Future UW-Milwaukee Panther Kuepper makes the list after a fantastic junior season where she averaged 20.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.9 apg, 2.5 spg, and shot 37% from 3 in leading the Orioles to their third consecutive conference title. Kuepper starts her senior season with 1,225 career points looking to complete the clean sweep with four conference titles in her varsity career.

Kuepper enters her senior season as the driving force behind a Hartford Union team poised to make a push for state. Coming off a first-team all-conference campaign, she looks ready to compete for Conference Player of the Year honors. After watching her over the summer, I came away impressed with her ability to create for teammates and knock down shots, placing her among the state’s top playmakers and shooters in my eyes. Kuepper has the ability to change a game on any possession.

There may not be another player who’s as smooth as Rita Kuepper Rita Kuepper 5'7" | PG Hartford Union | 2027 State WI in this class. The Hartford native is a player who can get to her spots, score at all three levels, and make scoring 30 look like the easiest thing on the planet. Anytime she gets into a groove, Kuepper can be the most dominant player on the floor, no matter who she’s lined up against. The Oriole will continue her playing career in the Horizon League for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Kuepper, coming off of a breakout 2025-26 campaign, where she averaged 20.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.9 apg, and 2.5 spg, is looking like she has taken another step forward this summer. This past weekend, at the WIAA/WBCA Summer Slam event, the future UWM Panther put up 32 ppg, over the three games, including a 40 piece knocking down not only volleyball line 3’s but also finishing virtually everything she threw up around the hoop as she had the defense on their heels all game.

Few players are as smooth as the Hartford native, and she was fun to watch when she was at her best. She always plays at her own pace and excels at the 1v1 portion, where she started with an advantage. There may not have been a better player in that setting than Kuepper. Any time she works in isolation, she is capable of making something happen.

Kuepper impressed me as one of the better ball handlers that I had the chance to watch on Sunday. Shifty with the ball in her hands, Kuepper showed the ability to not only get downhill, finishing well around the basket, but also the court vision to find cutting teammates often through traffic and with a high degree of difficulty. A 37.7% shooter last season, from distance, she also displayed a nice outside touch that kept the defense on their heels all weekend.

The Hartford guard is a player I like more and more each time I watch her play. Kupper has been one of the most talented ball handlers and creators in the state. Her ability to put the ball in the basket is on par with everyone in her class. She has also improved defensively in her three years and has been more engaged on that end of the floor than she had been in the past. Kuepper will continue her playing career in her home state in the Horizon League at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.