Recruiting update: 68 Minnesotans have said ‘yes’ so far

On Friday afternoon London Salberg-Thornton London Salberg-Thornton 5'11" | PF Maranatha | 2022 State MN realized the same dream that so many girls basketball players in Minnesota are chasing: she made her college commitment. The senior forward, who will play this season for Maranatha Christian Academy after transferring from Hopkins, committed to Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa where she will suit up next fall for the Chargers. In doing so London became the 62nd member of the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2022 to announce her college commitment and the 68th player overall to have figured out her next-level plans.

Since we last updated Minnesota’s college commitments list six weeks ago another 18 or so athletes have announced their college commitments, including five at the D1 level – four juniors and one senior:

• Maren Westin Maren Westin 5'8" | CG Becker | 2023 State MN – 2023 guard, Becker (Green Bay) #5
• Molly Lenz Molly Lenz 5'8" | CG Eden Prairie | 2023 State MN – 2023 guard, Eden Prairie (Illinois State) #7
• Ella Johnson Ella Johnson 6'2" | SF Elk River | 2023 State MN – 2023 forward, Elk River (Montana State) #15
• Sophi Hall Sophi Hall 6'1" | CG Holy Family | 2023 State MN – 2023 wing, Holy Family (Providence) #16
• Lily Niebuhr Lily Niebuhr 6'3" | PF Chaska | 2022 State MN – 2022 center, Chaska (Indiana State) #95

Niebuhr’s verbal brings the total number of D1 commits in the Class of 2022 to 20. Not surprisingly, given the one extra year awarded to current collegiate players by the NCAA, that number is well behind the Class of 2021. Some 32 of this year’s seniors committed at the D1 level with a couple more likely to end up there via the junior college route. Will there be more D1 commits among the 2022s? Maybe. But it’s looking less and less likely. Division 2 Over the past few weeks two more players committed to play D2 ball: Guard Myra Moorjani Myra Moorjani 5'8" | CG Eden Prairie | 2022 State MN of Eden Prairie, the 32nd-ranked player in the class, will play both soccer and basketball at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and guard Nicole Bowlin Nicole Bowlin 5'6" | PG Holy Family | 2022 State MN of Holy Family, ranked 47th, is headed to Colorado Christian. The highest-rated D2 commit so far is #15 Lexi Karge Lexi Karge 6'2" | PF Mankato East | 2022 State MN of Mankato-East, who also signed with Duluth. Her East teammate Mackenzie Schweim Mackenzie Schweim 5'10" | PG Mankato East | 2022 State MN , at #24, is the second-highest ranked D2 commit. She’ll stay home to play at Minnesota State-Mankato. NAIA & Junior College

In addition to Salberg-Thornton, Briar Cliff coach Brita Hand also landed point guard Alicia Bates Alicia Bates 5'6" | CG Champlin Park | 2022 State MN of Champlin Park, who was rated 79th in the class when the rankings were last updated in June. There were two other NAIA commits as Cloey Dmytruk Cloey Dmytruk 5'10" | PF Como Park | 2022 State MN of St. Paul Como Park (#65) and Eliza McKown Eliza McKown 5'7" | CG Orono | 2022 State MN of Orono (#157) both committed to Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa. Meanwhile, Hopkins guard Alayna Contreras Alayna Contreras 5'7" | CG Hopkins | 2022 State MN verballed to Chocise College in Sierra Vista, Arizona. Contreras is the #21-rated prospect in the class, but after tearing her ACL in the late summer she will have to sit out her senior season. She’ll begin her comeback in JUCO. The other recent junior college commit is 2022 guard Keiara Anderson Keiara Anderson 5'9" | CG St. Cloud Apollo | 2022 State MN of St. Cloud Apollo who will play at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City. Division 3

As the D1 and D2 opportunities begin to dwindle we can expect a steady stream of Division 3 and junior college commitments in the coming weeks. Since we last updated in August, there have been six new D3 commits:

• Kyla Overskei Kyla Overskei 5'11" | SG Maple Grove | 2022 State MN – 2022 guard, Maple Grove (UW-Eau Claire) #71
• Sophie Stork Sophie Stork 5'9" | CG NRHEG | 2022 State MN – 2022 guard, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (Hamline) #74
• Kirsten Dennis Kirsten Dennis 5'5" | PG New Ulm | 2022 State MN – 2022 guard, New Ulm (Bethany Lutheran) #153
• Kyla Nygaard Kyla Nygaard 5'9" | SG Maple Grove | 2022 State MN – 2022 guard, Maple Grove (Concordia-Moorhead) #155
• Kylie Johnson – 2022 guard, Brainerd (North Iowa Area CC)

BEST AVAILABLE 2022s

At least a dozen scholarship-worthy prospects remain available in the Class of 2022. Our top six, who would be a great addition to any program, look like this:

• Ronnie Porter Ronnie Porter 5'2" | CG Como Park | 2022 State MN – guard, Como Park, #17
• Sydney Runsewe Sydney Runsewe 5'8" | CG DeLaSalle | 2022 State MN – guard, DeLaSalle, #25
• Emma Miller Emma Miller 5'1" | PG STMA | 2022 State MN – guard, St. Michael-Albertville, #31
• Champ Danso Champ Danso 6'0" | PF Simley | 2022 State MN – forward, Simley #34
• Ari Gordon Ari Gordon 5'10" | SF Maple Grove | 2022 State MN – guard, Maple Grove #38
• Charita Lewis Charita Lewis 5'4" | CG Minnehaha Academy | 2022 State MN – guard, Minnehaha Academy #40
• Hannah Herzig Hannah Herzig 6'0" | CG Totino Grace | 2022 State MN – guard/wing, Centennial #41

Top photo: Senior London Salberg-Thornton London Salberg-Thornton 5'11" | PF Maranatha | 2022 State MN of Maranatha Christian Academy