AAU Awards: 2023 All Star teams & Most Valuable Player(s)
Taylor Woodson Taylor Woodson 6'0" | PF Hopkins | 2023 State #28 Nation MN of Hopkins is all about power and speed and strength and size. Kennedy Sanders Kennedy Sanders 5'8" | CG Chaska | 2023 State MN of Chaska…
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Continue ReadingTaylor Woodson Taylor Woodson 6'0" | PF Hopkins | 2023 State #28 Nation MN of Hopkins is all about power and speed and strength and size. Kennedy Sanders Kennedy Sanders 5'8" | CG Chaska | 2023 State MN of Chaska is the cerebral one, whose superior skillset and tactical mind is something special. And then there is Tessa Johnson Tessa Johnson 5'11" | SG St. Michael-Albertville | 2023 State #36 Nation MN of St. Michael-Albertville, who is a potent combination of both. Three tremendous talents. Three elite college prospects. Three of Minnesota’s most accomplished players. Which one was best this summer? You decide, because we couldn’t. After a season of excellence from all three we drew the only logical conclusion and named them all Prep Girls Hoops AAU Most Valuable Players for the Class of 2023. We are pleased to honor Woodson, Sanders and Johnson along with the rest of the members of our 2023 All Star Teams.
Playing one year up, Woodson and her Metro Stars Starks teammates won a 10th grade state championship and a national crown. Playing at age level, Sanders and her Minnesota Fury 2023 squad captured 9th grade titles in both events. And competing with players three years older than her, Johnson led North Tartan’s best 2021 team to an 11th grade national title and a runner-up finish at state. All three were critical to their team’s success.
Woodson has always been much bigger and stronger than most of her peers, which has allowed Taylor to compete successfully against older players for the past several years. If fact, when she did play at age level in AAU for the Survivors team a couple of years ago it was almost comical – a grown woman against vulnerable children. Coach Tara Starks’ teams are usually made up of a conglomeration from all age levels. That meant Woodson played up three years last summer and two years up in 2020. It really made no difference because Taylor is among the state’s very best of any age.
North Tartan also believes in grouping players by ability level and not age which is why Johnson played three years up this summer. In 2018-19, as a long and lean 8th grader, Tessa had no trouble going head-to-head and coming out on top in high school basketball against players three and four years older. This year Tessa’s body got so much bigger and stronger which tipped the scales even farther in her favor in AAU.
The Fury, for the most part, prefer to have all of their players remain at age level. It is a strategy that has certainly been successful for their 2023 UAA circuit team where Sanders, Molly Lenz Molly Lenz 5'8" | CG Eden Prairie | 2023 State MN , Brynn Beffert Brynn Beffert 6'0" | PF Hutchinson | 2023 State MN , Teresa Kiewiet Teresa Kiewiet 5'10" | SF Mankato West | 2023 State MN and company have been dominant. If they stay together the squad may run out of fingers on which to place all of their championship rings. As she has proven in high school ball, however, Sanders would be more than capable of making a huge impact at any age level despite lacking the size of Woodson and Johnson.
Bottom line: All three are elite talents and all three are deserving of this honor. The other two first-team members of the 2023 Prep Girls Hoops AAU All Stars are no less worthy.
Who else earned All-Star honors?
Maren Westin Maren Westin 5'8" | CG Becker | 2023 State MN of Becker, who played for Comets 2023 Elite, is one of the state’s most dynamic players. With athleticism that is off the charts, Westin has flair and finesse and flash. She flummoxed defenders all summer as teams tried all manner of strategies to contain her. Few did.
Maren and her fellow first-team honoree Kennedy Klick Kennedy Klick 6'0" | CG Maple Grove | 2023 State MN are alike in many ways, and they are good friends away from the court, as well. Klick, who has played her high school ball so far at DeLaSalle is now enrolled at Roseville. Next summer the pair are expected to be teammates on Marqus McGlothan’s North Tartan 2023 EYBL squad and they will be even more fun to watch in tandem than they were this summer as opponents. Klick is long and smooth and skilled, and when her team needed a spark this summer she was usually the one to provide it.
When we are talking about the 2023s we have to mention Logan Nissley of North Tartan. The big guard had an outstanding summer. Competing for both the 2021 and 2022 North Tartan teams, the uber-talented sophomore-to-be showed off the kind of skill and tenacity coaches dream of. Alas, Logan is not eligible for Prep Girls Hoops post-season honors because she hails from Bismarck, N.D. She is eligible to earn our utmost respect.
When it comes to the rest of the AAU 2023 All Stars it should not be surprising that there is a heavy Fury flavor to the selections. Among the second-team selections are Fury UAA teammates Brynn Beffert Brynn Beffert 6'0" | PF Hutchinson | 2023 State MN of Hutchinson and Molly Lenz Molly Lenz 5'8" | CG Eden Prairie | 2023 State MN of Eden Prairie while forward Ashley Schuelke Ashley Schuelke 5'10" | SF Chaska | 2023 State MN of Chaska earned an honorable mention. The second team features another pair of teammates in Ella Johnson Ella Johnson 6'2" | SF Elk River | 2023 State MN of Elk River and Sophie Lahti Sophie Lahti 6'1" | SF Pine City | 2023 State MN of Pine City. It’s not often that you’ll find a pair of players from a so-called ‘second team’ earn such an honor but these two are special. Both hold Division 1 offers and all indications are that they will be promoted to North Tartan’s top 2023 EYBL team for next season where they’ll play with Westin and Klick.
Rounding out the second team is sharp-shooting guard Aby Shubert Aby Shubert 5'8" | CG Kasson-Mant. | 2023 State MN of Minnesota Stars Hersch. By pretty much every measure, 2020 has been an awful year for America. On the basketball court, however, it has been a year to remember for Shubert. She had an outstanding high school season at Kasson-Mantorville and maintained her superior level of performance once the long-delayed summer season eventually materialized. Her stock among Minnesota’s incoming sophomores continues to rise. Shubert is expected to move to the Fury in 2021.
2023 ALL STAR TEAMS
If you have read our articles over the past few days on the 2021 and 2022 All Star team selections then you know that we are choosing first, second and third all-star teams plus a fourth unit of honorable mentions. The selections are based on the player’s graduation year, not the level they played at in 2020. That’s why the aforementioned Johnson and Woodson have been honored here despite playing on older teams. The rest of the 2023 selections competed at age level.
Players who reside outside the boundaries of the state of Minnesota are not eligible for this award. Thus the omission of Nissley and other possible selections such as athletic guard Carlee Rochford of Southern Minnesota Fury, who hails from New Hampton, Iowa. Athletes who live in Minnesota but play for teams from neighboring states are eligible, however, which is how Caledonia guard Ava Privet Ava Privet 5'10" | CG Caledonia | 2023 State MN of the Wisconsin Playmakers earned a spot on our 2023 third team.
Congrats to all of the selections!
FIRST TEAM
- Tessa Johnson Tessa Johnson 5'11" | SG St. Michael-Albertville | 2023 State #36 Nation MN – North Tartan 2021 (St. Michael-Albertville)
- Taylor Woodson Taylor Woodson 6'0" | PF Hopkins | 2023 State #28 Nation MN – Metro Stars 2022 Starks (Hopkins)
- Kennedy Sanders Kennedy Sanders 5'8" | CG Chaska | 2023 State MN – Minnesota Fury 2023 UAA (Chaska)
- Kennedy Klick Kennedy Klick 6'0" | CG Maple Grove | 2023 State MN – North Tartan Milan (Roseville)
- Maren Westin Maren Westin 5'8" | CG Becker | 2023 State MN – Minnesota Comets Elite (Becker)
SECOND TEAM
- Aby Shubert Aby Shubert 5'8" | CG Kasson-Mant. | 2023 State MN – Minnesota Stars Hersch (Kasson-Mantorville)
- Brynn Beffert Brynn Beffert 6'0" | PF Hutchinson | 2023 State MN – Minnesota Fury 2023 UAA (Hutchinson)
- Molly Lenz Molly Lenz 5'8" | CG Eden Prairie | 2023 State MN – Minnesota Fury 2023 UAA (Eden Prairie)
- Ella Johnson Ella Johnson 6'2" | SF Elk River | 2023 State MN – North Tartan 2023 Elite (Elk River)
- Sophie Lahti Sophie Lahti 6'1" | SF Pine City | 2023 State MN – North Tartan 2023 Elite (Pine City)
THIRD TEAM
- Ava Privet Ava Privet 5'10" | CG Caledonia | 2023 State MN – Wisconsin Playmakers 2023 (Caledonia)
- Ayla Brown Ayla Brown 5'6" | SG Becker | 2023 State MN – Minnesota Comets 2023 Elite (Becker)
- Camryn Smith Camryn Smith 5'7" | SG Spring Lake Park | 2023 State MN – FBC North 2023 (Spring Lake Park)
- Savannah McGowan Savannah McGowan 6'2" | PF Armstrong | 2023 State MN – Minnesota Suns Bluestar (Armstrong)
- Taryn Hamling Taryn Hamling 5'9" | PG Grand Rapids | 2023 State MN – Minnesota Stars Hersch (Grand Rapids)
HONORABLE MENTION
- Karlee Fisher Karlee Fisher 5'7" | CG Armstrong | 2023 State MN – Minnesota Suns 2023 Bluestar (Armstrong)
- Grace Counts Grace Counts 6'1" | PF Providence | 2023 State MN – Metro Stars Ruffin (Providence Academy)
- Nicole Lillard Nicole Lillard 5'6" | CG Champlin Park | 2023 State MN – North Tartan 2022 Elite (Champlin Park)
- Ashley Schuelke Ashley Schuelke 5'10" | SF Chaska | 2023 State MN – Minnesota Fury 2023 UAA (Chaska)
- Dani Nuest Dani Nuest 5'6" | CG Becker | 2023 State MN – Minnesota Comets 2023 Elite (Becker)
Top photo: Maren Westin Maren Westin 5'8" | CG Becker | 2023 State MN of the Minnesota Comets (left) and Kennedy Klick Kennedy Klick 6'0" | CG Maple Grove | 2023 State MN of North Tartan (right) were both first-team selections.