Six of the Best Floor Generals From the AAU State Tournament
I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for a good, old-fashioned, pass-first point guard. Something about having a player who is willing and able to consistently setup their teammates automatically makes a team more intriguing to me. Lucky for me, there…
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Continue ReadingI’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for a good, old-fashioned, pass-first point guard. Something about having a player who is willing and able to consistently setup their teammates automatically makes a team more intriguing to me. Lucky for me, there were plenty of those types of guards at the Minnesota AAU State Tournament.
All things being equal, there are a number of players who would make this list 100 times out of 100. Paige Bueckers, Mackenzie Kramer, Lauren Jensen, and Gus Boyer are a few names that quickly pop into my head as fitting into that category.
That being said, here are six of the best floor generals from Friday and Saturday’s games:
Lizzie Berkvam – 2021 – North Tartan Elite (Northfield) – Berkvam is a coaches kid through and through. She has a great feel for for the game, which has allowed her to stay a 1/2 step ahead of her opponents all weekend from a mental standpoint. Lizzie was a stand-out player in North Tartan’s Friday night game against 43 Hoops putting both her passing and outside shooting on display. Berkvam’s passes would often leave her hands before her teammates were looking her direction, knowing that they would be in the correct position by the time the ball arrived.
Abbey Nechanicky – 2023 – North Tartan Wolkow (Wayzata) – Friday night was our first time watching Abbey play, and we came away thoroughly impressed. Nechanicky was the smallest player on the court, but she played like a giant. She did it all for North Tartan. Her passing was great, her handles were even better, and her finishing at the basket generated a chorus of oohs and ahhs from the crowd on more than one occasion. The word around Shakopee has been that Abbey is an absolute gym rat who is constantly working on her game. Let’s just say her hard work has been paying off in a big way this weekend.
Shania Nichols-VanNett – 2023 – Minnesota Stars Hersch (Como Park) – Shania is no stranger to high levels of competition. The 8th grader was a key piece of St. Paul Como Park’s highly successful season this past winter. Now that she has that type of experience, playing against girls her own age almost seems unfair. This weekend, VanNett has been scrappy, poised, and the best player on Joshua Hersch’s talented 2023 Minnesota Stars squad.
Priyanka Satish – 2023 – Metro Stars (Eden Prairie) – PGH has written a lot about Satish over the past month or so. Priyanka has played well again this weekend. In the first half of the Stars’ Friday night game against North Tartan Wolkow, I found myself wanting Satish to be more assertive. She was doing a nice job of keeping her teammates involved, but they were struggling to finish. Priyanka must have been reading my mind, because she came out in half #2 with guns blazing, attacking the basket hard, and knocking down multiple triples to keep the Stars in the game.
Brynn Senden – 2023 – North Tartan (Wayzata) – For those keeping track at home, Brynn is the 2nd 2023 North Tartan/Wayzata point guard to make this list. While Nechanicky brings a bit more flash, Senden is a true, old school floor general. She’s the type of player that I can only assume teammates love playing with. We watched her play Friday night against Top Flight 2023 in a game where she was impressively unselfish, and flourished in transition. Something that stuck out about Senden was her communication on the court. She was constantly talking, particularly on the defensive end, which was a little thing that the coach in me couldn’t help but appreciate.
Desiree Ware – 2022 – UVA Ware (Minnetonka) – Similar to Nichols-VanNett, Ware spent this past winter playing a central role in the varsity rotation at Tonka. Playing against the size and physicality of players 3 and 4 years older than her has done wonders for Desiree. Her point totals in the opening two rounds of the tournament were 24 and 17, both of which were game highs. On top of her scoring, Ware’s court vision has improved, and she’s gotten noticeably stronger since last summer.
In-article photo of Lizzie Berkvam is courtesy of Northfield News
Minnesota AAU State Tournament Series:
Six Big Time Post Players at the AAU State Tournament
Six of the Best Defenders at the AAU State Tournament
Seven of the Most Versatile Players at the AAU State Tournament