The 2023 Minnesota AAU Awards season is here

AAU competition in Minnesota ended last week with the conclusion of the North Tartan Meltdown. For a handful of elite squads it has extended into another few days of games at the new NCAA College Basketball Academy in Memphis. As we wind down for real, that means it's time for our annual post-summer season ritual: the AAU Awards. Every year at this time we hand out accolades of various kinds to recognize the players and coaches who have excelled over the course of the 17-week campaign. Many of the honorees will be athletes we have written about over the past few months. Over the next couple of weeks we'll recap their performances and recognize their excellence.

The categories of awards have varied over the years. After all, these aren't official give-you-a-trophy accolades from some official governing body like the high school league. It's just us at Prep Girls Hoops offering up a little more recognition for a job well done. We used to give out some team and club awards but it's just too difficult to thoroughly research and compare results and achievements over the course of the season when there are more than 150 teams to consider. Someone deserving always seemed to get left out. These are the categories we will be covering in 2023 along with a reminder of who took home the (imaginary) hardware one year ago.

All-Star Teams & Most Valuable Player Awards

We'll select a separate Most Valuable Player and All-Star Team for each of the four grades that we covered this spring and summer – 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027. The All-Star Teams will include a First, Second and Third team consisting of 5 players apiece plus 10 or so honorable mentions. The awards will be based on a player's graduation year, not the year of the team on which they played.

Coach of the Year

The Coach of the Year award recognizes AAU head coaches who have excelled in a variety of ways. Obviously team success on the court and in-game strategy and tactics are big. So is the ability to recruit and retain players prior to and throughout the season. We also consider courtside demeanor, team culture, communication skills and player promotion through social media and to college coaches.

Newcomer of the Year

The Newcomer of the Year award identifies players who have established themselves in AAU basketball for the first time in a big way. Players are not eligible until they are playing 14U – 8th grade – so they might have excelled as 6th or 7th graders but haven't been on our radar before. Often it recognizes players who have been playing on lower-level teams, or haven't played AAU before, and have now moved into prominence in a big way.

Breakout Player of the Year

Breakout Player of the Year recognizes athletes who have taken their game to new heights. I guess it's the Prep Girls Hoops version of Most Improved Player. Often the honor goes to a player who has been around for a couple of years but has suddenly raised their game to compete at a much higher level. Throughout the year we recognize the big stock risers when we update the PGH prospect rankings so that's usually a good preview of players who are in the running for this award.

Defensive Player of the Year

The Defensive Player of the Year award is pretty much self-explanatory. It recognizes athletes who understand the principles of defense – both on-ball defending and defending within a team concept – and execute them on a regular basis. The attributes of aggressiveness, intensity and focus are key elements in this regard.

The Hard Hat All-Star Team

This is one of our favorite awards and one of the most-popular features we publish every year. The Hard Hat All-Star Team is comprised of players who epitomize what it means to be a so-called “hard hat” or “lunch pail” player. They simply show up on time every day and get down to the business of basketball. Hustle plays are their modus operandi and physical presence is everything. All of them have a big motor. We love to use the term ‘sandpaper' when describing players like this and it is an apt metaphor for the way they play. There will be a first and second team along with some honorable mentions. In general we like to select players who have not been recognized for any other post-season award, although we have been known to violate this principle from time to time. There were our 2022 selections:

COMING UP

We'll hand the first of our 2023 AAU post-season awards on Monday and then we'll roll the others out over the next couple of weeks. Apologies in advance, but I'm not going to promise a set-in-stone schedule for these articles. You see I got married back on June 6th and the honeymoon has been delayed by my AAU tournament obligations. As a result, Mary and I will be on vacation for 10 days in August and I may or may not get up early to churn out some stories. Thanks for your patience!