Class of 2023: Stock Risers

With 137 kids ranked college-level players, there will be players who rise due to their play. Today, I’ll highlight some big movers and why they’ve moved up. Some of these will be mea culpas, and others are more on the players’ end. #5 [player_tooltip player_id="206728" first="Beautiful" last="Waheed"] Starting with Waheed, this will be the first of a few mea culpas. Waheed is someone who I got to see once during the high school season and misgraded a fair deal. Once I saw her for Playground Club this spring, I immediately realized how wrong I was. She’s athletic, defends, shoots the ball, creates, and dominates in transition. There’s genuinely almost nothing I dislike about her game. #6 [player_tooltip player_id="206575" first="Lexi" last="Bugajski"] There was almost a perfect storm to conceal what Bugajski does best at Eisenhower. She wasn’t really in a role that got the best out of her. Once she got to the spring, she ran with the freedom she got. Bugajski can do it all at 6-feet. She’s an elite passer, shooter, and all-around defender. She also rebounds well. The New Berlin native is one of the more complete players in the class. #11 [player_tooltip player_id="206719" first="Lalani" last="Ellis"] Much like her high school and AAU teammate, [player_tooltip player_id="206728" first="Beautiful" last="Waheed"], I didn’t get to see the Milwaukee native excel until the spring, and excel, she did. There are less than two kids who attack the basket as efficiently as Ellis, the only kid who does is going to UCONN. I think she’s as creative around the rim as anyone. I haven’t seen anyone put as much pressure on the basket as Ellis has this spring. #14 [player_tooltip player_id="206721" first="Trishena" last="Brown"] Brown is the biggest of all the mea culpas on this list. I didn’t get to see her play all year until the spring. I still remember how amazed I was by her raw athleticism in Romeoville two months ago. She plays winning basketball and is one of the most competitive kids around. The second I got to see her play, I knew she was a top 10-15 kid in her class. #22 [player_tooltip player_id="206727" first="Trinity" last="Mocadlo"] The Hortonville guard was one of the two best bench players in the state. That other player was her Polar Bear teammate [player_tooltip player_id="266988" first="MiKayla" last="Werner"]. Although she may not have played a ton of minutes, Mocadlo doesn’t get the nickname "High-Octane" for no reason. She plays hard every second she’s on the floor, plays elite perimeter defense, and is one of the truest point guards in Wisconsin. I love what she does on that end, and she has all the skills to be an effective offensive player with the increased workload she gets this year. She works incredibly hard and already has a good-looking offensive skillset. All that’s left is to put it into practice in games this year as the Polar Bears’ starting point guard. #25 [player_tooltip player_id="264954" first="Lexie" last="White"] I had an idea of how well-rounded White’s game was during the season. I watched a few Wausau West games on stream and a large chunk of her highlights on hudl. However, once I saw her this summer, I loved how she could attack defenses any way she wanted. She could shoot, drive to the basket, and pull up from 12-15 feet. Even her floater game is consistent, and at 5-foot-11, very few people are contesting that. She’s as aesthetically pleasing of an offensive player as anyone. #29 [player_tooltip player_id="156091" first="Alicia" last="Burgos"] I didn’t get to see Burgos play until the Division 3 state-semifinal against eventual champion Waupun. Although Waupun outclassed Burgos’ Dominican team that afternoon, the 6-foot-2 forward was one of the best players on the floor. She earned a double-double that day, and from that day in March, she’s been someone I’ve enjoyed watching. She does her work early and gets in good positions, has a great catch radius, and can protect the rim. #33 [player_tooltip player_id="156097" first="Reagan" last="Pahl"] The last time we did rankings, Pahl was at about 28% from the 3-point line. In two weeks, she put that up to about 38%. When Pahl gets hot shooting, the only sure way to keep from scoring is to foul her at halfcourt, and even then, Pahl might be strong enough to put in the basket. The Cedarburg native keeps kids in front of her on the defensive end. The guard also doesn’t give up any space when kids try to go through her. Her only hiccup is that she’s slightly smaller than what coaches look for in a lead guard, but the school that gets her will be happy because she is a winner. #40 [player_tooltip player_id="342102" first="Tayah" last="Christopher"] The Altoon guard is one of the more intriguing prospects I’ve seen all spring. She’s a tall 5-foot-11 lead guard who moves her feet defensively and can create for teammates. She’s very close to breaking through as a prospect. I would not be surprised if she shocked some people with her play this season. #47 [player_tooltip player_id="264950" first="Olivia" last="Peterson"] The Appleton native has become one of my favorite kids to watch this spring. In high school, she probably saw a lot of teams throwing the kitchen sink at her, and even though she had a good season, I felt like there was more for everyone to see with her game. Watching her play for Let it Rain this spring solidified that for me. For a group that saw significant change through players leaving the program, injuries during the season, and injuries during the AAU season, Peterson felt like she was the constant calming presence of that group. She rarely made mistakes and quietly put together good game after good game. She’ll get the best out of everyone on her team. #52 [player_tooltip player_id="206732" first="Kierstin" last="Kriewaldt"] I believe there’s a scholarship player inside [player_tooltip player_id="206732" first="Kierstin" last="Kriewaldt"]. She’s a 6-foot wing who can shoot and defend on the perimeter. That’s a pretty good mixture to get scholarship looks. Most of it will be up to her. At times she can get a little floaty on the perimeter and not impact the game. However, when she’s on it and forcing her will on defenses by cutting. She’s incredibly dangerous. I believe there’s a chance that the Freedom Irish takes the final step and wins a state title, with Kriewaldt’s improvement being a key factor.