AAU Breakout Player of the Year: Lizzie Holder
I have been intrigued by Lizzie Holder Lizzie Holder 6'1" | PF Stillwater | 2022 State MN for a long time, but playing behind some quality bigs at Stillwater she has had to patiently wait in the shadows for her…
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Continue ReadingI have been intrigued by Lizzie Holder Lizzie Holder 6'1" | PF Stillwater | 2022 State MN for a long time, but playing behind some quality bigs at Stillwater she has had to patiently wait in the shadows for her turn to come. At the same time we have had to bide our time waiting for the opportunity to fully evaluate her potential. Well I am pleased to report that the wait is over. Holder has arrived, having proven this summer that she is every bit as good as we hoped for and so much better than that. As a result, we are pleased to name the North Tartan 2022 Elite forward as our Prep Girls Hoops AAU Breakout Player of the Year.
“It was a pleasure to watch a kid go from a relative unknown to picking up Division 1 offers in a summer,” said North Tartan coach Matt Pryor, who is also the coach at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis. “Lizzie is a prime example of what an athletically gifted player can accomplish when they play with confidence. She was a fantastic team leader, both vocally and leading by example. It was a pleasure as a coach to watch it all come together for her.”
Holder is long and athletic. Until this summer it wasn’t obvious that she was also fast and quick and gritty. I was in attendance the first practice held by Pryor’s team in June and what I saw from Holder that evening was inspiring. Who knew she could run the floor at pace, beat defenders one-on-one with style and physicality, and finish at the rim on a consistent basis? That evening started to change our perception of what Holder could do.
North Tartan got off to a bit of a slow start, stumbling out of the gate and losing their first three games of the AAU season. The team soon turned things in the right direction, however, at one point winning 13 contests in a row and capturing titles at the Tournament of Champions in Des Moines and Summer Jam in the Twin Cities. Holder’s improvement played a huge role in the success of their unit.
“At 6’1 she can guard all five positions,” Pryor said. “She has great lateral movement that not only allows her to lock down the opposing team’s point guard but feeds right into her strength of shot-blocking and protecting the rim. She is very comfortable rebounding and taking the ball down the floor herself. She showcased her improved ball-handling and playmaking ability and spent the majority of our season playing on the perimeter. She is a match-up nightmare in that she is too big for guards (and very comfortable playing with her back to the basket) but too fast for posts and she can drag them out to the 3-point line. That allowed me to put her into situations where she could be the most successful and she took advantage of it!”
Lizzie started the year ranked #72 in the class of 2022. In the spring she moved up 15 places to #57. Who knows how high she’ll rise when the rankings are once again updated in October. There’s little doubt she’ll move up in the AAU pecking order, as well. This is not an unfamiliar pattern for previous winners of the PGH AAU Breakout Player of the Year award. Last year’s honorees included Sophie Hart Sophie Hart 6'4" | C Farmington | 2021 State #44 Nation MN of Farmington, who has now committed to North Carolina State, and Nia Holloway Nia Holloway 6'0" | PF Eden Prairie | 2022 State #45 Nation MN of Eden Prairie who has a mailbox full of high-level offers. Honorable mentions Jenna Guyer Jenna Guyer 6'2" | C Centennial | 2021 State MN (Green Bay), Gianna Kneepkens Gianna Kneepkens 5'11" | CG Duluth Marshall | 2021 State #86 Nation MN (Utah) and Anna Miller Anna Miller 6'2" | C Rochester Mayo | 2021 State MN (Drake) have all made D1 commitments. Holder now has D1 offers, too, and we suspect there will be more to come.
RUNNER-UP
Mackenzie Schweim Mackenzie Schweim 5'10" | PG Mankato East | 2022 State MN – Minnesota Stars 2022 Nilsen (Mankato East)
Unlike Holder, Schweim has been in the spotlight for years. She arrived in the Mankato East lineup long before she arrived in a high school classroom. Kenzie’s presence, along with that of her highly-touted teammate Lexi Karge Lexi Karge 6'2" | PF Mankato East | 2022 State MN , has helped East gain respectability and win a lot more basketball games. What Schweim had not done, however, was prove herself playing with and against the top players in Minnesota and beyond.
This summer the 5’10 point guard joined Matt Nilsen’s Minnesota Stars 2022 team and showed us all that she is a legitimate D1 prospect. “She just kept getting better and better,” Nilsen said. “Like most players new to a team there is a ‘feeling out’ process. Once she was comfortable and fully confident it was hard to take her off the floor.”
Schweim, who entered the summer ranked #28 in the class, has a very high basketball IQ with the ability to learn and implement new concepts immediately. She is strong and skilled and has a steely will that serves her and her team very well. “She just doesn’t get rattled,” Nilsen said. “I think her greatest skill is her demeanor. Rather than getting frustrated, she just finds another way.”
Her versatility is also a huge asset. “Kenzie is the definition of a multi-dimensional player,” Nilsen said. “She doesn’t need to score to control a game. She really does all of those little things a coach loves and she is a quiet leader who leads more by the example of her actions than her words. I think she proved that she can more than hold her own against the top kids her age.”
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Kyla Overskei Kyla Overskei 5'11" | SG Maple Grove | 2022 State MN – Minnesota Fury 2022 Yellow (Maple Grove)
Last year at this time I watched Overskei a lot. That’s because she showed up at pretty much every AAU tryout there was, not to mention the Prep Girls Hoops Top 250 Expo and any other opportunity there was to step on a basketball court to compete and improve. All of that work paid off this summer as the 5’9 shooting guard had a breakout season. It has been so much fun to watch Kyla’s game and confidence level grow. “She was extremely important to the success of our team this summer,” said John Thompson, Overskei’s coach for the Fury. “She was a good shooter when we started the year and as her confidence improved she became a threat that all defenders had to account for.” Overskei is currently ranked #142 in the class, but not for long.
There were three more players whose substantial improvement earned them a place in the breakout player conversation. Hats off to all three:
- Kate Cordes Kate Cordes 5'7" | CG Shakopee | 2022 State MN of Shakopee and Minnesota Stars 2022 Bjorgaard
- Ayla Brown Ayla Brown 5'6" | SG Becker | 2023 State MN of Becker and Minnesota Comets 2023 Elite
- Ava Privet Ava Privet 5'10" | CG Caledonia | 2023 State MN of Caledonia and Wisconsin Playmakers 2023
Top photo: Lizzie Holder Lizzie Holder 6'1" | PF Stillwater | 2022 State MN of Stillwater (back row wearing #10) led North Tartan 2022 Elite to a pair of tournament wins.