AAU Weekly Recap #6: Best of the Lake Slam

Duluth produces a ton of college hockey players, but basketball prospects? Not so much. That is beginning to change, however, thanks in no small part to Starks Academy and what they are doing to develop players in the area. You don’t have to look any farther than their Starks Elite 2022 AAU team that competed at the Lake Slam this past weekend in Bloomington. We’ll start our weekly recap of AAU Week #6 with a look at what coach Dyami Starks’ squad has to offer and follow with so much more of what we saw this weekend. NORTHERN EXPOSURE Coach Starks grew up in the Northland, attended Duluth East High School, and went on to play Division 1 college ball before playing professionally around the world. Since returning home he has dedicated himself to developing talent in and around the Twin Ports. Also playing a big role in the Academy is Duluth Marshall coach C.J. Osuchukwu. One suspects it will be an awfully long time before another player like Utah commit [player_tooltip player_id="2126" first="Gianna" last="Kneepkens"] comes out of Duluth, but the Duluth Marshall graduate who rewrote the record books up north is the biggest name on the girls’ side to come out of the Academy to date. This weekend we saw some other legitimate prospects who will no doubt play at the next level, too. [player_tooltip player_id="186112" first="Ashlynne" last="Guenther"] – 2023 forward, Duluth East Ashlynne is a versatile 5’10 small forward who can flat out fill up the basket. She averaged over 20 points per game this winter, including a 40-point performance on opening night against Hibbing and a 30-point game against Grand Rapids later in the season. She scored a lot this weekend, too, while showing her ball-handling skills, court savvy and physicality down low. Ashlynne can shoot it, too. Guenther has a big frame and a ton of potential. She is a top 60 prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023 and rising. Regan Juenemann – 2025 guard, Duluth East This was our first live look at Juenemann, who made a big splash this winter at Duluth East as an 8th grader. Watching her play in Bloomington it isn’t difficult to see how she averaged 12.8 ppg and was in double figures 13 times for the Greyhounds, including a 28-point game against Duluth Marshall. Juenemann, who is from Two Harbors, is long and athletic. At 5’9, she runs the floor like a sprinter, has very light feet and demonstrated really nice leaping ability. She is a quality shooter with a soft release. Regan has so much natural ability giving her the potential to be a high-end prospect in the class of 2025. [player_tooltip player_id="178277" first="Jordan" last="Zubich"] – 2024 guard, Mountain Iron-Buhl It’s not difficult to come up with superlatives when it comes to Zubich’s game. We have written a ton about the 5’11 guard, who is coming off a standout season for the Rangers. She averaged 17 ppg, was in double figures 20 times, and shot well north of 50 percent from the field. Zubich is one of the state's premier shooters from beyond the arc. This weekend she had 55 points in four games, including a 22-point performance against Minnesota Nice in which she made five threes. She also had five triples against Minnesota Heat Smetana. Zubich was placed at #33 in the first ranking of the 2024s last fall but she is heading for much loftier heights. Is there a better prospect in Northern Minnesota? There are two other players we need to mention from Starks Elite: 2023 forward [player_tooltip player_id="186140" first="Rachel" last="Hagen"] of Duluth East and 2023 point guard Tieryn Plasch from Northwestern High School in Maple, Wisc. This weekend marked Hagen’s return from ACL surgery and she looked really good. The top-100 prospect is long and athletic and has the ability to be an impact player at both ends of the floor. We generally leave the coverage of Wisconsin prospects to our Prep Girls Hoops colleagues on the other side of the border, but Plasch is a standout point guard who deserves a mention. A terrific athlete and great ball-handler with nice court vision, Tieryn was named as the regional player of the year by the Superior Telegram. TEAM OF THE WEEK Minnesota Rise 2023 Wright We watched Coach Dustin Wright’s sophomores from Southern Minnesota twice on Sunday and the 2023 Minnesota Rise put on a clinic in ball movement and outside shooting in both games, scoring impressive wins over 43 Hoops Orange and 43 Hoops Black. The Rise girls were relentless. They won pretty much every 50-50 ball, they were aggressive on both ends of the court, and they executed their game plan to a T against taller, more athletic opponents. There is no shortage of next-level talent on this team, which went undefeated at the Lake Slam. Athletic guard [player_tooltip player_id="148319" first="Olivia" last="Harazin"], currently ranked #52 in the class, led the 2023 Red Division in scoring with 49 points in four games while [player_tooltip player_id="148324" first="Peyton" last="Stevermer"] of Mankato East and Tori Miller of Goodhue had 45 apiece. [player_tooltip player_id="186143" first="Hannah" last="Stark"] (#111) of Yellow Medicine East was her usual feisty self while [player_tooltip player_id="148326" first="Brynn" last="Busse"] (#67) of Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop ran the show from the point. The 2023 Rise’s best prospect, #37 [player_tooltip player_id="108342" first="Allison" last="Milbrandt"] of Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart, was unfortunately sidelined after tearing her ACL a couple of weeks ago. There are other college prospects on the squad, as well, but we’ll save those for another time. NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK Brooke Christianson – guard, Minnesota Rise 2024 Hulke Another Rise prospect is our Newcomer of the Week. 2024 guard Brooke Christianson of Glencoe-Silver Lake is a 5’5 guard who is super aggressive at both ends of the floor and has one of the biggest motors we’ve seen. She plays way bigger than her height thanks to very good leaping ability and a take-no-prisoners approach to anything involving contact or competition for a 50-50 ball. On a team with plenty of talent - [player_tooltip player_id="178265" first="Kadence" last="Hesse"] of Sleepy Eye, Rachel Kottke and Kristi Kottke of BLHS, and Macy Birkholz of Mankato East, for example – it’s easy to overlook Christianson. Don’t! Her speed, quickness and pit bull mentality make Brooke a prospect to watch. LAKE SLAM STOCK RISERS [player_tooltip player_id="108326" first="Emy" last="Wolkow"] – guard, Fury 2023 Premier The 5’11 guard from Lakeville North is super long, has an advanced skill set, and can shoot the heck out of the basketball. What we saw this weekend that made a nice impression was Emy’s enhanced physical play and willingness to fight through defenders down low to get to the basket. This is an excellent addition to her game that will make her a much more marketable prospect. Wolkow is currently ranked #32 among Minnesota sophomores. [player_tooltip player_id="108324" first="Drew" last="Johnston"] – point guard, North Tartan 2023 Elite Drew is coming off an excellent season at Roseville where her game grew by leaps and bounds and her confidence took a notable jump up as she averaged 12 ppg at the 4A level. We saw more of the same on Sunday, combined with a compete level that was off the charts. Johnston was forcing turnovers, fighting for loose balls and generally causing havoc on the defensive end while running North Tartan’s offense and knocking down threes as per usual. The 5’9 point guard is ranked #31 in the class of 2023. Vanessa Saidu – forward, 43 Hoops McCoy 2023 The Park Center forward has blossomed this season. Standing north of 6 feet, Saidu is a superior athlete – one of the best in the class – who can jump out of the gym and outreach pretty much any opponent. Her skill development is coming along nicely and she competes hard. Vanessa scored 36 points this weekend for 43 Hoops McCoy, a team that impressed in two viewings with its enthusiasm, effort level and overall talent pool. Saidu reminds us a lot of former Simley forward [player_tooltip player_id="6529" first="TeeTee" last="Danso"], the rebounding machine who now plays D1 ball at Bradley. Vanessa has the potential to rise to that level, as well, as her skills develop over the next couple of years. [player_tooltip player_id="223914" first="Aliyah" last="Robran"] – forward, Stars 2022 Vogelsberg The late bloomer from Rockford just keeps on getting better. Robran has put in a ton of work to improve her overall skillset and it is paying off. She made her way into the 2022 Top 150 last fall and is definitely trending in the right direction. We watched Robran twice over the weekend with Minnesota Stars Vogelsberg. She is strong and physical and relentless. Measuring in the neighborhood of 6 feet tall, Aliyah has a big frame that serves her well the way she plays, and her touch around the basket has improved. All of that, combined with a 4.0 GPA, will make her an attractive recruit at the next level if she keeps getting better. Top photo: Coach Dyami Starks and his Starks Elite players (left to right) Regan Juenemann, [player_tooltip player_id="186112" first="Ashlynne" last="Guenther"], [player_tooltip player_id="178277" first="Jordan" last="Zubich"] and Tieryn Plasch. Not pictured is [player_tooltip player_id="186140" first="Rachel" last="Hagen"].