and led to the formation of Metro Stars 2020 Starks. Anchoring the squad – when she’s not away doing duty with Team USA – will be Bueckers, who announced her commitment to UCONN on Monday. She’ll be joined by a trio of talents who played a major role at the high school state tournament: Minnehaha Academy point guard Mia Curtis, Hopkins shooting guard KK Adams, and Stillwater forward Liza Karlen. Forward Nyamer Diew is expected to return from Iowa to play, as well. North Tartan retained the second-best player in the class, Lauren Jensen (Iowa) of Lakeville North, along with #5-ranked Mallory Brake of Hastings plus Drake University commit Courtney Beckers of Wisconsin. Among the players head coach Gerard Coury has added are #9 Jayda Johnston of Roseville, #13 Ava Hill of Mesabi East, #14 Zhane Thompson of Burnsville and #18 Patience Williams of Benilde-St. Margaret’s. Look for additional non-Minnesota talent in the lineup, as well, on what should be a formidable squad. Meanwhile, the players at Fury 2020 UAA and Stars 2020 Antl are no doubt excited by these developments, which are certain to make for a most interesting state title chase. What will we see from Suns Bluestar, Heat Hinck, E1T1 and others in this grade level? We'll know more this weekend. [caption id="attachment_35852" align="alignnone" width="247"] Adalia McKenzie of Park Center is the #1 player in the Class of 2021.[/caption] North Tartan 2021 Sinn adds a pair of #1s The Class of 2021 has always been hard fought. Stars Hersch won the AAU state championship last season but North Tartan 2021 Sinn and Fury 2021 UAA have been equally good. Then there’s Tylor Coley’s squad, which has changed labels again and is now under the banner of UVA Athletics of Minneapolis, and the always-dangerous Tayler Hill Elite. It is Ruth Sinn’s North Tartan squad that has made the most intriguing roster moves of the off-season, however, and that could have a real impact on the division. Adalia McKenzie of Park Center, the #1 player in the sophomore class, has moved over from the Stars. 2022 #1 Maya Nnaji of Hopkins is also in the fold, now. Those are two monster additions to go along with a roster that includes 2021 #2 Jenna Johnson, #5 Ellie Dague, #9 Cassidy Carson, #12 Jordyn Lamker and #16 Kendall Cox, along with 2022 #4 Mara Braun. It could be a juggling act figuring out who should play where and when and how, but if anyone can pull it off it is Sinn, who took the University of St. Thomas to within a whisker of the D3 national title once again this winter. The rich get richer at Fury 2022 UAA Perhaps the most interesting group of all this summer will be the Class of 2022, which has an embarrassment of riches. Several top prospects have joined a new MN P.R.E.P entry coached by DeLaSalle’s Tanysha Scott. The lineup will include Islanders’ prospects Kiani Lockett, Mya Williams, Sydney Runsewe and I’Tianna Salaam, along with Kaylynn Asberry and Jada James of St. Paul Como Park, Becca White of Maple Grove and 2023 prospect Aniyah Reuben of Park Center. The surprise independent team of 2018 was definitely DTA Academy out of St. Cloud. We saw them Saturday and the team has beefed up even more with the addition of #11 Nia Holloway of Eden Prairie, #21 Ronnie Porter of Como Park, #31 Myra Moorjani of Eden Prairie and #32 Tori Ratz of Fergus Falls. The improvement of top-50 prospect Adeline Kent of Becker is also notable. And then there is Fury 2022 UAA, where the rich got richer over the winter. The Fury already had #3 Mallory Heyer of Chaska, #8 Lilly Meister of Rochester John Marshall, #9 Callin Hake of Chanhassen and a host of others in the top 25. Now they have added #7 Ellie Buzzelle of Rogers, #12 Emma Miller of St. Michael-Albertville and #15 Alexa Ratzlaff of Rosemount, who all moved over from the Stars. There will be plenty of collegiate eyeballs on this team all summer! Of course you’d be well advised to pay attention to North Tartan Contreras, which still boasts a host of Hopkins athletes in Amaya Battle, Taylor Woodson, Alayna Contreras, Selam Maher and London Salberg-Thornton, plus Ari Gordon of Maple Grove, Izzy John of Champlin Park and 2024 prospect Emma Dasovich of Minnetonka. And then there’s UVA Ware and Stars Nilsen and… Like we said, 2022 is going to be fun. [caption id="attachment_35854" align="alignleft" width="227"] College coaches will be watching Minnesota AAU with great interest this summer. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Fury)[/caption] Ranking the 2023s for the first time One of the most fun aspects of summer ball is ranking the incoming freshmen for the first time. This year’s class is loaded with players who have already made a major impact on the varsity level so they’ve obviously got a leg up on the competition. Players like Woodson and her Hopkins teammate Nunu Agara figure to be prominent, as will Ashley Fritz (Hastings), Molly Lenz (Eden Prairie), Shania Nichols-Van Nett (Como Park), Chloe Jarnot (Maranatha), Clara Glad (Rogers), Kennedy Sanders (Chaska), Zoey Washington (Mahtomedi), Brynn Beffert (Hutchinson) and Aby Shubert (Kasson-Mantorville). One player we won’t see is Tessa Johnson of STMA, who has decided to take the summer off. She’ll be gone but definitely not forgotten. What’s to come This isn’t intended to be an actual preview of each class – it’s just a broad brush really – and we’ll be writing in depth about the top teams in the weeks ahead. On Saturday we saw the aforementioned DTA squad play, as well as Ellen Wiese’s 2023 Metro Stars. We’ll have stories on both of those teams this week. We’ll be covering the other top teams and individuals as they begin play in AAU events throughout April. If there’s a player or team you think we need to pay attention to please DM me on Twitter (@gmachoops) or send an email (<a href="mailto:gmachoops@gmail.com">gmachoops@gmail.com</a>) and we’ll be sure to check them out. Thanks! TOURNAMENT CALENDAR April 6-7 – Suns Spring Showcase (Hosted by Minnesota Suns in Edina) April 6-7 – Heat Battle for Mom (Hosted by Minnesota Heat in Fridley) April 12-14 – Midwest Kickoff (Hosted by AAU Minnesota in Bloomington & Eden Prairie) April 13-14 – Comets Shootout (Hosted by Minnesota Comets in St. Cloud) April 26-28 – Fury Spring Showdown (Hosted by Minnesota Fury in Bloomington & Chanhassen) May 3-5 – AAU State prelims (Hosted by AAU Minnesota in Bloomington) May 10-12 – AAU State Tournament (Hosted by AAU Minnesota in Bloomington) May 17-19 – Lake Slam (Co-hosted by Fury, North Tartan & Stars in Bloomington) May 17-19 – May Madness (Co-hosted by TC Takeover & MN Metro Stars in Eden Prairie) June 1-2 – Stars Summer Kickoff (Hosted by Minnesota Stars in Bloomington) June 1-2 – Battle on the Hardwood (Co-hosted by North Tartan & Crossfire in Hastings) June 8-9 – Suns Summer Explosion (Hosted by Minnesota Suns in Wayzata) June 14-16 – North Tartan Summer Jam (Hosted by North Tartan in Bloomington) June 22-23 – Great Plains Alliance (Hosted by Minnesota Comets in Chanhassen) July 6-8 – Mill City Invitational (Hosted by Minnesota Fury in Chanhassen & Chaska) July 20-22 – AAU Nationals & North Tartan Meltdown (Hosted by North Tartan in at Hopkins, Eden Prairie, Jefferson) July 20-22 – Mid-America Showcase (Hosted by Minnesota Stars at Shakopee) Visit <a href="https://www.aauevents.com/">aauevents.com</a> for complete details on most of the events. Top image courtesy of the Amateur Athletic Union.