Unsigned standouts who excelled at Summer Jam

Summer Jam always delivers. Every June, it seems, the mega gathering of elite talent brought to Minnesota by the folks at North Tartan seems to bring out the best in players from far and wide. With 375 teams in attendance, it also draws a big crowd of influential basketball scouts and writers who have the ability to spread the word about unsigned Minnesota prospects deemed worthy of watching. There were many this weekend, particularly at Shakopee High School where the top divisions were contested. Make no mistake, there were plenty of top performers at Summer Jam who have already made their college commitments. Stanford signee [player_tooltip player_id="108348" first="Nunu" last="Agara"] led Metro Stars Pryor to a title. Minnesota commit [player_tooltip player_id="108306" first="Kennedy" last="Klick"] of North Tartan and Colorado commit [player_tooltip player_id="108301" first="Kennedy" last="Sanders"] of Fury 2023 UAA were outstanding. Ditto for North Dakota State signee [player_tooltip player_id="108316" first="Taryn" last="Hamling"] of Minnesota Stars Hersch. But our focus here is on unsigned prospects. Here are a few who stood out at Summer Jam. [player_tooltip player_id="215958" first="Tori" last="McKinney"] – 2024 guard, North Tartan EYBL Britt Prince is exactly the type of player folks come to Summer Jam to see. The ETG Midwest Elite point guard from Omaha has run out of places to store all of the high-major offers she is receiving. Watching her in person in Shakopee it was oh-so-obvious why. She’s one of the smoothest floor generals you’ll ever see, but observing McKinney do her best to keep Prince in check was well worth the price of admission, too. McKinney is an extraordinary defender, and it took all of the length and leaping ability and on-court acumen she could muster to hold Prince in check. In the end Tori did enough to earn North Tartan the win while scoring 15 points herself. McKinney and Wisconsin import Rainey Welson (15 points per game) led NT into the championship game of the top 16U Leech Lake division. [player_tooltip player_id="205298" first="Jordan" last="Ode"] – 2025 guard, Minnesota Fury UAA While McKinney’s efforts on the defensive side of things were notable on Saturday, it was offensive excellence that caught our attention when watching Ode play. Ranked #3 in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2025, the Maple Grove prospect has all of the tools necessary to turn in a star-level performance at any time. That’s easier said than done, however, against a team like All Iowa Attack 9th Nike Red. Jordan came through in the clutch, though, turning in a head-spinning second-half performance during which she excelled at both ends of the floor. Ode’s motor always revs high but it was running at maximum RPM throughout as she scored 28 points to lead her team to a 62-57 win. There were many other Fury standouts in this one, from elite point guard [player_tooltip player_id="252379" first="Addison" last="Mack"] to forward [player_tooltip player_id="346166" first="Autumn" last="McCall"] and 6-foot guard [player_tooltip player_id="208185" first="Liana" last="Buckhalton"], but it was Ode who outshone them all. [player_tooltip player_id="339129" first="Ja’Kahla" last="Craft"] – 2024 guard, Metro Stars Pryor It has been a summer of superlatives for Ja’Kahla, who has emerged as one of the most-improved players in the Class of 2024. Building on her outstanding high school season at St. Michael-Albertville, Craft has continued to perform at a very high level during the AAU season, which recently earned her a initial Division 1 offer from Fairfield University. Her performance Saturday night in a win over All Iowa Attack EYBL may be a new high water mark, however. Craft cashed in from beyond the arc four times and scored 18 points for the Metro Stars while bringing her usual high-energy explosiveness and gritty defense to the equation. She followed that up on Sunday by playing a key role her team’s double OT win in the championship game of the top 17U Anchor Lake division. [player_tooltip player_id="262910" first="Tori" last="Schlagel"] – 2025 guard, North Tartan Nike It’s not unusual for top teams to play up an age group throughout the AAU season, but the level of 16U competition North Tartan’s 15U Nike squad faced at Summer Jam was truly daunting. Not only did they survive their journey through the Leech Lake circuit, NT’s best freshmen scored wins over Minnesota Suns 2024 Blue Star and Fury 2024 UAA before hanging tough with All Iowa Attack EYBL and Wisconsin Flight EYBL. One reason why they were able to do it was the leadership, maturity and example that Schlagel brings to the table. The Eden Prairie guard is just tough. And gritty. And skilled. And tenacious. And intelligent. We could go on but you get the picture. Tori is a top 10 prospect whose tool box is very deep. She might not draw headlines often but she always shows up in the trenches to do the hard labor it takes to earn a W. [player_tooltip player_id="108326" first="Emy" last="Wolkow"] & [player_tooltip player_id="186115" first="Jordan" last="Langbehn"] – Minnesota Fury 2023 Premier Coach Maddie Wolkow has her 2023 Fury squad on a roll with the team having now won 11 of their last 12 games. The most recent victory was a tidy 55-50 win over Minnesota Rise Wolfe in the championship game of the Zebra Lake 17U division, which featured squads from North Tartan, All Iowa Attack, Wisconsin Flight and more. Like most of its wins over the years, the Fury victory was a true team effort. Let’s give a special tip of the cap, though, to Emy and Jordan who have been key pieces on this squad forever. Emy is from Lakeville North, where she has established a reputation as an elite shooter whose all-around game has expanded every year. She’s now a Top 40 prospect in the class. Jordan, who is from Elk River, is a Top 50 talent, a versatile performer who can play multiple positions, can score and defend at a high level, and can be relied upon to come through in the clutch. Both proved again this weekend that they deserve to play scholarship-level college ball. [player_tooltip player_id="302307" first="Elisabeth" last="Gadient"] & [player_tooltip player_id="304892" first="Anna" last="Vaaler"] – Minnesota Fury 2024 Premier It was a good weekend for the Fury’s Premier squads as both the 2023s and 2024s took home titles in their respective divisions. The incoming juniors captured the White Bear Lake 16U grouping with a convincing win over Minnesota Stars Zabel. As has been the case on many occasions this summer season, they did it on the backs of Liz and Anna, who have been nothing short of outstanding since we got started in April. Liz is a lengthy point guard from Goodhue who has really come into her own this summer and is about to earn a major rankings bump when the latest update comes out in a week or so. Anna is a high-energy guard from Andover who uses her speed, strength and skill to put up numbers and pull down rebounds. She too is a prospect on the rise. One more for the road Minnesota Suns 2024 Blue Star went 2-2 at Summer Jam, falling to North Tartan 2025 Nike and a very strong West Michigan Drive squad out of Grand Rapids. Several of coach Dre Jefferson’s talented crew deserve notice – [player_tooltip player_id="344357" first="Evie" last="Schmitz"] of St. Louis Park and [player_tooltip player_id="178261" first="Piper" last="Engelby"] of Andover in particular – but we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the improved play of Anoka’s [player_tooltip player_id="215971" first="Lydia" last="Lakanen"]. The big forward joined the team this season and it has taken some time for Lydia to determine where she fits on a talented squad. Over the past couple of tournaments, however, it appears as if Lakanen has started to figure things out. Lydia has been playing with much more energy, is getting up and down the floor with pace, and is pulling down more rebounds through shear strength of will. Most importantly, Lakanen is attacking the basket with much more obvious intent to score. These are all positive signs for a player with the potential to do so much more. Final thought Finally, fans of Minnesota Stars Borowicz 2025 might be wondering why there’s no mention here of [player_tooltip player_id="296523" first="Kendall" last="McGee"] or [player_tooltip player_id="296528" first="Sam" last="Wills"] or others who helped the standout Stars freshmen win the Shoe Lake Divisiony. Fair question. The answer belongs in the hands of our colleague Tony Ragulen, who will provide his educated take on the Stars standouts at Summer Jam. We’re certain it will be worth the wait.