I stand at 6’3 and walked past Lily this weekend and looked up to her. She is at least 6’4 now, if not 6’5. Her size and length is incredibly impressive and will have colleges all over this young prospect. She moves really well for a center and has established post-play fundamentals. She keeps the ball high on catches for easy baskets. She is a beast offensive rebounding and also keeps the ball high for quick put-backs. She was playing out of a double-post offense and cut naturally to the basket when her teammate had the ball on the block. Edinger is most polished on the defensive end. Her ability to defend without fouling, alter shots, keep smaller guards in front, and rebound will have college coaches calling her for the next four summers.

It’s been nearly a year since we last saw the lanky forward from Bismarck St. Mary’s play live. It took only a few minutes of action in Bloomington to see that Edinger’s game is growing fast. Now standing at nearly 6’4, Lily is coming off her first season of varsity basketball, a campaign in which she finished second on her team in scoring (14 points per game) while leading in rebounds (9.8), blocked shots (1.6), field goal percentage (51%) and free throw percentage (72%). Not bad for an 8th grader! She’s much smoother and more polished now thanks to all that experience, and she looks very much the part of Division 1 prospect. Edinger has serious basketball pedigree. Mom was an Iowa State standout who played in the WNBA. One step at a time, of course, but Lily is on the right trajectory.

It was a close finish to see who would go 1-2 in the first round of rankings between Lily and Jaya. I walked past Lily at Sanford AAU practice last weekend and was eye level with her, maybe even a tad shorter than her. She is a true 6’3+ and looks like she is still growing. Her mom is a 6’5 former WNBA player, Iowa State Cyclone, and Shanley great – so the genes run in the family. Lily finished the season averaging nearly a double-double (stats are only updated through 15 games), and shot the ball 52% from the field and 70% from the free-throw line. Lily is a big-time prospect and can expect Division 1 schools to call her very quickly this AAU season.