Week 1 of AAU practice was a walk in the park(s)

We have been through a lot of new things during this very strange spring, most of them quite unpleasant. This week I had another new experience, but it wasn’t too bad: I acquired a sunburn while watching basketball. I suppose that was inevitable when AAU basketball moved outdoors during week 1 of the 2020 summer season. With gym space hard to come by, most teams conducted their first workouts under the hot sun in local parks and I was there, as well.

Today I offer up some observations from the first few days of socially distanced basketball practice, a stretch that saw the opportunities to watch live action go from 0 to 60 in a big hurry. This will serve as an overview of the ramp-up period and an overview of who is playing where in 2020. We’ll give you more specifics over the next few days on the players we watched during week 1.

Monday – Fury 2022 UAA

The first official practice of the AAU season took place at a small park tucked away in an Eden Prairie neighborhood as Minnesota Fury 2022 UAA reconvened with a roster that is unchanged since last summer. Given the cohesiveness of the 10-player unit it shouldn’t be surprising that the most difficult part of the virus-restricted practice was keeping the players from hugging each other. After a gleeful family reunion of sorts coach Tim Ellefson of Hutchinson conducted primarily shooting drills before having the players walk through some new offensive schemes that will come in handy when play resumes.

The defending 2022 state champions are loaded, including top 10 prospects #3 Mallory Heyer Mallory Heyer 6'1" | PF Chaska | 2022 State #36 Nation MN (Chaska), #6 Lilly Meister Lilly Meister 6'2" | PF Rochester John Marshall | 2022 State #55 Nation MN (Rochester John Marshall), #7 Ellie Buzzelle Ellie Buzzelle 5'9" | SG Rogers | 2022 State #60 Nation MN (Rogers) and #8 Callin Hake Callin Hake 5'8" | PG Chanhassen | 2022 State #64 Nation MN (Chanhassen). The most improved player in the group is Kassie Caron Kassie Caron 6'0" | SF Holy Angels | 2022 State MN of Holy Angels, who is coming off a breakthrough high school season.

Wednesday – Fury 2024 and 2023 UAA

Two more Fury practices were on the docket on Wednesday at a park in Victoria. Nick Storm’s 2024 UAA squad, which boasts two of the top incoming freshmen in the state in Olivia Olson of Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Katie Vasecka of New Prague, participated in a a high-tempo session. Other players on the team whose names we will utter repeatedly in the years ahead include Amy Thompson of Mahtomedi, Kaylie Cox of St. Michael-Albertville and Sophia Zay of Holy Family, all of whom played varsity basketball this past winter.

Next up was Matt Froehle’s  2023 UAA squad, which has loaded up with the addition of three more top-20 prospects: #7 Shania Van Nett Shania Van Nett 5'7" | CG Como Park | 2023 State MN of St. Paul Como Park, #16 Abby Krzewinski Abby Krzewinski 5'11" | PF Wayzata | 2023 State MN of Wayzata and #19 Sophi Hall Sophi Hall 6'1" | CG Holy Family | 2023 State MN of Holy Family. The team now includes nine players in the top 20, including #4 Kennedy Sanders Kennedy Sanders 5'8" | CG Chaska | 2023 State MN of Chaska, #6 Molly Lenz Molly Lenz 5'8" | CG Eden Prairie | 2023 State MN of Eden Prairie, #9 Teresa Kiewiet Teresa Kiewiet 5'10" | SF Mankato West | 2023 State MN of Mankato West, #14 Ashley Schuelke Ashley Schuelke 5'10" | SF Chaska | 2023 State MN of Chaska, #15 Zoey Washington Zoey Washington 5'9" | CG St. Croix Lutheran | 2023 State MN of Mahtomedi and #17 Brynn Beffert Brynn Beffert 6'0" | PF Hutchinson | 2023 State MN of Hutchinson. Sydnee Nelson Sydnee Nelson 5'5" | CG Red Wing | 2023 State MN of Red Wing, ranked #29 in the class, rounds out the squad.

Thursday – Suns 2021 Froehlich

On Thursday I was at a park in Shoreview to watch Dan Froehlich’s 2021 Minnesota Suns squad do their second workout of the season. Their first practice actually occurred just prior to the shutdown but the team got reacquainted this week. One of the hazards of utilizing outdoor courts is the inability to reserve them. In this case a Suns parent, who lives in the area, had been monitoring the courts over the previous week and determined that they were likely to be open in the evening. When the players showed up on Thursday, however, there was a full-scale basketball game happening involving some rather-skilled adult men going hard in spite of the governor’s anti-viral edicts. The Suns were relegated to doing ball-handling drills on the adjacent tennis courts. The men soon yielded the courts to the ladies and the Suns completed their practice. We’ll introduce you later to a couple of late-blooming posts on the squad, which is led by forward Gina Stefferud Gina Stefferud 5'10" | PF Champlin Park | 2021 State MN of Champlin Park, guard Chloe Cink of Park Center and point guard Bianca Benson of Totino-Grace.

Friday – North Tartan 2021 and 2022 EYBL & 2023 Nike

Friday featured the first indoor practice of the week as North Tartan’s EYBL squads – the 2021s coached by Gerard Coury and Greg Dietel and the 2022’s led by Marqus McGlothan and Jesse James – went to work at St. Croix Lutheran Academy in West St. Paul. The NT juniors include a pair of imported guards in Maty Wilke of Beaver Dam, Wisc., who played up on the 2020 team one year ago, and point guard Haleigh Timmer of Rapid City, S.D., who recently committed to South Dakota State.

The top domestic juniors on the team include #1 Adalia McKenzie Adalia McKenzie 5'10" | CG Park Center | 2021 State #39 Nation MN of Park Center (Illinois), #8 Cassidy Carson Cassidy Carson 6'0" | CG Eastview | 2021 State MN of Eastview (South Dakota), #11 Ellie Dague Ellie Dague 5'10" | CG Henning | 2021 State MN of Henning, #17 Anna Miller Anna Miller 6'2" | C Rochester Mayo | 2021 State MN of Rochester Mayo, #20 Jodi Anderson Jodi Anderson 5'11" | CG Centennial | 2021 State MN of Centennial (North Dakota) and #23 Jenna Guyer Jenna Guyer 6'2" | C Centennial | 2021 State MN of Centennial, who has made a D1 commitment she is expected to announce this week. They are joined by #4 sophomore Mara Braun Mara Braun 5'11" | CG Wayzata | 2022 State #21 Nation MN of Wayzata and #3 freshman Tessa Johnson Tessa Johnson 5'11" | SG St. Michael-Albertville | 2023 State #36 Nation MN of St. Michael-Albertville.

The 2022 team also includes a pair of highly-touted imports, both from North Dakota: the very lengthy sophomore Abby Duchscherer of Kindred and talented freshman guard Logan NIssley of Bismarck. The core of the team is comprised of five players who came over with McGlothan from DTA Academy: 5th-ranked Nia Holloway Nia Holloway 6'0" | PF Eden Prairie | 2022 State #45 Nation MN of Eden Prairie, #12 Maddie James Maddie James 6'0" | SG Princeton | 2022 State MN of Princeton, #18 Ronnie Porter Ronnie Porter 5'2" | CG Como Park | 2022 State MN of Como Park, #27 Myra Moorjani Myra Moorjani 5'8" | CG Eden Prairie | 2022 State MN of Eden Prairie and #39 Charita Lewis Charita Lewis 5'4" | CG Minnehaha Academy | 2022 State MN of St. Cloud Cathedral, who recently tore her ACL. Newcomers to the team include #10 Kaylynn Asberry Kaylynn Asberry 5'5" | PG Como Park | 2022 State MN of Como Park and #25 CJ Adamson CJ Adamson 5'9" | CG Rochester Lourdes | 2022 State MN of Rochester Lourdes along with 6’4 post Britt Carlson Britt Carlson 6'4" | PF East Ridge | 2022 State MN of East Ridge, who is a rising star in the class.

I also watched Ashley Ellis-Milan put her top North Tartan 2023s through their paces. The team is led by 5th-ranked Clara Glad Clara Glad 6'0" | SF Rogers | 2023 State MN (Rogers), #10 Kennedy Klick Kennedy Klick 6'0" | CG Maple Grove | 2023 State MN (DeLaSalle), #27 Ashley Fritz Ashley Fritz 5'10" | CG Eden Prairie | 2023 State MN (Eden Prairie), #48 Chloe Jarnot Chloe Jarnot 5'7" | PG Maranatha | 2023 State MN (Maranatha), #50 Chloe Brunsberg Chloe Brunsberg 5'11" | SF Southwest Christian | 2023 State MN (Southwest Christian) and #51 Brynn Senden Brynn Senden 5'6" | PG Wayzata | 2023 State MN (Wayzata), #63 Hannah Hanson Hannah Hanson 5'9" | CG Rochester Mayo | 2023 State MN (Rochester Mayo), along with elite 8th graders Emma Dasovich of Minnetonka and Laura Hauge of St. Croix Lutheran.

Saturday – North Tartan 2022 Elite & more

On Saturday I was back in the great outdoors attending individual training sessions conducted on Bill Hinck’s backyard court in Vadnais Heights where I saw 7th grader Grace Winge of Lakeville North, who is definitely going to make some noise in the class of 2025. Also training were 2024 guard Ruthanna Doely of St. Croix Prep and 2021 post Anika Millar from Heritage Christian. We’ll tell you more later in the week about Millar, who has the potential to be one of the great late bloomer stories in the state next winter.

In the evening I was back in West St. Paul for another North Tartan practice, this time for the 2022 Elite squad which is coached by Matt Pryor of Minnehaha Academy. The team includes 6’1 forward Lizzie Holder Lizzie Holder 6'1" | PF Stillwater | 2022 State MN of Stillwater, who I predict will be one of the breakout players of the year. She’s joined by fellow returnees Maya Mitchell Maya Mitchell 5'9" | CG Shakopee | 2022 State MN and Jasmine Hale of Shakopee, Lexi Imdieke Lexi Imdieke 5'8" | SG Blaine | 2022 State MN of Blaine, and Hattie Devries of Roseville. The newcomers are Maria Harvey Maria Harvey 5'8" | CG Lakeville South | 2022 State MN of Lakeville South, Telia Graham Telia Graham 5'10" | SF Minnehaha | 2022 State MN of Minnehaha Academy, Mylan Lemke of St. Michael-Albertville and the #35 freshman in the state, Nicole Lillard Nicole Lillard 5'6" | CG Champlin Park | 2023 State MN of Champlin Park.

Sunday – Stars 2022 Nilsen & North Tartan 2023 Elite

The crispest practice of the week took place Sunday afternoon in a tiny training gym in Bloomington as Matt Nilsen’s top Minnesota Stars 2022 squad did great work despite the small space and the noisiest floor in the history of basketball. This edition of the Stars was already pretty good but their additions for 2020 are truly impressive. They include #9 Desiree Ware Desiree Ware 5'8" | CG Minnetonka | 2022 State MN of Minnetonka, #14 Lexi Karge Lexi Karge 6'2" | PF Mankato East | 2022 State MN and #32 Mackenzie Schweim Mackenzie Schweim 5'10" | PG Mankato East | 2022 State MN of Mankato East, #22 Lily Fandre Lily Fandre 6'2" | SF Eagan | 2022 State MN of Eagan as well as Adeline Kent Adeline Kent 5'8" | CG Becker | 2022 State MN of Becker, who is about to take a big jump from her current prospect ranking of #44. The returnees include #21 Ally Schultz Ally Schultz 6'0" | CG Lakeville South | 2022 State MN of Lakeville South, #26 Dorothy Stotts Dorothy Stotts 5'8" | CG Edina | 2022 State MN and #29 Ella Campbell Ella Campbell 5'10" | CG Edina | 2022 State MN of Edina, and #38 Tayah Leenderts Tayah Leenderts 6'0" | PF Rosemount | 2022 State MN of Rosemount. Unfortunately #49 Jocelyn Plonski Jocelyn Plonski 6'0" | PF Eagan | 2022 State MN of Eagan has a torn ACL and faces a year-long recovery.

Our final stop of the week was on Sunday evening in Lakeville where North Tartan 2023 Elite, coached by Maddie Wolkow and Andover head coach Blake Nicols, did good work. The most impressive players in the gym were Division 1 prospects #13 Ella Johnson Ella Johnson 6'2" | SF Elk River | 2023 State MN of Elk River and #22 Sophie Lahti Sophie Lahti 6'1" | SF Pine City | 2023 State MN of Pine City, who is one of the most athletic players in the class. Other leaders on the squad include #28 Drew Johnston Drew Johnston 5'9" | PG Roseville | 2023 State MN of Roseville plus #30 Emy Wolkow Emy Wolkow 5'11" | CG Lakeville North | 2023 State MN and #38 Haley Bryant Haley Bryant 5'7" | CG Lakeville North | 2023 State MN of Lakeville North.

Ready for more

Seven days, 10 teams and 320 miles. Not a bad start to an AAU season many people thought would never happen. When there will be actual games to watch nobody knows. For now we are just fired up to be back in the gym (or park) watching the best young players in the state do their thing. Late Sunday we learned that some of the primary venues for AAU basketball are beginning to open up so a regular return to indoor courts is likely to come soon. This week we hope to see a few more Minnesota Stars teams along with any other practices we can find before heading out of town for a few days. It’s great to be back in action.