AAU Newcomer of the Year: Taylor Johnson, So. Minn. Fury
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Last summer she was showing horses and winning prizes in the process. This summer she was turning heads and raising expectations along the way. She is Taylor Johnson Taylor Johnson 6'3" | PF Cannon Falls | 2023 State MN of…
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Continue ReadingLast summer she was showing horses and winning prizes in the process. This summer she was turning heads and raising expectations along the way. She is Taylor Johnson Taylor Johnson 6'3" | PF Cannon Falls | 2023 State MN of Cannon Falls, and now she is the Prep Girls Hoops AAU Newcomer of the Year. The big forward from the Southern Minnesota Fury made the most of her first year of AAU basketball by demonstrating dramatic improvement from beginning to end and vaulting into the consciousness of college coaches at multiple levels. Standing 6’2, with a 6’6 wingspan and a 3.8 GPA, Johnson is an attractive scholarship-level prospect to say the least.
Newcomer of the Year is an interesting category among our Prep Girls Hoops AAU post-season awards. The criteria is a little gray, given that we considered any player who hadn’t played AAU before, players who had played a little AAU but only on a low-profile independent team, and any player in the Class of 2025 who had yet to make a splash in high school basketball. As a result we ended up with three late bloomers in the Class of 2023 and three impactful 8th graders in the Class of 2025. Here they are.
Taylor Johnson Taylor Johnson 6'3" | PF Cannon Falls | 2023 State MN – 2023 forward, So. Minnesota Fury (Cannon Falls)
Taylor caught our attention at one of the first tournaments of the year when the then-sophomore showed up on the roster of the 2023 Southern Minnesota Fury. It’s hard to miss a 6’2 power forward. Players with those dimensions grab everyone’s attention, from opposing coaches and players to college coaches, as well as PGH scouts. To be honest, there wasn’t much to get excited about that first time we watched Johnson play. She was a little awkward, struggled against seasoned veterans whose brains often got the best of her brawn, and was obviously inexperienced at this level. By summer’s end Taylor was a completely different player.
It took some time – that’s understandable given that her previous experience was garnered in a relatively weak high school program – but Taylor turned herself into a scholarship-level prospect in a matter of weeks. Her ball handling improved significantly as did her footwork. She became a consistent mid-range shooter. Her rebounding was a huge factor in the Fury’s success. When we updated the Prep Girls Hoops prospect rankings in June, Johnson landed at #75. Since that time she has done more than enough to earn a substantial promotion which will surely happen when we refresh the ratings this fall. It has been a busy few weeks for Johnson since the AAU season ended as she has been wooed by all of the major AAU programs in hopes of landing her services for the 2022 season. That speaks volumes about her progress and makes it obvious that she deserves to be the Newcomer of the Year.
RUNNER-UP
Avery Koenen Avery Koenen 6'3" | SF Montevideo | 2023 State MN – 2023 forward/guard, Pentagon (Montevideo)
Avery entered the spring/summer season as a name we had heard, but a player about whom we knew almost nothing. She left as a D1/D2 prospect who had made college coaches stand up and take notice during June and July. Koenen first appeared in these parts in the uniform of the West Central Wildcats, playing a couple of events on remote courts in relative anonymity. It was our friend Reggie Becker, a highly regarded scout from Michigan who is a fixture at Minnesota AAU events, who first offered us an in-depth analysis of Avery’s play. At that point we took a closer look and, as usual, it turned out that Reggie was right.
Koenen did enough to earn the #54 ranking in June, making one of the highest debuts we have seen since the rating of Minnesota players began. She returned at the North Tartan Meltdown with the Pentagon Schoolers out of Sioux Falls and turned in some dominant performances. Koenen just looks like a D1 player, with a ton of length and the type of physical dimensions college recruiters crave. And she’s got skills and athleticism, too. The 6-foot forward from Montevideo showed us enough this summer to prove that her first ranking was no fluke and that she is a player who is headed for bigger and better things in the months ahead.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Tori Miller Tori Miller 5'10" | SF Goodhue | 2023 State MN – 2023 forward, Minnesota Rise (Goodhue)
Tori is already heading into her junior year but, like Johnson, she had never before been a factor in AAU basketball., at least not that we had noticed Stepping out of the anonymity of the well-oiled Goodhue machine, Miller certainly made a big splash this summer. She set herself apart with strong performances week after week for Dustin Wright’s Minnesota Rise. Miller was a rebounding machine. She’s big and athletic. She runs the floor well at a high pace. Tori has a strong presence inside where she knows how to utilize her strength and length to maximum advantage. And she scored. A lot. Over the course of the season Tori improved, too, in her ball-handling and outside shooting. Did we mention she is a terrific teammate?
Abby Hoselton – 2025 forward, North Tartan Nike (St. Michael-Albertville)
I was in the gym for Abby’s first AAU practice ever back in the spring, and even she would admit it wasn’t exactly a work of art. Hoselton looked nervous and said almost nothing as she tried to figure out what North Tartan coach Ashley Ellis-Milan expected from her. It was the proverbial ‘deer in the headlights’ type of situation. By summer’s end she had made a ton of noise, banged a lot of bodies, grabbed more than her share of rebounds and scored the basketball on a consistent basis with double-doubles on her dance card on multiple occasions. Abby’s improvement was remarkable and, on a team loaded with star power, she had as much impact on their success as anyone else.
Regan Juenemann Regan Juenemann 5'9" | CG Duluth Marshall | 2025 State MN – 2025 guard, Starks Elite (Duluth Marshall)
We have written a ton about Regan and rightly so. This was her first season under the bright lights of high-level AAU ball and Juenemann shone brighter than most. Playing alongside our 2021 AAU Breakout Player of the Year Jordan Zubich Jordan Zubich 5'11" | SG Mountain Iron-Buhl | 2024 State MN of Mountain Iron-Buhl, Regan was a force despite playing two and three years up. She can handle the basketball, shoot lights out and distribute with aplomb. Regan is athletic, with very fast feet, excellent agility and that burst of speed that sets a guard apart and leaves defenders reeling. Among the most dynamic incoming freshmen in the state, Regan proved she is among the best 2025 prospects in Minnesota.
Gracie Winge – 2025 guard, Minnesota Heat (Lakeville North)
Bill Hinck’s 8th grade squad is one of the strongest teams we’ve seen out of the Minnesota Heat in some time and Gracie, along with guard Mya Karsten of Fridley and Anna Greene Anna Greene 6'0" | SF Mahtomedi | 2025 State MN of Mahtomedi, is one of the primary reasons why. The big guard from Lakeville was a force in practically every tournament the Heat played, and was usually either the leading scorer in their division or among the top point producers. She scores inside and outside, producing with a smooth shooting stroke and the ability to power her way through the obstacles to get to the rim. Winge (pronounced win-gee) has a big frame that bodes well for her future and is only going to get stronger. We haven’t ranked the 2025s yet but you can be sure that Gracie will be featured prominently when we do. She is going to be a high-level prospect in this class.