Under Armour Monday: 17U Standouts

The featured image is a throwback from 2022 of [player_tooltip player_id='486508' first='Mollie' last='Ernstes'] (2026) of Jennings County H.S. and WV Thunder-Riego.   Monday morning, I made my way to Westfield, Indiana, for the GUAA and UA Rise Session at the Pacers Athletic Center. In just six hours, I was able to see full halves of 10 different teams with Indiana prospects onboard. Below is a look at seven ladies who stood out to me when watching the 17U divisions of each tournament.   .    After missing a great deal of time due to injuries, Precious returned this Winter to give Cathedral a boost. This Spring & Summer, she has improved each weekend and is turning into a highly productive point guard prospect. She is strong for her size, quick, fast, and explosive, plus she plays with a motor. She is known primarily as an elite defender, but she has improved her handle, her awareness, and her perimeter jump-shot significantly.     College coaches are starting to see what we've known for a couple of years now, and that's Mollie's ability to bury shot after shot almost effortlessly. She is a long, fluidly athletic, and smooth wing guard. She can handle it a little and create off the bounce, but it's her ability to make shots at all three levels offensively that stands out. She also uses her length productively at the defensive end of the floor, where she can defend on or off the ball equally well.     Monday was my first time seeing Emily in a year. She has gotten noticeably stronger, and she fills her role on the wing for her travel team as a dangerous perimeter shooter. She still handles, creates, and passes quite a bit for her high school team, but her niche in the Spring & Summer...and potentially for the next level...is as a perimeter threat who can break up zones. She plays with a nice motor, she will be physical inside the arc, and she will rebound.     Brooklynn has been a highly recruited talent for quite some time, and now she's one of the top uncommitted kids in the Midwest. She is sooo long, wiry-strong, fluidly athletic, and bouncy. But what she has done each year to expand her game and become more of a perimeter scoring threat at her size is impressive. Whether she's a '3' in a big lineup or a face-up '4', she can knock down the 3-pointer and put it on the floor to attack equally well.     Laniah is one of the more intriguing athletes in the 2026 class who few people know much about. She has a long, wiry-strong frame, nice speed, and some bounce. She has a decent handle in transition and can push the ball, plus she can knock down a rhythm jumper. Learning to change speeds and understanding situations will be the next key for her. I also like her potential to become a versatile defender who can take on guards, wings, and forwards.     Adah has really impressed me with her growth as a player over the past year. She has always been bigger and stronger than many of her peers, but now she's using that, combined with improved footwork and good hands, to out-execute defenders on the low block. She has also shot the ball well facing the basket to the 3-point line. The next step is going to be building more balance and versatility out on the floor at the defensive end, especially vs. ball screens.     Satyra is a strong-for-her-size, tough-nosed, hard-working, ball of energy on the floor. She has solid ball skill, the ability to create and facilitate, but she is also a multilevel scorer who can bury a 3-pointer or get to the basket and finish in traffic. Learning to change speeds could be huge for her offensive game. Defensively, she is solid but will gamble for steals at times, but when locked in, she has the physical ability to be a lockdown on-ball defender.

The featured image is a throwback from 2022 of Mollie Ernstes Mollie Ernstes 5'11" | SG Jennings County | 2026 State IN (2026) of Jennings County H.S. and WV Thunder-Riego.