The Freshmen 50: Meet the Top 10 prospects of 2025
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After much consideration, a lot of debating, and a ton of hours watching all of them perform, the Prep Girls Hoops evaluation team is ready to announce the Freshmen 50, Minnesota’s best 50 college prospects from the Class of 2025.…
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Continue ReadingAfter much consideration, a lot of debating, and a ton of hours watching all of them perform, the Prep Girls Hoops evaluation team is ready to announce the Freshmen 50, Minnesota’s best 50 college prospects from the Class of 2025. This is our first ranking of the class and we feel good about how things have come together. Please keep in mind that these rankings are based on which players will be the best college prospects four years from now, not the order in which they perform now. That’s a big difference and really important to remember. Today we offer you the best of the best – the Top 10. On Wednesday we’ll reveal the players in positions 11 through 25. And on Thursday the entire Freshmen 50 will be unveiled. So here goes.
#1 – Aaliyah Crump Aaliyah Crump 6'1" | SF Minnetonka | 2025 State MN – 6’0 forward/wing, Minnetonka
2021 has been a year of change for Aaliyah. It has been a lot for the state’s leading freshmen and she’s only 14. Crump began the year playing JV at Hopkins before transitioning to the Metro Stars top squad where she was playing three years up. By mid-summer Crump had moved on from there to North Tartan and soon after announced that she would be attending Minnetonka this fall. Today she is playing her best basketball yet, but it is Aaliyah’s future that is so exciting. She’s long and fluid, with wonderful touch around the basket, terrific body control, and a large box of tools to utilize. Among those without a personal horse in the race, Crump is a unanimous selection at #1 and a high-major prospect.
#2 – Kendall McGee Kendall McGee 5'10" | CG Benilde-St. Margaret's | 2025 State MN – 5’9 point guard, Benilde-St. Margaret’s
When it comes to AAU competition, Kendall is a wily veteran with a bunch of championships already under her belt. This spring she hit a buzzer-beating game winner from long distance to give Stars Borowicz yet another state championship. McGee has a history of that sort of thing. She is a big-moment player with a ton of assets and a whole lot of athletic ability. She’s big and strong, with fast feet, quick hands and superior ball-handling ability. She can knock down shots from anywhere. She also possesses exceptional court vision and is an excellent passer. Moving from Breck to Benilde-St. Margaret’s represents a big step up in competition. Being a teammate to the #1 sophomore in the country in Olivia Olson Olivia Olson 6'1" | CG Benilde-SM | 2024 State MN provides Kendall with a big stage to showcase her skills.
#3 – Jordan Ode Jordan Ode 5'11" | CG Maple Grove | 2025 State MN – 5’11 guard/small forward, Maple Grove
Every player in the Top 10 has one or two things that set them apart from the rest, that make them a special prospect. For Ode it is her motor. The wiry freshman is relentless, with a hunger to compete that is second to none. Jordan never gives up on a potential rebound. Ever. She’s never not first to hunt down a loose ball. Ever. And she brings this kind of energy from start to finish no matter the score or the opponent or the situation. Always. Ode is long and lean, with big strides, light feet and the kind of natural athleticism that all great players have. She’s calm, cool and collected on the floor, and owns a ton of confidence. If Ode fills out and gets stronger her potential is exponential.
#4 – Bree Bowman Bree Bowman 6'2" | SF Prior Lake | 2025 State MN – 6’2 wing/small forward, Prior Lake
If there’s one player in the Top 10 whose stock has risen the most this summer it is Bowman. Of course the first thing that catches your attention is her length with a capital L. Since we put Bree on our 2025 Watch List in June she has grown another couple of inches and looks taller every time we see her. Usually players of these dimensions take a little longer to put it all together but Bree’s game is coming along rather nicely, and the college coaches have noticed. Once known primarily for her three-point shooting prowess, Bowman has expanded her game significantly and scores in a variety of ways. She can handle the ball at speed while getting up and down the court with pace. Her strides are monstrous. Defensively that length is an absolute weapon.
#5 – Addison Mack Addison Mack 5'9" | PG Minnehaha Academy | 2025 State MN – 5’8 point guard, Minnehaha Academy
Addi is a master tactician, a special talent who possesses amazing court vision, a wonderful sense of timing and long list of skills and abilities. Her ball handling is exceptional to the point where she doesn’t even have to think about the whole behind-the-back, between-the-legs, forward-and-back type of thing that average players struggle to master. Her three-point shooting is equally good. Her ability to manage a game from the point is first-rate. And her decision-making sets her apart from the crowd in a major way. Addi can also score and enters her freshman year with 997 varsity career points already on her resume. Unbelievable, isn’t it? Mack has stretched up this year and that added length is helping her at both ends of the floor.
#6 – Katie Kelzenberg Katie Kelzenberg 6'2" | PF Wayzata | 2025 State MN – 6’1 power forward, Wayzata
Stars Borowicz has so many nice pieces, which is one of the primary reasons why the team has won a bushel of Class of 2025 AAU state championships. Kelzenberg is the biggest of the bunch and she knows how to use her size to dominate most opponents and make space for her teammates. Katie is huge, with broad shoulders and a strong build that precious few incoming freshmen possess. In one of his evaluations of Katie’s play this summer, our man Tony Ragulen described her as the ‘X factor’ on the team and it is an apt assessment of her play. Kelzenberg’s physicality is a nightmare for opposing players at both ends of the floor, and she’s a force on the boards. The one question mark about Katie’s future is whether or not she selects basketball or volleyball as her sport of choice.
#7 – Sam Wills Sam Wills 6'0" | SG Visitation | 2025 State MN – 6’0 small forward/guard, Visitation
Standing over 6 feet tall, with broad shoulders and a big frame, Sam looks like a prototypical power forward. She really wants to be a guard, though, and in our opinion that’s where she belongs. It’s nice to have options, though, and Sam has plenty. This summer Wills proved that she can do it all against players of every size, description and speed. She was a dominant force at the AAU State Tournament, using her size and strength and physical presence to overwhelm her opponents. She also showed skill and finesse, the ability to beat opponents with quickness and craftiness, and the type of poise and calmness that’s difficult to find in young players. Oh yeah, she can also shoot it. Going forward it’s not clear where Sam will fit or how she will be utilized. We feel pretty confident she will be a success regardless.
#8 – Tori Schlagel Tori Schlagel 5'9" | CG Eden Prairie | 2025 State MN – 5’9 combo guard, Eden Prairie
Tori is one of those players whose impact on the game is difficult to measure. That’s because she does so many things well. You can’t put Schlagel in a box and say she is this or that. You can’t pigeonhole her and judge what position she’ll play long term, what type of team would suit her best, what level of college basketball she belongs in. Tori is just good. At everything. Almost all of the time. Last winter Schlagel made it into the lineup at Eden Prairie as an 8th grader, which is a rarity. She excelled against older, bigger, stronger athletes in ways that few can. This summer, the big guard with size, speed, strength and skill showed time and again that all of the little things she does well can affect the outcome of a game in a major way, even if the casual observer may not have noticed.
#9 – Sophie Hawkinson Sophie Hawkinson 5'8" | CG Wayzata | 2025 State MN – 5’7 combo guard, Wayzata
As we always say, big players have to play their way off the team and will be given every opportunity to improve their skills over long periods of time without being dispatched to the hinterlands. Meanwhile, smaller kids have to prove themselves over and over and over again in order to get the recognition and opportunities they deserve. Well that’s exactly what Sophie did this year, demonstrating that her skillset is among the best in the Class of 2025, showing that she could go head-to-head against opponents of all dimensions and come out on top, making it clear that she could grab a game by the throat and hammer it into submission. As we mentioned above, every player has that one thing that sets them apart. In Hawkinson’s case it is her toughness. This kid is a warrior and she will go very, very far because of it.
#10 – Zahara Bishop Zahara Bishop 5'10" | CG Benilde-St. Margaret's | 2025 State MN – 5’10 combo guard, Benilde-St. Margaret’s
We round out our presentation of the 2025 Top 10 with one of the smoothest talents around. As she is usually called in the gym, ‘Z’ is long and silky and slick. She has light feet that carry her around the court with excellent pace, provide the ability to move laterally with aplomb, and offer the kind of quickness that enables players to bob and weave and slip and shift every which way to elude opponents and cash in on opportunities. Bishop is one of the most athletic players in the class. She has elite leaping ability, excellent instincts, and the skills to get to the rim using a myriad of methods. Zahara has already played two seasons of varsity basketball at Richfield. This year she joins McGee and Olson at Benilde where I suspect we will see just how much more she is capable of.
Next up: We’ll tell you which freshmen are ranked between 11 and 25.