Impact Players From The Class of 2023 (Part 2)

Richard Koontz

October 25, 2021 @ 09:30 AM

[player_tooltip player_id="100453" first="Laikyn" last="Roney"] – Oakes – (5’8/SF/2023) – Roney comes off a sophomore campaign averaging 15 a game and 6 rebounds. She can shoot, has above average handles and can find seems within the defense to score. She excels on the defensive end filling up passing lanes and snagging lose balls. I expect her playing production and value to sky rocket this year with the loss of senior leader Sadie Hanson. [player_tooltip player_id="211392" first="Genevieve" last="Gruba"] – Enderlin – (5’10/SF/2023) – Gruba is a coaches dream. She does all the dirty work you can expect from a Small Forward. The most impressive thing about Gruba is her strength and footwork in the post. She doesn’t look to score the ball every time down the court, but rather looks to snag every rebound. She averaged 10 boards a game and I predict she goes for nearly 12 this year. With most of her points coming from offensive boards, Gruba is set and looking like a double-double kind of athlete this year. [player_tooltip player_id="243074" first="Kennedi" last="Wagner"] – Richland – (5’7/PG/2023) – A pure point guard that can shoot the hell out of the ball. I haven’t seen Wagner hit her peek yet with how far she can launch and accurately shoot the ball. She doesn’t force the issue offensively and just lets the game come to her. She can catch and shoot or shoot it off the bounce. With returning star and leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id="200284" first="Megan" last="Roob"] returning I anticipate Richland will be one tough matchup. [player_tooltip player_id="245128" first="Olivia" last="Passa"] – Velva – (5’8/SG/2023) – Olivia is a defensive nightmare. She plays solid on ball defense, but her help side and gap filling positioning is on another level. She averaged nearly 4 steals a game last year and looks to excel that number again for a solid Junior year. Along with her defensive abilities she was the leading scorer for the Aggies last year with 11 a game. Look for her to be a center piece for the Aggies with the coming next two years. McKenna Koolmo – (5’9/SG/2023) – Koolmo doesn’t have the perks of playing for a superbly talented team. The Lady huskies have struggled for the past couple of years but return a lot of young talent including Koolmo. McKenna can really score the ball in transition or in the half court. She can shoot, drive, hit you with a step back or snag an offensive rebound for a put back. If I’m the huskies I unleash Koolmo and Scout Woods into the backcourt and see what mayhem they can cause this year.