AAU Awards: 2023 All Stars & Most Valuable Player
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Tessa Johnson Tessa Johnson 5'11" | SG St. Michael-Albertville | 2023 State #36 Nation MN is the #1-rated prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023. The North Tartan guard was also the highest-performing member of the incoming senior…
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Continue ReadingTessa Johnson Tessa Johnson 5'11" | SG St. Michael-Albertville | 2023 State #36 Nation MN is the #1-rated prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023. The North Tartan guard was also the highest-performing member of the incoming senior class during this summer’s AAU season. We can’t state it any more simply than that. It was just 10 days ago, after all, when we announced our updated rankings for the 2023s. We went into great detail then about why Johnson is still our top prospect. She just does so much so very well. We’ll spare you a repeat of that article (Read it here if you’d like) except to say that the 5’11 phenom from St. Michael-Albertville was one of the very best performers in the country on this summer’s Nike EYBL Circuit. After missing nearly a year with a broken femur, Johnson returned to form very quickly and is now the most sought-after senior recruit in the state with scholarship offers from the best of the best in college basketball.
Johnson wasn’t the only member of Gerard Coury’s North Tartan EYBL squad to shine this summer. It was a coin toss between newcomer Taylor Woodson Taylor Woodson 6'0" | PF Hopkins | 2023 State #28 Nation MN of Hopkins and Minnesota commit Kennedy Klick Kennedy Klick 6'0" | CG Maple Grove | 2023 State MN of Maple Grove for a place on the First Team. We chose Klick and put Woodson on the second squad where she is joined by another North Tartan standout in Molly Lenz Molly Lenz 5'8" | CG Eden Prairie | 2023 State MN of Eden Prairie. Nunu Agara Nunu Agara 6'1" | PF Hopkins | 2023 State #32 Nation MN is the fifth member of the First Team. She missed a couple of tournaments with the Metro Stars because of her commitments with Team USA but when Nunu played she was as great as one would expect.
The other members of the First Team All Stars are two long-time leaders of their respective squads who have distinguished themselves over the past several seasons – Colorado commit Kennedy Sanders Kennedy Sanders 5'8" | CG Chaska | 2023 State MN of Chaska and Grand Rapids guard Taryn Hamling Taryn Hamling 5'9" | PG Grand Rapids | 2023 State MN , who is heading for North Dakota State. And let’s give a special shoutout to three of the most improved players in the senior class who each earned an All-Star selection: Ashlynne Guenther Ashlynne Guenther 5'11" | SF Duluth East | 2023 State MN of Duluth East (Starks Elite), Macaya Copeland Macaya Copeland 5'4" | CG Hopkins | 2023 State MN of Hopkins (43 Hoops) and Abigail O’Reilly Abigail O’Reilly 6'1" | PF PEM | 2023 State MN of Plainview-Elgin-Millville.
Here is the complete All Star lineup for the Class of 2023:
FIRST TEAM
- Tessa Johnson Tessa Johnson 5'11" | SG St. Michael-Albertville | 2023 State #36 Nation MN – guard, North Tartan EYBL (St. Michael-Albertville)
- Nunu Agara Nunu Agara 6'1" | PF Hopkins | 2023 State #32 Nation MN – forward, Metro Stars Pryor (Hopkins) (Stanford)
- Taryn Hamling Taryn Hamling 5'9" | PG Grand Rapids | 2023 State MN – guard, Minnesota Stars Hersch (Grand Rapids) (NDSU)
- Kennedy Klick Kennedy Klick 6'0" | CG Maple Grove | 2023 State MN – guard, North Tartan EYBL (Maple Grove) (Minnesota)
- Kennedy Sanders Kennedy Sanders 5'8" | CG Chaska | 2023 State MN – guard, Minnesota Fury UAA (Chaska) (Colorado)
SECOND TEAM
- Ashlynne Guenther Ashlynne Guenther 5'11" | SF Duluth East | 2023 State MN – guard, Starks Elite (Duluth East) (Bemidji State)
- Molly Lenz Molly Lenz 5'8" | CG Eden Prairie | 2023 State MN – guard, North Tartan EYBL (Eden Prairie) (Illinois State)
- Anna Lenzen Anna Lenzen 5'9" | CG Chaska | 2023 State MN – guard, Minnesota Fury Premier (Chaska) (Mary)
- Aby Shubert Aby Shubert 5'8" | CG Kasson-Mant. | 2023 State MN – guard, Minnesota Fury UAA (Kasson-Mantorville) (Xavier)
- Taylor Woodson Taylor Woodson 6'0" | PF Hopkins | 2023 State #28 Nation MN – forward, North Tartan EYBL (Hopkins) (Michigan)
THIRD TEAM
- Piper Carlson Piper Carlson 5'11" | SF St. Michael-Albertville | 2023 State MN – forward, Metro Stars Wiese (St. Michael-Albertville)
- Emily Christenson Emily Christenson 5'11" | SF East Ridge | 2023 State MN – guard, Minnesota Stars Hersch (East Ridge)
- Clara Glad Clara Glad 6'0" | SF Rogers | 2023 State MN – forward, North Tartan EYBL (Rogers) (UC-Davis)
- Audrey Kormann Audrey Kormann 6'2" | PF Maple Grove | 2023 State MN – forward, Metro Stars Weise (Maple Grove) (NJIT)
- Brynn Senden Brynn Senden 5'6" | PG Wayzata | 2023 State MN – guard, Minnesota Stars Hersch (Wayzata) (Minnesota)
HONORABLE MENTION
- Kelly Boyle Kelly Boyle 5'7" | CG Hopkins | 2023 State MN – guard, Metro Stars Pryor (Hopkins)
- Ayla Brown Ayla Brown 5'6" | SG Becker | 2023 State MN – guard, Minnesota Comets Elite (Becker) (Sioux Falls)
- Macaya Copeland Macaya Copeland 5'4" | CG Hopkins | 2023 State MN – guard, 43 Hoops (Hopkins)
- Avery Koenen Avery Koenen 6'3" | SF Montevideo | 2023 State MN – forward, West Central Wildcats (Montevideo) (NDSU)
- Dani Nuest Dani Nuest 5'6" | CG Becker | 2023 State MN – guard, Minnesota Comets Elite (Becker) (Michigan Tech)
- Nicole O’Neil Nicole O’Neil 5'10" | SG Rosemount | 2023 State MN – guard, Minnesota Fury Premier (Rosemount)
- Abigail O’Reilly Abigail O’Reilly 6'1" | PF PEM | 2023 State MN – forward, Minnesota Rise Wolfe (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) (St. Cloud State)
- Vanessa Saidu Vanessa Saidu 6'2" | SF Cooper | 2023 State MN – forward, 43 Hoops (Robbinsdale Cooper)
- Haylie Strum Haylie Strum 5'6" | CG Stewartville | 2023 State MN – guard, Southern Minnesota Fury (Stewartville)
- Aalayah Wilson Aalayah Wilson 5'8" | CG Osseo | 2023 State MN – guard, FBC Real (Osseo)