AAU Week 1: Minnesota Suns Spring Showcase
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Week 1 is in the books and the 2022 AAU season is officially underway. The season opened over the weekend at Hopkins with the Minnesota Suns Spring Showcase and in St. Cloud with the Minnesota Comets Showcase. We were at…
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Continue ReadingWeek 1 is in the books and the 2022 AAU season is officially underway. The season opened over the weekend at Hopkins with the Minnesota Suns Spring Showcase and in St. Cloud with the Minnesota Comets Showcase. We were at the Suns event which was essentially a warm-up gathering, a test run for the upcoming year that will see plenty of tournaments on the docket between now and the dog days of summer. Although only the veteran-laden, returner-heavy squads looked anywhere near in form with just a couple of practices in the books, the event was a great opportunity to check in on players we are very familiar with and check out some fresh faces. Here’s the best of what we watched in AAU Week 1.
THE VETERANS
Two of the most experienced squads in the gym were the loaded Suns 2024 Blue Star squad along with the 2023s from Minnesota Starks in Duluth. Coached by Dre Jefferson, the Suns team is led by 2026 phenom Tori Oehrlein Tori Oehrlein 5'10" | CG Crosby-Ironton | 2026 State MN of Crosby-Ironton along with 2024 #13 Olivia Pawlicki Olivia Pawlicki 6'1" | SF Shakopee | 2024 State MN of Shakopee, #17 Piper Engelby Piper Engelby 5'11" | SG Andover | 2024 State MN of Andover, #49 Abby Richter Abby Richter 5'11" | SF Edina | 2024 State MN of Edina, #55 Casey Beck Casey Beck 5'11" | SF Coon Rapids | 2024 State MN of Coon Rapids and new addition #58 Lydia Lakanen Lydia Lakanen 5'10" | PF Anoka | 2024 State MN of Anoka . Third-ranked Claire Stern Claire Stern 6'0" | SF Maple Grove | 2024 State MN of Maple Grove remains sidelined as she recovers from a back injury that kept her out of action in the second half of the high school season. That’s a formidable lineup.
On Sunday they faced off against Starks 2023 Premier out of Duluth in one of the tournament’s most interesting encounters. Although their former star attraction, 6th-ranked 2024 Jordan Zubich Jordan Zubich 5'11" | SG Mountain Iron-Buhl | 2024 State MN of Mountain Iron-Buhl, has moved on to Minnesota Fury 2024 UAA, the Starks group has plenty of firepower. Coached by club director Dyami Starks and St. Scholastica coach Jason Schmitz, the lineup includes Duluth East standout 57th-rated junior Ashlynne Guenther Ashlynne Guenther 5'11" | SF Duluth East | 2023 State MN , who had a strong weekend, along with her high school teammate #107 Rachel Hagen Rachel Hagen 5'10" | SF Duluth East | 2023 State MN . 2024 #60 Jessika Lofstrom Jessika Lofstrom 5'11" | SF Grand Rapids | 2024 State MN of Grand Rapids, 2025 #15 Regan Juenemann Regan Juenemann 5'9" | CG Duluth Marshall | 2025 State MN of Duluth Marshall and 2025 #61 Gabrielle Fineday Gabrielle Fineday 5'8" | SG Cass Lake-Bena | 2025 State MN of Cass Lake-Bena are gifted guards. Point guard Tieryn Plasch of Wisconsin is a scholarship-level prospect. One of the more impressive performers was emerging talent Hope Carlson of Proctor, a lengthy guard with a strong skillset and the ability to make shots consistently from distance. We’ll cover her in more detail going forward.
The Suns were a little flat-footed in the early going which enabled Starks to quickly take control of the contest. The Suns got it together eventually but it was too late and Starks scored a convincing 61-54 victory. The outcome is even more interesting given that the Suns and Minnesota Starks have formed a working partnership that should further the interests of both clubs.
While the older squads were capturing a lot of attention over the weekend our focus was primarily on the younger players which will be the case throughout the first few weeks of the season. Here are some standouts among the 2025s and 2026s.
BEST OF THE 2025s
Aubrey Burkhart Aubrey Burkhart 5'6" | SG Southwest Christian | 2025 State MN – 2025 guard, Stars DeSart
Jim DeSart’s group of freshmen looks really solid, and several of them stood out at Hopkins, none more so than Burkhart, a 5’5 floor general with quick feet, fast hands and a terrific sense of how to feel the flow of the game. We watched Aubrey at Southwest Christian this winter where she was a mainstay for the Stars. Appearing in 28 games, Burkhart averaged over 10 points per game, second only to veteran leader Chloe Brunsberg Chloe Brunsberg 5'11" | SF Southwest Christian | 2023 State MN for offensive productivity. Burkhart opened the season with a 24-point performance against Visitation and never looked back, scoring in double digits in over half of the games including a season-high 27 versus Watertown-Mayer. Aubrey is feisty, and she knows how to use her speed and quickness on both sides of the ball. She’s shifty, with great handles, excellent court vision and the ability to knock down shots under pressure. We love her ability to run the offense but coach Tiffany Stubbs also uses her a lot off the ball where she also does very well. Yes, Aubrey is tiny, but she’s also just a 9th grader so there’s plenty of time for growth of all varieties.
Sarah Hyde – 2025 guard, Stars DeSart
One player who almost always shows up and delivers is Hyde, a plug-and-play guard who does so many things well. She’s got long arms, long strides and stands about 5’10 – terrific starting points for any guard that wants to play at the next level. She’s from Wayzata, meaning Sarah has had good skill development and played at a high level all the way up, plus mom is a former college player and coach. Hyde has plenty of range and gets her shot up quickly and smoothly, whether it’s a corner three or a mid-range jumper. Sarah’s not flashy but she can be counted on to get the job done, and she has no trouble playing at a high tempo. What we love most, though, is her unshakable demeanor. The expression seldom changes. She never seems to get too high or too low when we watch. And she communicates well. Hyde’s spring season is off to a good start and she’s definitely trending in the right direction among the 2025s.
Kate Kapsner Kate Kapsner 5'11" | SF Benilde-St. Margaret's | 2025 State MN – 2025 guard/forward, Fury 2025 Premier
Kate isn’t new to our evaluations having already earned the #67 ranking among Minnesota freshmen in our most recent update of the rankings. You don’t have to watch for long to see why. At 5’11 with great athleticism and really long arms, Kapsner has very nice touch around the rim. That’s a good thing given how often she is able to get herself in close to earn a scoring opportunity. We haven’t seen her shoot the ball a lot so that’s something she’ll need to add to her repertoire going forward. Kate earned a role in the rotation at Benilde this winter, appearing in 23 games and averaging just under 4 points per game. She played in the 4 spot for the Red Knights this year but is probably more suited to the 3 long-term. Formerly a member of the strong Crossfire Tusler team, Kapsner is now wearing the blue and gold of Minnesota Fury 2025 Premier. The Fury had a solid weekend, scoring a nice win over Minnesota Stars 2025 DeSart and capturing a division title.
2026s WE LIKED
Chloe Carlson Chloe Carlson 5'8" | CG Proctor | 2026 State MN – 2026 guard, Starks 2026 Rising
Half the battle for young players at an AAU tournament is doing enough to get yourself noticed without doing so much that things get forced and mistakes get made. Making 8 threes in a 32-minute contest will also draw some attention, so it wasn’t hard to notice Chloe’s long-distance capabilities on Saturday morning. The 8th grader from Proctor was on fire for her Starks squad from start to finish, thanks to a high-tempo approach and a truly elite point guard to partner with in 2028 Chloe Johnson Chloe Johnson 5'11" | PG Duluth Marshall | 2028 MN from Duluth, who has a feel for the game that is light years beyond her 6th grade peers. With Johnson finding Carlson in the right place at the right time, the result was a 32-point performance for the crafty young guard and a total of 15 threes for the squad. Carlson is super scrappy, plays with a ton of energy, and has legitimate speed and quickness at her disposal. She is obviously a high-level shooter with quick release and a ton of range. With lots of length and very light feet, the little guard has the necessary ingredients to excel, which is exactly what she did at the Suns Spring Showcase.
Marta Forsline Marta Forsline 6'2" | PF Mesabi East | 2026 State MN – 2026 forward, Starks 2026 Rising
Marta is the sister of 2022 standout Kora Forsline Kora Forsline 6'1" | SF Mesabi East | 2022 State MN , who has made a name for herself up on the Iron Range at Mesabi East. Marta looks like she should be able to equal, perhaps even exceed, Kora’s significant accomplishments over the next four seasons. The 6-foot post has a ton of length and is still growing. She has light feet and excellent mobility for a bigger player. So often young girls who grow early have some challenges adapting to their new dimensions, but Marta seems to have adjusted nicely. She shoots it really well with a quick release. She’s got guard-like ball skills and is quite versatile. We watched the top Starks 2026s a couple of times over the weekend, including a solid 12-point performance by Marta on Saturday. This is a player who checks a lot of the right boxes and has the potential to land in our Freshman 50 in the fall.
SLEEPER OF THE WEEK
Claire Wegman-Krider – 2024 forward, Suns 2024 Orange
Simple. Efficient. Effective. For budding post players, these are the hallmarks of a productive future. Those were the key characteristics we noticed right away on Sunday while watching Claire do work with the Minnesota Suns Orange squad coached by Ameh Ogbemudia of North Central University. The Edina 10th grader is very long, with plenty of height and reach. She’s not uber-athletic but gets up and down the floor at pace and shows plenty of mobility. She boxes out well and consistently, positions herself correctly for rebounding advantage, and is willing to fight hard for possessions. She plays very well with her back to the basket and also showed the ability to make shots from mid-range. It was one play in particular, though, that got us amped up about Wegman-Krider’s potential, a transition bucket in which she received a long pass up the floor, corralled it out of mid-air without breaking stride and took off with a couple of super-long steps. It was an explosive attack that enabled her to slide by her defender to score at the rim with a soft left-handed finish. A thing of beauty. Simple, elegant and a sure sign that her future is filled with possibilities.