StarTrib: Girl's AAU Programs are on the Rise

Ignatius L Hoops

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http://www.mngirlsbasketballhub.com/news_article/show/789653

I've no idea whether any of this is true:

Gerard Coury is one of the AAU coaches who has noticed a surging interest in girls’ basketball.

Now in his 12th year with North Tartan, an AAU program that practices in the Twin Cities metro area, Coury said there is an increased demand from high school players all over the state to continue playing basketball into the spring and summer.

“Families are spending more time and resources. Kids are putting in more time to make it on these teams,” Coury said. “It’s getting to a point for some families and kids, the highlight is the AAU season.”

Coury coaches the top-level squad that is among the 19 teams in North Tartan’s program. Known as the Nike 11th Elite Youth Basketball, the 11th-grade team spent last weekend playing a tournament in Virginia. It will spend the summer as one of 32 teams on the national circuit...



...Kayla Mershon has been with North Tartan since fifth grade and is on Coury’s team. Mershon is a junior at Minnetonka and is committed to play at Nebraska.

She said she enjoys playing AAU because it’s a step up from high school and because she loves to play year-round.

“All girls are 100 percent committed,” said Mershon, who counts among her teammates Raena Suggs, the team’s leading scorer who, during the high school season, plays for Lake Conference rival Hopkins. “In high school, you might just play with your friends, but here it’s taken a little more seriously.”

Another Hopkins star, Paige Bueckers, plays for North Tartan’s undefeated ninth-grade team.

There are other girls’ AAU programs in Minnesota and the Minneapolis metro area, including the Metro Stars.

“The quality has really improved,” said Ellen Wiese, coach of the Metro Stars’ 11th-grade team. “We go to these national tournaments and we hear so much more from college coaches saying they recruit more heavily in Minnesota.”
 

Nice trend for the girls programs and for future college talent. It would be even better if we had a coach who could recruit some of these talented players.
 

Is Ellen Wiese any relation to Sydney Wiese? I heard she has relatives in Minnesota.
 




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