AAU Week #8: Making a great first impression

First impressions matter, especially when the target audience is one you dearly want to influence in a positive way. It’s hard to imagine that any 12-year-old basketball player could make a better impression in her first significant appearance in front of Division 1 coaches than made at the Lake Slam this weekend in Bloomington. Playing 5 years up in the top 17U division, the 6th grader from Duluth left an indelible mark. Chloe’s performance leads the way in our recap of AAU Week #8. INFLUENCING THE AUDIENCE If last week’s AAU State Championship was all about teams trying to win rings against the best in the state, the Lake Slam was one big exhibition contest where individuals had the opportunity to make the right impression on the gathered contingent of D1 coaches from across the country. It wasn’t the biggest of the live period events that took place coast to coast, but the Lake Slam drew a respectable crowd of college coaches from a variety of programs. Head coach JR Payne from Colorado was on hand as were representatives of Iowa and Kansas. New Minnesota assistant Marwan Miller joined Shimmy Gray-Miller in representing the Gophers. Among the regional D1s in attendance were Drake, South Dakota, South Dakota State, North Dakota, North Dakota State and St. Thomas. Lafayette of Pennsylvania was there along with the likes of Illinois State and Xavier. Blake Dudonis returned to the state on behalf of his new employer, Fairfield University of Connecticut. We spent a good portion of the weekend networking with coaches to gather their impressions on certain Minnesota players and offer our insight. It was Johnson who had us all buzzing. Ironically, the Minnesota Suns/Starks Academy 17U roster wasn’t included in the information book provided to coaches so a good portion of those assembled didn’t know Johnson (top photo left) was a 2028 until after they had seen her play. They certainly couldn’t have known from watching. She fit right in playing with kids five and six years older. At times Chloe was the best player on the floor. She made two plays in particular that really stood out. The first took place in the final 30 seconds of the Starks versus Minnesota Rise Wolfe encounter on Saturday with the Rise leading by one. That’s when Johnson used her length and athleticism to snag a steal at midcourt, sprinted to the basket at a high rate of speed and scored on an and-1. She made the free throw and a technical foul shot immediately thereafter to give her team a 52-49 victory. Some 24 hours later Johnson faced Minnesota Fury 2023 UAA, a highly-decorated unit that currently includes eight Division 1 commits. That’s right, a 6th grader going about her business against 8 Division 1 seniors-to-be. Johnson went head to head in portions of the game with Colorado signee , who is as good a point guard as you’ll find in these parts. Chloe more than held her own. Although the Starks squad fell by 9, Johnson had the ooh-and-aah moment of the game when she went end to end and dusted her defender with a stunning move that club director/coach Dyami Starks termed a ’crossover swing step with overhead pickup.’ I had no idea what to call it! Whatever terminology you choose, it had the crowd and assembled coaches buzzing and was, by anyone’s standards, a thing of beauty. Johnson wasn’t the only member of the Suns/Starks amalgamation that performed well over the weekend. of Duluth East, a Top 60 prospect in the Class of 2023, showed off the many improvements she has made to her game in the past 12 months. Guenther (top photo right) is leaner, quicker and more agile than before, and her decision making has gotten so much better. Guenther holds Division 2 offers and has interest from D1s, as well. Junior Tieryn Plasch of Wisconsin is an outstanding point guard who also holds D2 offers. Athletic guard of Duluth Marshall is the #13 prospect in the Class of 2025. Among the other strong prospects is 2024 #60 of Grand Rapids, 2025s of Cass Lake-Bena and Jaiden Haile from North Dakota, along with 2023s Hope Carlson of Proctor and of Duluth East. Kudos to Coach Starks, who is doing his best to accelerate the growth of high-level basketball in the Northland. PAC 12 Freshman of the Year Gianna Kneepkens of the University of Utah is testament to those efforts as is the play of Brown University freshman Grace Kirk and a lengthy list of youngsters on the rise. After this weekend’s coming out party for Johnson, there can be no doubt that this crew is going to be in the spotlight for a long time to come. Have a look at Chloe’s weekend highlights on Hudl. ON THE RISE

Gabi Kirchner Gabi Kirchner 6'3" | PF Two Rivers | 2024 State MN – 2024 forward, Minnesota Stars Zabel Standing about 6’3, it’s hard to miss Gabi on the court. In spite of her prodigious length and height, however, Kirchner has flown relatively under the radar to date. The sophomore from Two Rivers High School (the former Henry Sibley in Mendota Heights) has really improved this year after averaging 11 points per game for the Warriors. She is reasonably athletic, can run the floor at pace, and moves pretty well for her size. Kirchner’s shot is improving as is her ability to finish consistently around the rim. She has also begun to play with more physical presence on defense. If those areas keep in getting better, Gabi will clearly have every opportunity to play at a high level in college. She helped Bri Zabel’s Stars team post a perfect 4-0 record at the Lake Slam. THE UNBEATENS In addition to Stars Zabel, there were another 10 teams that went unbeaten at the event including Minnesota Fury 2023 UAA and Premier; North Tartan 2025 Nike and Smart, and 2026 Elite; Minnesota Rise 2024 Schultz and 2025 Hulke; and Crossfire 2025 Tusler and 2023 Goodman. Minnesota Heat Gustafson 2023 had another strong tournament as well and had a ton of D2 and D3 coaches watching the likes of , Marina Lafreniere, and Breanna Goerish do their thing along with , who had yet another big scoring weekend. TOP POINT PRODUCERS Speaking of scorers, of Minnesota Rise 2023 Busse was at it again this weekend. A couple of tournaments ago she put up an unbelievable 10 three-point baskets in a single game. Saturday she was on fire again, cashing in for nine triples and 32 points against the Wisconsin Playmakers. For the weekend the Hutchinson guard had 17 threes and 71 points. It was Maya Meisinger of 43 Hoops 9th Blue who topped all scorers this weekend, though. The 5’10 freshman from Eagan had 83 points. of Fury 2023 Premier led the top Platinum Division with 64 points. The Chaska senior-to-be is ranked #33 in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023 and has verballed to the University of Mary in North Dakota. Meanwhile of Maple River had 61 points to top the 10th Blue Division and lead Rise Schultz to a perfect mark. Liz Lukken of Underwood led her Division again this week with 57 points while Playmakers North Showcase had three players in the top 5 as Eva Peterson (Superior, WI), (Chisholm) and Svea Snickers (South Ridge) combined for 127. COMING UP THIS WEEK On Tuesday we’ll have our best stock risers from the Lake Slam. Later in the week the much-anticipated Class of 2026 Watch List will be released. And this weekend it’s the Prep Girls Hoops Circuit Legacy Region Finals at Wayzata. If you are looking for me on Thursday evening I’ll be on hand for an historic occasion for women’s sports in these parts as the Minnesota Aurora women’s soccer team makes its debut at the Minnesota Vikings training complex in Eagan. It’s not basketball but it’s no less important for the growth of girls and women’s sports in Minnesota.