Uri’s Current Top Freshman
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The future is bright in America’s heartland. Right around halfway through the season and there are freshmen, who seemed just the other day were still wet behind the ears, are terrorizing the state of Wisconsin. From pure shooters, to dominating…
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Continue ReadingThe future is bright in America’s heartland. Right around halfway through the season and there are freshmen, who seemed just the other day were still wet behind the ears, are terrorizing the state of Wisconsin. From pure shooters, to dominating forwards, to three-level scorers, here are the best 10 freshmen in the state:
11. Maddy Jensen | Brookfield Central | Guard/Wing
There’s no way to describe it, but Maddy Jensen just has a jump shot you can believe in. The energy transfer through the balls of her feet, to her core, to her forearms, and through her fingertips is so effortless and pure that one has to believe she’ll be a perennial shooting threat throughout her basketball career. Jensen’s jumper is the base for her offensive game, using movement shooting and sharp cuts to get scoring opportunities. She’ll need to add the ability to consistently get midrange looks and get baskets for herself, but Jensen has one of the highest floors for any freshman in the state.
Jensen’s also a dog defensively. She’s physical and has demonstrated really effective lateral quickness that enables her to feed the player in her zone towards the help. She covers the perimeter and attacks the boards, undaunted by the bigger more experienced players who await her. MJ’ll need to be more aggressive attacking open space down the road, not allowing the offense to get set against her in semi-transition play, but her raw defensive skills are well beyond that of a freshman.
10. Natalie Mueller Natalie Mueller 5'6" | SG Homestead | 2025 State WI | Homestead | Wing
Mueller is the best on-ball defender on this list, period. She’s physical at the point of attack, has long arms to keep most ones, twos, and threes in check, and is constantly looking to stunt drives to the basket or throw her matchup off rhythm. Her straight-line recovery speed is simply not that of a freshman and she never seems overwhelmed with the speed of her matchup. Mueller looks like she’s making defensive calculations on the spot as a help defender, finding the balance between committing to the weak side and playing strong deny defense. She’s already a trustworthy on-ball stopper, where the next step of her defensive development should take her is perfecting that balance.
On the other end, she’s a bit rawer. She’s a ball-mover and has shown flashes of excellent vision, but she’s not a player that can get a shot for herself, yet. When in position–operating the middle of a 2-3 zone, posted in the corner, or moving along the wing–she tends to make the safe decision, but sometimes looks indecisive while doing so. For someone with her speed, developing her handle to the point where she can consistently rely on a hesitation or in-n-out will skyrocket the degree to which she can contribute in half-court sets. As of now, a lot of her scoring comes from fastbreak opportunities, which, to be fair, she’s often the one creating because of her dominance on the defensive end. Alongside a later-to-be-mentioned guard, Homestead has an exciting backcourt duo developing.
9. Peyton Musial Peyton Musial 5'11" | SG Notre Dame | 2025 State WI | Notre Dame | Wing/Forward
Musial is such an important cog for one of Division 2’s best teams. Her movements are so well coordinated with that of Notre Dame’s primary scorers that while they draw the defense’s attention, she casually slips between the seams for an open layup or midrange bunny. She’ll need to develop her handle and elevate her ability to get shots for herself, but Musial’s already looking like the type of player that a coach would love to implement in their offense.
On the defensive end, Musial’s a fighter. She closes out hard, denies in passing lanes, and has demonstrated impressive versatility. Her length and quickness allows her to compete against wings and guards, and hold off bigger forwards in flashes. She’ll need to add strength to improve this versatility, but Musial looks well on her way to being an important part of Notre Dame’s future going forward.
8. Georgia Acompanado | Greenfield | Guard
Acomponado is one of the most creative underclass players in the state. She’s fluid offensively with a great handle and gutsy playmaking ability. Acompanado attacks space relentlessly and with bad intentions. Though undersized and slight of frame, she absorbs and reacts to contact extremely well, allowing her to finish at the rim and be more patient offensively. And even when she does look less patient (as a freshman might) she has the creativity handling and distributing the ball to crowbar her way out of a tough situation.
All this before talking about her defensive toughness. She fights on the ball, attacks passing lanes, recovers to the rim, and plays bigger than her 5’5″ frame may indicate. For our more statistically inclined readers, G.A. averages 4.7 steals a game and has only had one game this season with less than three steals. More time in a varsity training program will help develop her strength and add some versatility for Acompanado on the defensive end. Greenfield has a talented crop of freshmen, and G.A. is the crown jewel of them all.
7. Makena Christian Makena Christian 6'0" | PF Hartford | 2025 State WI | Hartford | Guard/Forward
With her rainbow three and feathery touch, Christian is a bucket waiting to happen. She’s such a talented relocation shooter that even if the defense stops her initial attack, it’s often the second or third relocation after she relents the ball that ends up being the kill shot. It takes constant engagement from her matchup to slow her down offensively. And if she gets inside positioning, she has the strength and concentration to finish with contact. Christian is a rare talent on that side of the court that’s already at the 20 points per game mark as a freshman.
Anyone that’s seen her play will speak to her folklorish ability to shoot the ball from the outside, but where she’ll find the most consistency is developing her ability to score off the dribble. She’s shown flashes of being able to carve out space down low with drop steps and hard cuts to the blocks, but committing to developing her handle such that it can become a weapon in the post or on the perimeter will make her even more lethal.
6. Kristina Ouimette | Lakeland | Guard Forward
Think about the brightest kind of green you know of. The greenest of greens. Something so green it would make the Hulk look albino. That’s the color of Ouimette’s green light to shoot from downtown. K.O. has range out to legit 24 feet and wonderful balance off the dribble. That ridiculous outside shooting is the basis of what makes her such a constant scoring threat. She’s open the second the bus parks outside the gym.
For Ouimette, the sky’s the limit. She has the physical tools to get her shots off against all types of competition — whether that be attacking the basket or stepping out beyond the arc. Lakeland’s Class of 2025’s next step will be to tighten her handle of the offensive end, and become a better help-side presence on the defensive end. Ouimette’s going to terrorize D2 until she graduates, and even then she’ll appear in some nightmares.
5. Clara Shea | Menomonee Falls | Guard
Shea is another 2025 prospect in the big-guard-who-can-score-from-three-levels mold. But what makes her different from other players with similar talent is her decisiveness. She sets herself up so well before she gets the gall, it oftentimes seems like she’s already thought out what her options are when she makes the catch. She’s butter from beyond the arc and has flexed the ability to get to the rim and finish with contact. And the length that makes her so versatile in the paint is only complimented by her unexpectedly twitchy speed.
Amid all the gaudy numbers (averaging 18 points per game including a 60-point two-game stretch against Wisconsin Lutheran and Wauwatosa East), it’s easy to forget about part of what makes Shea so special: her activity. She looks like she deleted two Red Bulls the way she constantly moves and attacks on both sides of the floor. She’s tenacious in the paint, scrounging for rebounds and banging with bigger bodies down low, even though she’s naturally a perimeter player.
The only thing missing from Shea’s resume is consistency getting to the charity stripe. Her shooting splits, 52%-70%-40%, offset the fact that she’s only been to the free-throw line more than four times twice all season. And for a shooter as prolific as she can be, that may explain why her percentage at the stripe is so drastically more average than the other two numbers. Once she cracks the code of getting to the line more often, we’ll see that number go up, and she’ll become a truly elite prospect.
4. JJ Barnes | The Prairie School | Forward
If “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” were a Wisconsin girls hoops player, it’d be Barnes. She’s a physically dominating presence on both ends who consistently finishes at the rim. Despite often seeing multiple bodies in the paint and being forced to create inconvenient scoring angles, Barnes is one of the best in Division 4 at hanging in air and using contact as a stabilizer to get her shots off. Barnes is also comfortable handling the rock and creating for herself. In tandem with her scoring threat down low, the ability to get her own shot becomes all the more valuable.
But one of her most underrated skills is her passing. Again, she’s seeing two or three bodies at all times when she gets within 15 feet of the rim. Whereas most freshmen would be overwhelmed, Barnes has demonstrated a solid playmaking foundation, reliably finding where the double is coming from and swinging the ball around the perimeter. Her jump shot is going to have to improve, but with high major offers already on the table, sky’s is the limit for Barnes
3. Amy Terrian | Pewaukee | Guard
Terrian loves herself a pump fake. She’s one of the best in the state at changing the balance of her defender using a shot fake to create for herself. She’s not the most explosive athlete but gets to the rim with her change of pace on the ball. She’s not the quickest, but she routinely gets open for threes coming off of pin-downs and cuts. Terrian is leading Division 2’s #3 team in scoring at 17.5 a game but hardly ever seems to play out of rhythm. She gets plays called to specifically put her in positions to shoot, but doesn’t force shots. Just a great feel for the game.
Offensively, she’s as polished as a Class of 2025er can be expected to be. The next step for a player of her caliber is to improve her intensity on the defensive end. This isn’t to say that she isn’t an effort player on that end, but that with her handle, shooting, and creativity offensively, the main area for improvement is on the defensive end. Her strength and use of angles is a strength for her offensively, she can manipulate similar attributes for her defense to become a two-way monster.
2. Madisonn Fitzgibbonn Madisonn Fitzgibbonn 5'6" | SG Homestead | 2025 WI | Homestead | Guard/Wing
Fitzgibbon is so casually better than most all players around her. She never looks like she’s straining too hard but before you have time to look up at the scoreboard she’s dropped another 30-piece spicy on your head. Fitz is an ambidextrous three-level scorer with a great first step and the ability to stop on a dime to gain separation. Her calling card, however, is her three-point shot. She’s up to 36 makes on the season from downtown at an efficient 39% clip.
The freshman guard’s averaging 23.8 points per game as of this writing and it’s no hyperbole to believe that she can get that number to 27 or 28 by next season. Her game is based on a compact game, shifting her movement subtly to get space outside, taking one or two-dribble pull-ups, and using simple change-of-pace dribbles to get to the rim. Her bag is not that complex–yet. Adding a few more go-to moves and increasing her lateral speed will make her one of the most prolific guards in the state for years to come.
1. Rainey Welson | Hortonville | Wing/Forward
Welson is one of the most dynamic players in the state regardless of class. An extremely versatile defender who’s also a bucket from 15-feet-and-in, that she’s only a freshman is scary for the rest of the state and a delight to any promoter of Hortonville basketball. Her poise, confidence, and explosiveness make her a handful to contain, and her ability to reliably get good shots in isolation contexts make her the most lethal freshman in the state.
I’ve written at length about Welson’s diverse skillset and fluidity on both ends, but it’s worth reiterating that what separates her even further from her Class of 2025 counterparts is her dominance in the paint. Freshmen are supposed to be slight with dear-in-the-headlights mentalities attacking much larger defenders in the paint. I guess no one told Welson. Her ability to create finishing angles in isolation and score with either hand at 5’10″ is one of the sharpest weapons in Hortonville’s offense. Did I mention she’s leading the Division 1 #2 team in scoring before she’s allowed to drive a car without adult supervision?