AAU Week #10 recap: Keeping up with the Johnsons

On Friday, 13-year old Chloe Johnson Chloe Johnson 6'0" | PG Duluth Marshall | 2028 State MN had an hours-long unofficial recruiting visit at the University of Minnesota, a rare occurrence for a kid who is just finishing 7th grade. It will be one of many in the years ahead and dozens of nice scholarship offers will surely follow. On Saturday morning, the Duluth Marshall point guard was back in the gym at the Minnesota Suns Summer Xplosion honing her craft with Minnesota Starks. For us, Chloe’s contests in Wayzata were the highlight of Week #10 of the AAU season, and a reminder of just how privileged we are to watch greatness in the making.

One of a kind

Paige Bueckers. Alyssa Ustby. Gianna Kneepkens. Nunu Agara. Taylor Woodson. Liv McGill Liv McGill 5'7" | CG Hopkins | 2024 State MN . Olivia Olson Olivia Olson 6'1" | CG Benilde-SM | 2024 State MN . Taylor Koenen. The list of amazing Minnesota players we’ve chronicled over the past few seasons is truly remarkable. We could go on remembering names like McKenna Hofschild, Sam Haiby, Katie Borowicz, Adalia McKenzie, Mara Braun, Amaya Battle. It’s an impressive collection of stars to be sure, but none of them is like Johnson.

The 5’10, 160-pound athlete is one of a kind, a basketball savant in the making who sees the game in ways others do not, whose understanding of the craft is truly unique, whose commitment to greatness is unparalleled. To be clear, we’re not saying Chloe will do what Paige has done because she is a very different player and a completely different personality. Besides, that would be an inappropriate burden to place on the shoulders of a youngster who is a full five seasons away from making a collegiate roster.

What we are saying is this: In a Minnesota landscape littered with precocious youngsters possessing elite talent, Chloe is just different.

Saturday’s marquee encounter

After a relatively uneventful win over Minnesota Suns 2026 Black on Saturday morning – a game in which Johnson scored 19 points in wide variety of ways – the Starks girls braced for the premier match-up of the tournament, a mano-a-mano encounter with Minnesota Stars Antl 2027. Scott Antl’s team is loaded with some of the best 8th graders in the state. Three of them – Kaja Nash Kaja Nash 5'10" | CG/SG Wayzata | 2027 State MN , Addison Bjorklund Addison Bjorklund 6'1" | PF Brainerd | 2027 State MN and Kaelyn Bjorklund Kaelyn Bjorklund 6'1" | PF Lakeville South | 2027 MN – were just named to the Prep Girls Hoops 2027 Watch List. This is a very good team, and in the first half on Saturday afternoon they showed it by building a double-digit lead and holding a 26-19 margin at the break.

Starks came out flying in the second period. Less than 30 seconds in, Johnson nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner. Then Chloe Carlson Chloe Carlson 5'9" | CG Proctor | 2026 State MN scored off a steal 13 seconds later. Shortly thereafter, it was post Marta Forsline Marta Forsline 6'3" | PF Mesabi East | 2026 State MN cashing in from the paint, and the game was tied at 26. From there it went back and forth as Starks amped up the defensive pressure, forced some turnovers and made the most of their opportunities to score. Later Johnson nailed another three and had a sweet floater and, by that point, the lead was 8. Despite a heroic effort from the Stars, it was Starks that earned a 50-44 win. Chloe finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

Sunday’s championship rematch

On Sunday, the two teams met again to decide a division championship. In a reverse of Saturday’s story, it was Starks that built a big lead early and the Stars who forged a second-half comeback. Antl tweaked his defensive strategies a little, Starks struggled to make shots from distance, and the Stars cashed in on their free throw opportunities down the stretch to prevail 42-40. Although Forsline managed 17 points, Johnson was held to just 8 with only two three-point baskets. Yes, she is human. The Stars’ scoring, as it so often is, was evenly distributed: 7 for Addison Bjorklund Addison Bjorklund 6'1" | PF Brainerd | 2027 State MN , 6 for Kaja Nash Kaja Nash 5'10" | CG/SG Wayzata | 2027 State MN and Analaya Salanoa Analaya Salanoa 5'6" | SG Roseville | 2027 State MN , and 5 apiece for Ashley Fitzgibbons Ashley Fitzgibbons 5'7" | CG/SG Big Lake | 2027 State MN and Kaelyn Bjorklund Kaelyn Bjorklund 6'1" | PF Lakeville South | 2027 MN . This is a quality team loaded with solid next-level prospects.

Up from the depths

Some scouting services and writers have already tabbed Johnson as the top-rated player in the country in the Class of 2028. Although we don’t have a handle on others who might contend for such an honor nationally, we’re not going to dispute their assessment. What’s more remarkable, however, is the fact that Johnson plays basketball at all. Given where Chloe was just a few years ago when she was “discovered” at the YMCA in Duluth, it’s something of miracle.

At that point, Heather and Greg Johnson were at their wit’s end. Their daughter Chloe was suffering the far-reaching effects of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a mental health condition in which people have recurring ideas, thoughts or obsessions that are beyond their control. OCD can have a devastating effect on daily life. Chloe, for example, would wash her hands over and over and over until they bled. She also had severe anxiety and was diagnosed with Selective Mutism. The Johnsons were planning to take their mostly silent daughter to the East Coast for weeks of intensive therapy. Then they went to the Y and met Dyami Starks.

Soon after the child began channeling her struggles into the game, pouring the same degree of effort and energy that had been directed in harmful ways into a new-found passion. It wasn’t long before it became obvious that Johnson’s basketball development was beyond exceptional. Chloe’s skill level soared and her life slowly evolved in a positive direction.

Now Chloe spends hours each day in the Johnson’s home gym, working with Dyami and on her own. Teach her a skill on Friday afternoon and by Saturday morning the 13-year-old has it mastered. Show her some basketball video and her comprehension of the concepts discussed is nearly immediate. She makes 200 threes a day and sometimes shoots in complete darkness. It’s uncanny. Basketball has become Chloe’s safe space, a refuge of peace and contentment. The result is what we see today. On the court she’s truly remarkable, off the court she’s just as special.

As a result, Johnson can do things with a basketball that the vast majority of us cannot. The way she sees the floor. How she handles the ball. The passes she makes. The sense of timing and pacing. The super soft release. The advanced understanding of the game and her place in it. She’s just different.

After playing mostly with boys two and three years older, Johnson is now the anchor on both the Starks 15U and 17U squads. She played 17U last year as a 6th grader and was outstanding. Teams routinely double-team the big guard and game plan around her abilities time and again. The other girls get physical. They also get frustrated. And sometimes – like on Sunday morning – the shots don’t fall.

A remarkable journey

Chloe is still quiet. She’s thoughtful and mature and eager to please. She’s a deep thinker who cares about her teammates and what other people think. And she is driven. Oh so driven. Watching her grow as a person over these past couple of years has been remarkable. Now she looks you in the eye and answers questions like a veteran. She talks on the phone with some of the most prominent college coaches in the game. At her U of M visit she dissected video with new Gophers head coach Dawn Plitzuweit in ways that would make John Wooden smile. It’s truly remarkable.

On Friday night at the Minnesota Lynx game, Chloe spent time with a special friend – WNBA legend Sylvia Fowles, who had her jersey retired at Target Center this weekend. Big Syl made Chloe laugh, as usual, and the two reprised their annual Kodak moment. Fowles was an incredible player and is an amazing person. Ditto for the wunderkind from Duluth.