2026 Player Rankings Update: Stock-Risers

To be a, “Stock-Riser”, means a few things depending on how you look at it but the most important factor in my opinion is that the prospect is continuously putting in meaningful work in their off-time and that work is translating to the floor in real game-time. In this piece, we cover five individuals out of this 2026 Class in Nebraska, that have embodied what it means to be a Stock-Riser these past few months.   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!    [player_tooltip player_id='654776' first='Lauren' last='Carlsen'] has been a consistent stock-riser over her high school career. Now as a Senior, Carlsen is a solid recruit on the hardwood because she is reliable. You know exactly what you are going to get out of her. Offensively, she is someone that can dominate her matchup with her mixture of size and athletic ability. She can finish over anyone that maybe smaller near the bucket and she has slowly started to expand her game out to the perimeter more often. Defensively, she can wall up for stops with her body under the basket or she can switch and stick onto someone smaller. Overall, there is a lot to like about Carlsen. She is someone a coach can trust in big moments and that goes a long way.     Gothenburg is going to see ample success this Winter because of their personal on roster and the competition they will have to face-off against. One of their talented CG's, who has recently committed to play college ball following this Winter, is [player_tooltip player_id='1310024' first='Halsey' last='Thomalla']. Thomalla has great size for her position at 5'11, she moves well with that size, and she is versatile because of the combination of those two factors. She is someone that mainly works off of the Wing as the 2 but she can move over to the 3 when her group has a smaller lineup out on the floor. Gothenburg also has a stud PG on their team so as long as these two can play together, the sky is the limit. In this Player Rankings Update, Thomalla drops into our Top 75 in the 2026 Class for the first time at #31.     [player_tooltip player_id='896235' first='Zoey' last='Howard'] is an intriguing prospect that drops into out Rankings in this Update. Howard competes as a Forward more than anything else but she also possesses the ability to step out, screen, and pop for a three pointer if the defense is being lazy. Howard's game and future success relies on her confidence. When she is competing with confidence and adequate direction, she makes some things eye-opening things happen. She has good touch, size, and coordination - she just needs to keep working. I'm not sure if she has aspirations to compete at the next level in any facet but I'm sure there are some programs out there that would give her a chance within the right circumstances.     [player_tooltip player_id='758839' first='Ella' last='Schluterbusch'] of Bridgeport High School has started out this Winter by making a lot of buckets from deep for her squad. Schluterbusch is a fast-twitch PG with good instincts. She has solid vision within the half-court and she can light the nets on fire from deep when the ball is rotated back to her within her team's offense. Not to mention, she is a pest on defense. Which is something you have to be if you want to be impactful as an undersized Guard in today's game. I expect Bridgeport to do their usual thing and go nearly undefeated during the regular season this Winter but once we get to the Playoff's is when it gets really interesting. If they want to beat some of the top teams in their Class, they are going to need 3-4 prospects to play really well, Schluterbusch included.     Sometimes it can be tough to standout when you have a talented roster around you but stay consistent, play your role, and don't turnover the ball and that should lead to some sort of opportunities. This is the situations we have with PG - [player_tooltip player_id='1326440' first='Reese' last='Almquist'] and Bennington High School this Winter. Bennington is loaded at the Guard spot but Almquist knows what she does that and she uses that to her advantage. She stays in her lane, creates off the dribble as a facilitator first, while playing better than average defense. Bennington is going to have a chance to make a run come Playoff time and when that happens it'll be all hands on deck so I'm excited to see how Almquist show out. For now though, she falls into the #64 spot in this Update.

To be a, “Stock-Riser”, means a few things depending on how you look at it but the most important factor in my opinion is that the prospect is continuously putting in meaningful work in their off-time and that work is translating to the floor in real game-time. In this piece, we cover five individuals out of this 2026 Class in Nebraska, that have embodied what it means to be a Stock-Riser these past few months.