AAU Week 1: 10 fresh faces we liked (part 2)

We saw a lot of nice athletes during the first 10 days of AAU practice in Minnesota, including a variety of fresh faces who haven’t drawn much attention in the past. On Friday we brought you profiles on five of those newcomers and today we offer you five more. <strong>Lydia Hagstrom – 2021 forward, Minnesota Suns Froelich (Zimmerman)</strong> Last week I saw Lydia for the first time. I had certainly heard her name before. Former Northstar Girls Hoops guru Marc Hugunin wrote about her as a player to watch way back in the fall of 2017, and the 6’2 forward was the second-leading scorer at Zimmerman this year, averaging over 11 points per game. At the Suns Froehlich outdoor workout last week in Shoreview, Hagstrom showed us quality ball-handling and a strong inside game. Her length is impressive and so is her work ethic. Lydia has clearly put in the work over the years to make the kind of step-by-step progress that now positions her well entering her senior season as a college basketball prospect. We’ve made a note to watch her in game action when the AAU games commence, hopefully sooner rather than later. <strong>Macy Birkholz – 2024 guard, MN Rise 2024 (Mankato East)</strong> My goal every time I step into the gym is to find that one kid who makes me say, ‘Wow!’ On Thursday in at the Minnesota Rise workouts that player was 8th grader Macy Birkholz from Mt Olive Lutheran in Mankato. The little guard has athlete written all over her. Her ability to grasp and then immediately execute the new concepts being taught by Kory Kettner was impressive. Even more eye-catching, however, was the quickness of her feet. There were a lot of very nice players in the gym for the Rise Thursday including D1 prospect [player_tooltip player_id="109131" first="Madison" last="Mathiowetz"] of Sleepy Eye St. Marys and [player_tooltip player_id="57130" first="Marissa" last="Radtke"] of Lester Prairie, but nobody had a quicker first step than Birkholz. She’ll play high school ball at Mankato East. <strong>Ruthanna Doely – 2024 guard, Minnesota Heat (St. Croix Prep)</strong> We watched Doely for the first time this winter at St. Croix Prep at a game in which the 8th grader had the unenviable task of going up against the very crafty [player_tooltip player_id="109748" first="Ivane" last="Tensaie"] of Concordia Academy. Ruthanna learned a lesson or two from Tensaie that night, but she also showed us superior athleticism and a whole lot of potential. Doely led her team in scoring this winter at 13 ppg, scoring most of her baskets one-on-one but it was clear that her shooting needed work. She has been putting in that work with Bill Hinck, who has been teaching sound mechanics, the fundamentals of good footwork, as well as the mental aspect of things. Doely’s improvement is impressive and she has a very bright future. <strong>Sophie Lynch – 2021 forward, Suns 2021 Froehlich (Rogers)</strong> Rogers has no shortage of height and length. 6’2 junior [player_tooltip player_id="29533" first="Matlyn" last="Jensen"] just committed this week to D2 Colorado Christian. 6’2 freshman [player_tooltip player_id="108314" first="Katelyn" last="Maciej"] is a top 20 prospect. 6’0 junior Alex Fuller had a breakout year. That meant that Lynch, a 6’2 junior, was relegated largely to the junior varsity. Lynch has not let that deter her. She has size, length and a whole lot of determination. When we saw her at the Minnesota Suns Froehlich workout last week in Shoreview we witnessed her work ethic and desire to get better first-hand and we were impressed. Lynch has an overall skillset that has improved significantly in the last year and she is athletic enough to play at the D3 level. It’s all a work in progress but definitely trending in the right direction. <strong>Grace Winge – 2025 guard, Minnesota Heat (Lakeville North)</strong> We don’t write a lot about 7th graders unless they are of the precocious variety who somehow make an impact at the varsity level long before they are even in high school. Regardless, we bring you one final fresh face to know who is a member of the class of 2025 and she’s going to be a good one. Grace is about 5’6 but there is plenty of height in the family which has no shortage of basketball knowledge or experience either. She has a big frame, is strong for her age and plays the game with an edge. Her skills are well-advanced and she is putting in the work every day to improve. When I asked Grace what the best part of her game was she responded without hesitation: “I love to play defense.” Enough said!