Nike Tournament of Champions: CO 17U'ers in Chicago

What a showing in Chicago for the NIKE Tournament of Champions! Fed up with streams and ready to see some live hoops, college coaches flocked to McCormick Place to see nearly seventy courts of action under one roof. Colorado recruits are no benchwarmers on the national scene. Here are some teams and players whose Twitter feeds will be buzzing in the coming weeks: [caption id="attachment_288195" align="alignright" width="150"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/05/Maggie-Dooley-scaled.jpg"><img class="wp-image-288195 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/05/Maggie-Dooley-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="117694" first="Maggie" last="Dooley"][/caption]BC Denver 6-0 <ul> <li>Need a game winner? How about [player_tooltip player_id="117691" first="Amelia" last="Solt"] (Thompson Valley, 2022) to [player_tooltip player_id="117694" first="Maggie" last="Dooley"] (Holy Family, 2022) for a layup at the buzzer to win the championship game. BC Denver has had a great run the past few weeks with championships in the Freedom Classic in Lakewood, CO, and now in the Madrid division of the TOC. Dooley’s layup sealed a 49-48 win over Lady NorCal Dynasty. Dooley is all of the 6’2" she has listed and very skilled around the basket so with Solt’s quickness and handles, teams have to rethink their switching against this duo. [player_tooltip player_id="117692" first="Mariah" last="Hilliard"] (Valor Christian, 2022) has gained a ton of confidence and showed well in Chicago. She contributed (4.3 PPG) on a very deep Eagles 5A state championship team last year and is in position for a big senior year.</li> </ul> NOCO Triple Threat 6-0 <ul> <li>This is a team that proves there is big talent in Colorado’s small classes. Platte Valley (3A) HS’s Brooke Bunting, Holyoke (2A) HS’s Lauren Herman, and Merino (1A) HS’s Taysa Conger joined perennial 5A power, Fossil Ridge HS’s Maddie Kohler, to bring home a division championship for NOCO Triple Threat. State champion, Bunting (5’6"), and South Dakota Mines commit, Herman (5’10"), can score from anywhere. Herman is hard to stop with a career average of 1.2 points per shot and she hit 38% of her threes last year. Conger is a 6’ double-double machine. She literally averaged one a year ago with 14.5 PPG and 10.5 RPG. And Kohler is a 4th 2022er on this team who showed the type of energy and work ethic to compete at the next level. NOCO Triple Threat traveled high end prospects in their 2023 and 2024 teams as well. I’ll look to highlight those risers in a future piece.</li> </ul> Lady Roughriders 5-1 [caption id="attachment_193822" align="alignright" width="150"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/08/Jacklyn-Stephenson-Mead.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-193822" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/08/Jacklyn-Stephenson-Mead-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a> Jacklyn Stephenson[/caption] <ul> <li>Pop quiz: Shot gets stuck between the rim and the backboard. What happens next? <ul> <li>Ref still has game and hops up to tap it loose?</li> <li>Players look around for a ball to throw at it?</li> </ul> </li> <li>Neither. Jackie Stephenson (2022, 5’10") casually takes two effortless steps and swats the ball free. The only other time I’ve seen the coaches’ row of baseline seats collectively drop their jaws was in Phoenix in 2019 when [player_tooltip player_id="95016" first="Jana" last="Van Gytenbeek"] (State Champ, National Champ, Life Champ) made an in-air improv after a bump that seamlessly turned a right-handed layup into a left-handed reverse. As Mead’s returning high scorer, Stephenson (12.3 PPG, 8.4 RPG) melds quickness and leaping ability with creative moves and basket awareness. Mix in Maddox Boston’s (Mead, 2022, 5’10") 15 PPG during the tournament, much of which came from behind the arc, plus the slashing and shooting contributions of [player_tooltip player_id="117725" first="Seneya" last="Martinez"] (Northridge, 2022, 5’8"), and the Roughriders are rolling.</li> </ul> B&B Academy 4-1 [caption id="attachment_232028" align="alignright" width="150"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/11/Natalie-Guanella-Monarch.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-232028" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/11/Natalie-Guanella-Monarch-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="222378" first="Natalie" last="Guanella"][/caption] <ul> <li>Anchored defensively by Green Mountain HS’s ’22 prospect, [player_tooltip player_id="117693" first="Avery" last="Oaster"], inside and Monarch HS’s ’23 co-league MVP, [player_tooltip player_id="222378" first="Natalie" last="Guanella"] and Chatfield HS’s sparkplug, [player_tooltip player_id="207100" first="Talea" last="Kuennen"], outside, B&B frustrated opponents all weekend. As teams doubled on Oaster, [player_tooltip player_id="145406" first="Amanda" last="Neff"] (Arvada West, 2022) made them pay again and again with shooting as hot as Chicago is humid. As a strong 5’11" defender who is shooting the ball as well as she is, Neff’s name is likely highlighted in a lot of coaches’ programs. Known for her quickness, Kuennen is fast becoming a dangerous scoring threat inside and out. Everyone on this team can shoot.</li> </ul> CO Premier 17U EYBL 3-2 [caption id="attachment_210275" align="alignright" width="150"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/10/Marya-Hudgins-Grandview.jpg"><img class="wp-image-210275 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/10/Marya-Hudgins-Grandview-150x150.jpg" alt="Patient recruit" width="150" height="150" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="117679" first="Marya" last="Hudgins"][/caption] <ul> <li>On the big stage in Chicago was the team led by 6’7" USA Basketball representative and Stanford commit, [player_tooltip player_id="95167" first="Lauren" last="Betts"] (Grandview, 2022). If a normal 5-star recruit has the impact zone of a meteorite, Betts’ impact is an asteroid. Total paint domination. Her basketball tango with Grandview HS teammate, superstar 6’ [player_tooltip player_id="117679" first="Marya" last="Hudgins"] (2022), is fun to watch and must leave opponents feeling like they have two left feet.</li> </ul> CO Hoopsters 2-3 [caption id="attachment_230043" align="alignright" width="150"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/11/Kilah-Freelon-Mullen.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-230043" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/11/Kilah-Freelon-Mullen-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="117681" first="Kilah" last="Freelon"][/caption] <ul> <li>The Hoopsters have so many prospects and they played up in a tough division in Chicago. I’ve covered them a good amount lately because they keep standing out. And standing out from those standouts continues to be 5’11" [player_tooltip player_id="117681" first="Kilah" last="Freelon"] (Mullen, 2022). Recruit this versatile, athletic, future star now before she’s all-state next year and it’s too late. She’s easily that good.</li> </ul> CO Soar 0-5 <ul> <li>Don’t let the record fool you. CO Soar played up, up, up in a top, wicked competitive division. This is a group made up largely of the Windsor HS state 4A runners-up. They play hard and are always in the gym. While a lot of their muscle inside was flexed by 6’1" [player_tooltip player_id="207078" first="Olivia" last="Reed"] (Windsor, 2022), she showed the country she’s far more than a strong inside presence. Reed has no hesitation to shoot from beyond the arc and she does it well. [player_tooltip player_id="145421" first="Kate" last="Davis"] (Fossil Ridge, 2023) proved she can shoot against top competition. At 5’9" she’ll be a desired recruit. Reed’s hard-nosed and athletic teammates at Windsor, [player_tooltip player_id="145408" first="Mykaela" last="Moore"] (2022), [player_tooltip player_id="145409" first="Jolie" last="Jiricek"] (2022), Lexi Backhaus (2022), and [player_tooltip player_id="261757" first="Sam" last="Darnell"] (2023) put Soar and Windsor near the top of the list for recruitable prospects.</li> </ul>      