10+ Players I’m Watching For in MN AAU
A few Minnesota teams went down to Iowa this weekend to kick-start their grassroots play, but most clubs have not started yet. Here’s a list of guys who I hope to see on the court soon, and attributes and skills…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingA few Minnesota teams went down to Iowa this weekend to kick-start their grassroots play, but most clubs have not started yet. Here’s a list of guys who I hope to see on the court soon, and attributes and skills of which I have already seen a glimpse. The hope is that midway through July, I’ll have separate list of fresh names who emerge out of the blue.
Alonzo Dodd
Alonzo
Dodd
6'2" | CG
South St Paul | 2022
State
MN
, c/o 2022, South St. Paul H.S. & Grassroots Sizzle AAU
What to watch for: continued high-level production
Dodd scored 24.9 PPG as a sophomore, leading SSP to it’s best season in a million years. He’s currently ranked #13 in our 2022 rankings — I think he could get into that #6–10 range with a strong stretch for Sizzle’s 16U. Dodd has excellent finishing ability with both hands and is a flat-out gamer.
Click here for footage from this weekend where our top writer Ryan James called Dodd “outstanding.” Video via Courtside Films.
Ryan Dufault
Ryan
Dufault
5'11" | PG
Waseca | 2021
State
MN
, c/o 2021, Waseca H.S. & Minnesota Heat
What to watch for: NSIC offers
Ryan’s older brother Nick was a star for Waseca before committing to Southwest MN State and averaging 10 PPG this winter. Ryan showed many of the same attributes for Waseca all last year — tough, reliable PG play — after a summer with Heat Tauer where the whole team got circled in coaches’ packets. Ryan listed Minnesota-Duluth, Bemidji State, Minot State, University of Mary, Sioux Falls, and Southwest Minnesota State as NSICs that have contacted him in a recent recruiting report. Every year there’s a few prospects who become “NSIC darlings” and rack up the D2 offers — this summer, I think Ryan could be one of them.
Select Ohnstad’s new look
What to watch for: chemistry
Select’s 17U group has been assembled from a nearly clean slate. When you look down the roster, you see that they did a nice job of putting together a squad of known guys and athletes. Jaelen Treml (Hopkins), DJ Akpati DJ Akpati 6'0" | PG Totino-Grace | 2021 State MN (Totino-Grace), Zach Spann Zach Spann 6'5" | SF Eastview | 2021 State MN (Eastview), Devin Burger Devin Burger 6'6" | SF Totino Grace | 2021 State MN (Totino-Grace) and others — add that to Reid Patterson Reid Patterson 6'2" | SG Lakeville South | 2021 State MN (Lakeville South) and Evan Dushek Evan Dushek 6'8" | C Owatonna | 2022 State MN (Owatonna, playing up), and you’ve got the raw talent. Can the group gel? If anyone can do it, it’s Mitch Ohnstad, one of the best AAU coaches out there.
Chance Fazio
Chance
Fazio
7'0" | C
Fergus Falls | 2021
State
MN
, c/o 2021, Fergus Falls H.S. & West Central United AAU
What to watch for: progress as a big man with elite size
Fazio is a 7-footer from the outstate who averaged 22.4 PPG for a 22-3 Fergus Falls team this winter. Over the years we’ve seen AAU big guys progress into scholarship territory, and we’ve also seen plenty stay dormant. Fazio has the size — can he maximize it in the summertime like we’ve seen from Kyle McKinley, Charlie Irmiger and others?
Guys in the 30s and 40s ranges of our rankings
What to watch for: big summers to take a big leap
Every summer we see guys play their way into boosting their stock 5, 10, 20 spots. Who could it be in 2020? Some names of who I think could be stockboosters: Cal Greene Cal Greene 6'7" | SF Mahtomedi | 2021 MN , Xavier White Xavier White 6'6" | SF Hopkins | 2021 State MN , Dylan Gichaba Dylan Gichaba 6'5" | SF Champlin Park | 2021 State MN , Eddie Beeninga Eddie Beeninga 6'1" | PG Wayzata | 2021 State MN , Sam Votava Sam Votava 6'1" | PG East Grand Forks | 2021 State MN , Evan Boyd Evan Boyd 6'2" | SG DeLaSalle | 2021 State MN in 2021. Antonio Bluiett Antonio Bluiett 6'2" | PG Buffalo | 2022 State MN , Evan Dushek Evan Dushek 6'8" | C Owatonna | 2022 State MN , JaSean Glover JaSean Glover 6'3" | SG Madelia | 2022 State MN , Samuel Rensch Samuel Rensch 6'6" | SF Hutchinson | 2022 State MN , Maddox Alipate Maddox Alipate 6'1" | PG Benilde-St. Margaret's | 2022 State MN in 2022.
Demarion Watson
Demarion
Watson
6'8" | SF
Totino-Grace | 2022
State
#150
Nation
MN
, c/o 2022, Minnehaha Academy & Grassroots Sizzle AAU
What to watch for: more time on the court
It’s not Demarion’s fault that he played on one of the most talent-crowded varsity rotations since Hopkins’ heyday 10 years ago. He’d start for most other teams in the state. DWS is 6-foot-6, bouncy, and apparently worthy of scholarship offers from Morgan State and Mizzou before the season ended. I expect him to rack up more offers when we finally get to see him play for 15-20 minutes a game both this summer and this winter.