The AAU State Tournament: Stuff you need to know
With the State Prelims in the books, and the tournament seeds established, it’s time to get down to business at the 2024 AAU State Tournament. Play begins on Friday evening and continues through the weekend at multiple sites across the Twin Cities. With more than 300 teams competing in eight age groups spread over three divisions, it’s impossible to cover all of it. That’s why this weekend our focus will be on the 64 teams competing in the four high-school age groups – 2025s, 2026, 2027s and 2028s – in the Division 1 portion of the tournament.
We’ll be at Jefferson High School in Bloomington on Friday night for some terrific 8th grade encounters. We’ll be at the main tournament site – Shakopee High School – on Saturday and Sunday. That’s where the championships will be decided and the winners crowned on Sunday afternoon. A broad spectrum of teams are represented in the tournament but, as per usual, the major clubs dominate the lineup.
The Minnesota Stars have 11 teams in the four D1 brackets while North Tartan and the Minnesota Fury have nine each. The Metro Stars and MN Crossfire have five each while the Minnesota Rise and Legacy Hoops have four teams apiece. West Central United has just one team in the main event but they are the 3rd seed in the 8th grade division where Minnesota Freeze scored the #10 seed. Likewise, the E1T1 Queens earned the #4 seed among the 2027s while MN Impact grabbed #10.
5 GAMES TO SEE FRIDAY NIGHT
We love picking out some of the top games to watch at every AAU tournament. This weekend that’s kind of difficult to do beyond Friday night’s opening contests. Because it’s a bracket tournament, we don’t know who’ll be playing who on Saturday and Sunday. We do know there are some nice match-ups on Friday. Here are four to consider.
- 6:15 p.m. – #7 North Tartan 2027 Elite vs #10 MN Impact 2027 (Kennedy 6)
- 7:20 p.m. – #7 Metro Stars 2028 Makepeace vs #10 Minnesota Comets 2028 Boone (Jefferson 6)
- 8:25 p.m. – #6 Minnesota Rise 2028 Wright vs #11 Minnesota Stars 2028 DeSart (Jefferson 2)
- 8:25 p.m. – #7 Minnesota Suns 2025 S40 vs #10 Minnesota Rise 2025 Purfeerst (Kennedy 5)
CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY
All state championship finals will be played in Shakopee’s main gym (court 7) on Sunday afternoon
- 12:20 p.m. – 8th grade championship game (14U/2028)
- 1:25 p.m. – 9th grade championship game (15U/2027)
- 2:30 p.m. – 10th grade championship game (16U/2026)
- 3:35 p.m. – 11th grade championship game (17U/2025)
Here are the seeds in the Division 1 tournament for the four high school age groups.
11th GRADE – 2025 DIVISION
- North Tartan 2025 EYBL
- Minnesota Stars 2025 3SSB Hersch
- Minnesota Fury 2025 UAA
- Minnesota Fury 2025 S40
- Metro Stars 2025 3SSB Pryor
- Minnesota Stars 2025 Peterson
- Minnesota Suns 2025 S40
- MN Crossfire 2025 Tusler
- North Tartan 2025 Elite
- Minnesota Rise 2025 Purfeerst
- Minnesota Heat 2025 Hinck
- Real Phenom 2025 S40
- Legacy Hoops 2025 Elite
- High Impact 2025
- Minnesota Comets 2025 Elite
- FBC North 2025 S40/Puma
Link to the 11th grade bracket:
10TH GRADE– 2026 DIVISION
- North Tartan 2026 EYBL
- Minnesota Stars 2026 3SSB Hill
- Metro Stars 2026 3SSB Wiese
- North Tartan 2026 Elite
- Minnesota Fury 2026 UAA
- Minnesota Stars 2026 NIlsen
- Minnesota Rise 2026 Wolfe
- Minnesota Fury 2026 S40
- Minnesota Starks 2026 Carpenter
- MN Crossfire 2026 Elite
- North Tartan 2026 SE
- Legacy Hoops 2026 Elite
- Minnesota Suns 2026 S40
- Minnesota Stars 2026 Miller
- Metro Stars 2026 Edwards
- MN Crossfire 2026 Locke
Link to the 10th grade bracket:
9TH GRADE – 2027 DIVISION
- North Tartan 2027 EYBL
- Minnesota Stars 2027 3SSB Antl
- Minnesota Fury 2027 UAA
- E1T1 Queens 2027
- Minnesota Rise 2027 Busse
- Minnesota Comets 2027 Hoelscher
- North Tartan 2027 Elite
- Legacy Hoops 2027 Elite
- Minnesota Stars 2027 Lindahl
- MN Impact 2027
- Minnesota Fury 2027 S40
- Minnesota Stars 2027 Antl/Zabel
- Metro Stars 2027 Szabla
- MN Crossfire 2027 Stern
- Minnesota Freeze 2027
- Legacy Hoops 2027 East Gold
Link to the 9th grade bracket:
8TH GRADE – 2028 DIVISION
- Minnesota Fury 2028 UAA
- North Tartan 2028 Nike
- West Central United 2028 Blue
- MN Crossfire 2028 Herman
- Minnesota Stars 2028 OU
- Minnesota Rise 2028 Wright
- Metro Stars 2028 Makepeace
- Minnesota Freeze 2028
- Minnesota Stars 2028 Hobbs
- Minnesota Comets 2028 Boone
- Minnesota Stars 2028 DeSart
- MN Dynasty 2028
- Southern Minnesota Fury 2028
- Minnesota Fury 2028 Yellow
- North Tartan 2028 Elite
- Minnesota Suns 2028 Rising Blue Star
Link to the 8th grade bracket: