NJ Soldiers’ 16U Team is Stocked With Jersey Shore Talent
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The AAU season is still relatively early on as of right now, with tournaments having gone on over the past month or so. New Jersey is rich with talent, especially at the AAU level. This includes the NJ Soldiers, based…
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Continue ReadingThe AAU season is still relatively early on as of right now, with tournaments having gone on over the past month or so. New Jersey is rich with talent, especially at the AAU level. This includes the NJ Soldiers, based in the southern part of the Jersey Shore, who have two solid rosters of talent. Their 16U team has several PGH NJ ranked players and more up-and-coming stars. Here’s a quick look at some of the prospects you’ll see this summer.
Ava Vogdes – 5-11 C, Wildwood Catholic (2024)
From where she was as a freshman to now, Vogdes has found a great deal of confidence for the Crusaders and is trending to become a double-double player. Her best performance was one we saw over at Eastern Regional, a 19-point, 18-rebound day against Delran. Watching her more than once, you can see just how much confidence she shows, and she’s most definitely a top forward in the region. Her physical presence is formidable and her rebounding is aggressive. We’re very encouraged by her progress thus far.
Ella McCabe – 5-10 F, Wildwood Catholic (2024)
McCabe is an excellent perimeter shooter and should be one of the better three-point shooters down the shore come next season. Her release is quick and effortless. Her motion is smooth overall and she’s one to step into a three if she’s feeling it at the time. McCabe is not afraid to shoot from distance, but doesn’t need to force up a shot whenever she gets a touch on the ball. That’s a credit to her patience, but her controlled aggression for WC. She should be easily knocking down a few three-pointers a game by the end of her high school career.
Madelynn Bernhardt Madelynn Bernhardt 5'7" | SF Our Lady Of Mercy | 2024 State NJ – 5-6 G, Our Lady of Mercy (2024)
From one big time shooter to another, we go over to Bernhardt, arguably the best player on OLM right now and one of the leaders of this NJ Soldiers 16U squad. What a shooter she’s become in just two years and what a scorer as well. She commands the floor with confidence and maturity, something that’s usually seen from players a year or two above her. That’s the level she’s currently playing at, an elite level where she’ll create offense and come up in the clutch, or back down an opponent on defense to get a stop.
Jada Elston Jada Elston 5'8" | SG Middle Township | 2023 State NJ – 5-8 G, Middle Township (2023)
Bernhardt and Elston are very similar players, given that both saw a meteoric rise in their play and both are excellent three-point shooters. However, there’s few scorers in the Cape Atlantic League that are as gifted pure scorers as Elston is. Putting up 17 points a game while knocking down two threes is flat-out dominance. While she can definitely shoot, you’re looking at an experienced free throw shooter someone who knows how to draw fouls. Every time she steps on the floor, she just puts on an absolute clinic, there’s no other way to put it.