Class A: Leaders Returning With Quick Hands & Fast Feet

Class A is the biggest Class throughout the State of Nebraska. In this piece, we highlight five prospects returning to the Varsity floor this Winter that put up major numbers in the Steals Per Game category during their 2023-2024 season. Each player is someone that with their combination of quick hands and fast feet, they have proven that they will always thrive on the defensive side of things and that will always translate to the next level.   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!    The dynamic around the Lincoln North Star High School program is going to be an interesting one this next couple of seasons. By all of my accounts, with their roster, coaching, and what they did a year ago, they should put up a great regular season record but from there, anything is happening. One of their most prominent prospects from a year ago, that will be returning to help the charge is Guard, [player_tooltip player_id='756006' first='Ani' last='Leu']. Leu comes in at 6'0, she is a leader with the ball in her possession offensively, while being a go-getter on defense. Last season she averaged a high number of SPG for her Class A competition level and I think that is going to be the case once again this upcoming season. She is going to have a commanding spot on her team's offense and defense so it'll really just come down to how motivated she is. Leu is still currently uncommitted so I'm sure it'll still be full effort moving forward in attempts to lock in her future, sooner rather than later.     McKenzie James of Westview High School may be on the WL for her 2026 Class but don't get it twisted, James is as good as they come defensively as she guards her position and she also demonstrates a solid mixture of a quick handle and athletic ability as well. James finished off her Sophomore season with Westview averaging just over 3 Steals Per Game. This number ranked her in the Top 3 in the state of Nebraska in Class A prospects, returning from a year ago. I think this is a prospect that is thoroughly underrated. Over the next two years she should pick up some offers from the collegiate level on this pace, she just needs to keep it rolling.     One of the younger prospects in this article, that was a Top SPG leader in Class A last season was [player_tooltip player_id='817149' first='Gabby' last='Kilgore'] of Buena Vista High School. Kilgore is a SG out of the 2027 Class and as a Freshman she averaged 8.1 PPG, 3 RPG, 1.1 APG, and 2.7 SPG. Some pretty respectable numbers when you consider that she is competing in the biggest Class in the State and it was only her first season at the Varsity level. As long as Kilgore can keep up some similar production and she expand her game over the next few years, she will end up as one of the top producers in her 2027 Class throughout the state. No doubt about it.     You can tell by her bio on her social media, her videos on whatever sports team she is playing off, and her numbers in every sport that Jenna McClain of Fremont High School is an athletic beast for her size and position on the basketball court at 5'7. McClain not only plays basketball but Softball and Soccer as well, demonstrating her natural athletic ability in almost everything she does. On the Soccer field, she moves around to a bunch of different spots and in Softball her main position is at the Short Stop position, where you have to be quick on your feet to make some important plays. It'll be fun to see what Fremont can do this Winter. They bring back producers from years past so it should be another big step forward for this Varsity group over the next eight months.     Bella Lucero-Miner falls into the category of player in my opinion that is a "Swiss-army" knife-type. She does a lot of good things on the floor and she can be moved around, depending who else is on the court around her in that specific moment. Returning this season at Millard South and their group is going to have a year-to-remember if they do things correctly. They had a solid season as a whole last Winter and they return a lot of prospects that put in work this off-season, Miner being one of them.

Class A is the biggest Class throughout the State of Nebraska. In this piece, we highlight five prospects returning to the Varsity floor this Winter that put up major numbers in the Steals Per Game category during their 2023-2024 season. Each player is someone that with their combination of quick hands and fast feet, they have proven that they will always thrive on the defensive side of things and that will always translate to the next level.