I don’t expect Grudzielanek to be a leading scorer for Wisconsin Lutheran this season, but she’ll be hard to take off the floor. The 5’7 guard is the perfect connector for a team with perimeter talent. The Viking doesn’t need the ball to excel but can make quick decisions with the ball and make pinpoint passes when called upon. She’s a physical kid who can defend on the other end with enough lateral quickness to defend on the perimeter and physicality to defend posts if her coach needs someone down there.’

One of the roles that gets looked past is connectors. Players who move the ball, sprint in off-ball actions, and can fit passes into small windows are more valuable now than ever when there’s so much guard talent in AAU. Grudzielanek doesn’t have to score a point to frustrate opposing defenses, and that may be more impressive than kids who can score 20. She looked outstanding when her Playground Elite team played All Iowa Attack at Summer Jam. Her group excelled in the first half whenever she was on the floor, which I thought did her justice, even though I don’t think she scored more than ten points.