Recruiting Update: Where are the 2023s going next?

“Where is Tessa going to go?” That seems to be the question on everyone’s lips these days as numerous college commitments are being announced by Minnesota’s top girls basketball talents. The Tessa in question, of course, is Tessa Johnson Tessa Johnson 5'11" | SG St. Michael-Albertville | 2023 State #36 Nation MN of St. Micheal-Albertville, the #1 prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023. There are plenty of suitors for the uber-talented guard. Dawn Staley and her staff from the University of South Carolina were in town this week. So, too, was head coach Nicki Collen and company from Baylor University. Lindsay Whalen and the University of Minnesota staff have been following Tessa here, there and everywhere for what must seem like an eternity by now. We should have an answer soon.

But Tessa isn’t the only 2023 of note still working through the recruiting process. The next-highest rated prospect still available is forward Abby Krzewinski Abby Krzewinski 5'11" | PF Wayzata | 2023 State MN of Wayzata. You may recall that Abby committed some months ago to East Tennessee. Unfortunately the coaching staff there found themselves in some hot water and were let go. That led to Abby reopening her recruitment. She is talking with several schools at the moment but nothing has been finalized.

Also available is 17th-ranked Vanessa Saidu Vanessa Saidu 6'2" | SF Cooper | 2023 State MN , formerly of Park Center but now attending Robbinsdale Cooper. We’re told she holds an offer from Clemson University. #25 Savanna Jones Savanna Jones 6'2" | PF Eden Prairie | 2023 State MN of Eden Prairie suffered a torn ACL this summer so her future is up in the air. There are two more Top 30 prospects still available: #28 Emily Christenson Emily Christenson 5'11" | SF East Ridge | 2023 State MN of East Ridge and #30 Grace Counts Grace Counts 6'1" | PF Providence | 2023 State MN of Providence Academy. We’ll get into more detail at another time about players whose collegiate plans remain undecided.

DIVISION 1 COMMITS

In the meantime there have been plenty of noteworthy commitments in the Class of 2023. These are the 22 Minnesota seniors who have made Division 1 announcements to date:

DIVISION 2 COMMITS

To date we are aware of 20 verbal commitments made to Division 2 programs among this year’s senior class, primarily to schools in the Northern Sun Conference. That includes the latest commitments by Rochester Lourdes standout Vivica Bretton Vivica Bretton 5'9" | SF Rochester Lourdes | 2023 State MN , a Top 40 prospect who said ‘yes’ to new head coach Ana Wurtz at Winona State and guard Shawna Bruha Shawna Bruha 5'7" | CG Burnsville | 2023 State MN of Burnsville, who announced that she is heading for Minot State. There are a couple more announcements pending but to date this is what we know:

DIVISION 3

This is the time of year when Division 3 announcements start to happen once the reality hits for many players that they won’t be getting the type of higher offers they had been hoping for. By January or February the D3 announcements should form a long list. Among the recent D3 commits are three players who will be joining the University of Wisconsin-Stout program next season: forwards Maraya Wiltrout Maraya Wiltrout 6'2" | PF Cambridge-Isanti | 2023 State MN of Cambridge-Isanti and Molly Garber Molly Garber 5'11" | SF Blaine | 2023 State MN of Blaine, and guard Molly Bills Molly Bills 5'9" | SG La Crescent | 2023 State MN of LaCrescent. Maraya’s twin Evelyn Wiltrout Evelyn Wiltrout 6'1" | PF Cambridge-Isanti | 2023 State MN committed to UW-River Falls.

Meanwhile, two of the more prominent players in the class made D3 commitments to East Coast academic powers as point guard Lauren Knudson Lauren Knudson 5'6" | PG Orono | 2023 State MN of Orono verballed to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Minneapolis Southwest standout Virginia Johnson Virginia Johnson 5'10" | SF Mpls Southwest | 2023 State MN signed with Smith College in Massachusetts. Byron’s Aubrey Akervik Aubrey Akervik 5'11" | SG Byron | 2023 State MN is staying closer to home at play for coach Laurie Kelly at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

Overall there are nearly 60 players in the class who have committed to date with more likely to make their decisions prior to the start of the high school season in November.

LATE 2022 ADDITIONS

One final recruiting item of note: The last time we talked about recruits from the Class of 2022 it wasn’t clear what 5’11 forward Maria Counts of Providence Academy intended to do. Meanwhile, Top 50 prospect Alexa Ratzlaff of Rosemount, one of the state’s premier defensive stoppers, had indicated that she was not planning to play college basketball. Fast forward to now and both players are on the roster of the University of Minnesota where they are walk-ons. It might be a long uphill climb to earn playing time but both players are embracing the grind.

We’ll circle back to look at what’s happening with the Class of 2024 in a couple of weeks.

Top photo: Chaska’s Ashley Schuelke Ashley Schuelke 5'10" | SF Chaska | 2023 State MN recently committed to Concordia-St. Paul.