10 games to watch at the AAU State Prelims

Minnesota’s AAU teams have been bouncing across the country for the past few weeks competiting in tournaments from one end of America to the other. This weekend and next, however, they’ll all be in the Twin Cities chasing an AAU state championship. The first phase of that quest – the AAU State Prelims – begins Friday evening to kick off the event which will be held through Sunday at six locations. The tournament is open to teams based in Minnesota as well as those from the Fargo-Moorhead and Duluth-Superior metropolitan areas. The field for the event is enormous. We’ll be covering the Classes of 2028 through 2025 which include a total of 189 teams in four grades.

HOW IT ALL WORKS

Seeds were assigned at a meeting of club directors last week. Top seeds were placed into “Super Pools” where they will play each other to determine the seeding for the D1 State Championship Tournament. Other teams are put into the remaining pools where they will compete this weekend to earn entry into either the D1, D2 or D3 State Championships, based on their pool results.

The philosophy behind this format is to keep games competitive for all of the teams involved. The seeds from the Prelims are then used to bracket the teams for the State Championships May 10-12. Even if they have undergone substantial roster changes over the past 12 months, the top six teams from last year’s State Championships in each grade are automatically locked into those spots in 2024. Two at-large selections are also among the eight squads represented.

10 GREAT GAMES THIS WEEKEND

State Tournament weekend is when the stars come out. We’ve spent most of the spring so far looking for new talent. The next two weekends are all about watching the best of the best – the players who have made Division 1 commitments, those with scholarship offers, and others trending in the same direction. Realistically, their teams are the ones with a legitimate chance to win it all. The biggest clubs, of course, have a realistic shot in every division and a good number of teams from Minnesota Fury . North Tartan , the Minnesota Stars and Metro Stars could take home the hardware.

The simplest way to see the most quality teams is to park yourself on courts 1 and 2 at Bloomington Kennedy, but that’s not the only location you’ll be able to watch great basketball. If you aren’t sure which teams to see, here’s a suggested list of games to watch on Friday and Saturday. Keep in mind that schedules do change. Please refer to the Tournament Depot app for the latest information.

Friday

Saturday

POTENTIAL SLEEPERS

Every year we see a team or two pull off a big upset, and every class has those teams with rosters that might not be quite as loaded but are capable of knocking off a more prominent team. That’s one aspect of this tournament that makes it so interesting. Just for fun we selected one team from each class that could be poised to exceed expectations.

Minnesota Rise 2025 Purfeerst

Coached by Emma Purfeerst of Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, this edition of the Rise earned the 9th seed in the 11th grade division. Like most Rise squads, this team is made up primarily of small-school athletes who know what it takes to perform under pressure. The team includes recent Division 1 commit Clarissa Sauer Clarissa Sauer 5'9" | CG Winona Cotter | 2025 State MN of Winona Cotter, a top 40 prospect who verballed to Eastern Illinois. Other highly-rated prospects on the squad include #41 Ava Olson Ava Olson 6'2" | PF Owatonna | 2025 State MN of Owatonna, #44 Annika Southworth Annika Southworth 5'8" | PG St. Peter | 2025 State MN of St. Peter, #52 Rylie Cother Rylie Cother 5'9" | CG Jackson Cty Central | 2025 State MN of Jackson County Central and #59 Madelyn Malmgren Madelyn Malmgren 6'0" | PF St. James | 2025 State MN of St. James. They begin play at 8:30 a.m. Saturday versus Northern Lights Johnson on Kennedy court 5.

North Tartan SE 2026

We watched the NTSE sophomores from Southeastern Minnesota 10 days ago and they were very impressive. This is a defense-first unit coached by Jason Bonde, who led Rochester Community and Technical College to the JUCO national championship. The 11th seeds in 10th grade are using the swarming MSU-Mankato style of defense and they are having a ton of fun doing it. When kids buy into defense look out. Sniper Aubrie Klug Aubrie Klug 5'9" | CG Caledonia | 2026 State MN of Caledonia has been positively lighting up the scoreboard while Rochester Lourdes standout Lauren Hust Lauren Hust 6'0" | PF Rochester Lourdes | 2026 State MN has been great at both ends of the floor. We were impressed by Wisconsin import Charley Casey along with Owatonna’s Jessica Fisher Jessica Fisher 6'2" | SF Owatonna | 2026 State MN and Mya Jacobson Mya Jacobson 5'10" | PF Rochester Century | 2026 State MN of Rochester Century. NTSE’s first game is Saturday at 12:50 p.m. against Minnesota Heat Lynch on court 3 at Bloomington Jefferson.

Metro Stars 2027 Szabla

This team has undergone a complete makeover and the 9th graders under the direction of our reigning Prep Girls Hoops AAU Coach of the Year Leah Szabla are starting to figure it out. The North Central University coach has recruited a solid group led by the backcourt duo of Aaliyah Williams Aaliyah Williams 5'5" | PG Rochester Lourdes | 2027 State MN of Rochester Lourdes and Gigi Coleman Gigi Coleman 5'8" | CG Minnehaha Academy | 2027 State MN of Southwest Christian. They have plenty of length up front courtesy of Cara Sarbacker from Christ’s Household of Faith in St. Paul and Caroline Sonstegard Caroline Sonstegard 6'0" | SF Minnehaha Academy | 2027 State MN of Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis. Athletic two-way guards Ava Brynteson Ava Brynteson 5'11" | CG Prior Lake | 2027 State MN (Prior Lake) and Lauren Santy Lauren Santy 5'9" | CG Eden Prairie | 2027 State MN (Eden Prairie) are key pieces. Seeded 13th in 9th grade, this group could pull off some surprises over the next two weeks. Their first game is Saturday at 5:10 p.m. in Chanhassen against Minnesota Rise Heiderscheidt.

Minnesota Comets 2028 Boone

If you read our coverage of the recent Spring Showdown tournament then you already know about the talented trio leading the way for coach Jazmen Boone, the former William and Mary D1 standout who is doing an outstanding job with the Comets top 8th graders. Guard Annabelle Gothmann Annabelle Gothmann 5'10" | CG Milaca | 2028 State MN of Milaca and forwards Izzy Johnson of Elk River and Brianna Eggers Brianna Eggers 6'2" | PF Buffalo | 2028 State MN of Buffalo are tough for most 2028 teams to match up with and have been doing the majority of the scoring and rebounding for the #10 seed. A balanced supporting cast includes talent from Elk River, Albany, Sartell, Andover and Rogers. They’ll open play on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. versus Minnesota Starks Lindquist on court 6 in Chanhassen.

Here’s a link to the compete schedule for the State Prelims:

https://tournamentdepot.com/tournament/#!/T/Tournament0000000395