Players I’m Eager to See This Summer

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Somehow, it's April, and for Wisconsin programs, the AAU season is tipping off as early as this weekend in Illinois and Michigan. Throughout this week, I'll be talking about players from every range of college-level talent that I find intriguing heading into this summer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='842214' first='Maddie' last='Brown']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I watched Brown a handful of times last summer and left having no strong feelings about her game either way. After I saw her with DSHA this season, I found myself intrigued by what she could become. She's a 5-11 guard who can do some stuff off the dribble and make some shots. However, I loved her versatility on both ends of the floor. You can slot her in anywhere from one to five at the high school level and still have positive results against some talented teams. She's a multi-sport kid, so she may have her heart set on playing volleyball, but she has a future in basketball if she wants to pursue that route.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='533066' first='Audrey' last='Meudt']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Meudt is fun to watch. At times, Meudt looks out of control because she's so long, and she can look uncomfortable in some situations, but once you get used to seeing her, how she plays makes all the sense in the world. She's a tweener between the one and the two but can play both. For instance, an example of what I meant to start this little talk on Meudt is how she attacks the rim. She's not as explosive as other guards, so she'll attack the basket and stop on either block and if you're watching without knowing her, you'll think she's just driven into a situation where she'll turn the ball over. However, she has some of the best footwork from a guard in the post. Meudt can finish with either hand off that pivot, and some kids have no idea how to handle her when she does that. If you think about it from a guard perspective, and you're usually trying to stay in front of ball handlers at all times, it makes sense that you'd loosen up when you get a guard to pick up their dribble around the basket and know there's help around. She can make shots, rebound, defend, and initiate the offense, but watching her play in a different style than everyone else is an experience. She's an inverted post player who can serve as a one or two guard.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='528123' first='Makenzie' last='Hawk']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Out of all the 25s in Wisconsin, Hawk is the one I have my eye on closest heading into the AAU season. She's a strong 5-11 wing who can defend at an elite level when fully engaged. The offensive end is hit or miss, but the defense is the sales point for college coaches on Hawk. She's a competitive kid who can defend scholarship-level players at multiple positions on one possession if she has to, and she'll be able to switch to any position for the possession if that's the route you'd want to take. On top of that, she has plenty of room to grow as a player, and I'm not sure what interest she has at the moment, but I'm sure she'll have plenty in a month or two.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='471480' first='Sarah' last='Helm']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It feels like Chapman produces these scrappy guards every year, and Helm is another talented guard who I'm sure teams hate to play against. She's always been a kid who's earned extra possessions for her Chapman or Cedarburg teams and doesn't take any possessions for granted. I can only imagine she's playing 110% in practices, and that mentality shows on the floor. Yes, she can pass, score, rebound, and defend. I could summarize it by saying all the little things she does well, but she boxes out well for a wing, plays through contact, takes care of the ball, and has a nose for the ball on the defensive end that you don't see often. She's a kid who'll win you games if she gets a long enough leash to play significant minutes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->