Sophomores to Watch
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Another thing I want to do before the season starts is highlight a few kids to watch in each returning class. Today, I want to highlight some sophomores to watch for this upcoming season. However, I want to discuss some…
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Continue ReadingAnother thing I want to do before the season starts is highlight a few kids to watch in each returning class. Today, I want to highlight some sophomores to watch for this upcoming season. However, I want to discuss some kids I haven’t highlighted in this class.
Claire Lueken
The Wahlert Catholic forward was a swiss army knife in her freshman campaign. Lueken was comfortable scoring, passing, rebounding, and defending. The Golden Eagle was plugged into the rotation and found success in every aspect of the game, and there’s no reason to suspect that won’t continue. Lueken had a solid summer with her 15u Team Iowa team and had some impressive wins over some good competition in the midwest, so I expect her to come back this season even better.
Alyssa Bartlett Alyssa Bartlett 5'7" | PG Southeast Polk | 2025 State IA
The Southeast Polk product couldn’t have finished the AAU season much better. Bartlett was in rhythm and made the right decisions with the ball every time she touched the ball. The guard played in a balanced fashion, creating for her teammates and attacking the basket herself. I didn’t digest her game before the final live period in Minnesota and Iowa, but I knew who she was afterward. Bartlett’s ability to control the tempo of the game and ability to bring a calm aura to the floor will resonate with college coaches, as it already has.
Savannah Gage Savannah Gage 5'10" | SG Ankeny | 2025 State IA
The first thing to know about Gage is that she’s an excellent athlete. The one thing that stood out to me when I saw her last summer was how well she changed direction. That skill shows itself on both ends of the floor. I thought Gage handled elite guards well and displayed that she wouldn’t be overwhelmed by some of the best guards in the region. On the offensive end, she is a playmaker who can get downhill with the best. I’ll be curious to see how well she distributes at the high school level this season.
The multisport athlete from Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont is another pure athlete. Her activity causes problems because few kids at the 3A level can match her physical traits. If there was one stat to describe her amount of influence, are steals. Shafer nearly averaged five steals at 4.9 per game last season, and it was no fluke. Her length and ability to read the game make her an excellent defender. She makes herself challenging to defend and attack at the high school level.