2022 Recruiting

thatjanelpick

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Raoul sez Chaska's 6-1 forward Mallory Heyer, who also plays for Minnesota Fury, has an offer from the Gophers. (Yes, that means she's a freshman.)
 
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Only other offers I know (at least locally) for 2022 is Amaya Battle and Maya Nnaji, both from Hopkins. However frankly between gophers recent history (Nia Coffey, Nia Hollie, and Paige) and comments from Hopkins coach saying things he was “hoping Bueckers would choose UConn” not sure I feel confident that gophers will get a kid out of Hopkins.
 

Only other offers I know (at least locally) for 2022 is Amaya Battle and Maya Nnaji, both from Hopkins. However frankly between gophers recent history (Nia Coffey, Nia Hollie, and Paige) and comments from Hopkins coach saying things he was “hoping Bueckers would choose UConn” not sure I feel confident that gophers will get a kid out of Hopkins.

That was in the Borton & Stollings regimes. It's a new game with coach Whalen.
 

Someone might wanna remind the Hopkins coach of that. Whalen and Co. were here for a year, yet according to the article from Connecticut has his quote saying he hoped Paige would pick UConn.

My hope is that the Hopkins coach isn’t a hinderance to gopher recruiting. At the very least he should stay neutral.

That was in the Borton & Stollings regimes. It's a new game with coach Whalen.
 

Hopkins a women's basketball pipeline for UConn? Brian Cosgriff coming out and saying that about wishing Bueckers pick UConn is not a good sign for the Gophers. Is he steering away his top players from the Gophers to stoke his own reputation with the national powerhouse(s)?

It will be like Cretin Derham Hall and Notre Dame for a time in football.
 
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(Apologies about the missing "r" in the thread title. Not sure there's a way to fix that?)
 


Only other offers I know (at least locally) for 2022 is Amaya Battle and Maya Nnaji, both from Hopkins. However frankly between gophers recent history (Nia Coffey, Nia Hollie, and Paige) and comments from Hopkins coach saying things he was “hoping Bueckers would choose UConn” not sure I feel confident that gophers will get a kid out of Hopkins.

Mara Braun of Wayzata also has an offer. Lilly Meister (Rochester John Marshall) and Ellie Buzzelle (Rogers) are in the conversation, as well, but I don't believe they have been offered. Taylor Woodson and Nunu Agara of Hopkins are 2023s that have either been offered or likely will be.
 

The Gophers have offered 5'9 guard Ellie Buzzelle from Rogers & Minnesota Fury 2022 UAA.
 



I recall Nia Hollie saying she liked Minnesota when Stollings was trying to recruit her. But, she said Michigan State had been after her since 8th grade and she's built up trust with them. Cosgriff comes to Gopher women's games, so I don't believe he's steering kids away. I do think with Whalen the relationship througout the state with coaches will be better than it was under either Borton or Stollings. Just have to give it time.

In the meantime, buy or renew your season tickets and/or make contributions to the women's basketball enhancement fund through the Golden Gopher Fund. Those are ways to have an immediate impact on the success of the program.

And, who knows, you might even be able to have a beer at a game in the 2019-2020 season........
 

The Gophers have offered 6’1 forward Nia Holloway of Eden Prairie & DTA Academy AAU. She’s super athletic with a big motor and huge upside.
 

Raoul reports that Oklahoma also has offered Nnaji. I hope that young woman's family has a big mailbox.
 




https://madison365.com/veronas-aaliyah-smith-cracks-top-ten-in-national-recruiting-poll/

Aaliyah Smith, Verona, Wisconsin:
Aaliyah Smith, a 5’5” point guard, is the nation’s 10th ranked girls’ player in the class of 2022, according to ESPNW’s player rankings. Yes, that’s nationally. Smith, a dazzling point guard with lightning handles and the ability to get to the rim, has already garnered attention from national scouts.

This summer she has taken her game onto the AAU circuit and continued to build on what was a standout freshman campaign.
...
Smith, who says she has already garnered offers from Division 1 schools like Arizona and Minnesota, says winning the state championship is the biggest thing on her radar right now. After that, she wants to go to college and study sports medicine while playing basketball at the highest collegiate level.
 

https://www.prepgirlshoops.com/2019/09/its-labor-day-and-shes-the-hardest-working-player-i-know/

Mikayla Aumer:


We talk a lot about height and length and athleticism when we evaluate basketball players. Those things are all important and not difficult to measure. What I am always more interested in, however, are the intangibles, which are a whole lot tougher to quantify. After all there is no measuring stick, no scale, no test yet devised to accurately gauge the one thing that matters most: how badly the player wants it. One thing I can tell you for sure is this: Nobody wants it more than Cambridge-Isanti guard Mikayla Aumer.

There are tons of great players in Minnesota, and dozens of them are putting in the hours necessary to get to the next level. Nobody earns a college basketball scholarship by hanging out at the beach and eating ice cream all summer. But if there is any player who is working harder to get the most out of her God-given talent than Aumer is I would love an introduction.
...
Aumer has gone from just another face in the crowd to a player whose services are now in demand. She was offered a roster spot by both North Tartan and the Metro Stars and has opted to go with Coach Starks. The team’s roster includes such elite prospects as Amaya Battle, Taylor Woodson and Nunu Agara of Hopkins, so there will be plenty of college coaches watching Aumer do her thing on a much bigger stage.

What they’ll see is a smart basketball player who can handle the ball and score in a variety of ways. They will also see a quality shooter with plenty of range. How much has Aumer improved? “Tremendously!” she said. “Mentally, physically, my handles. Everything collectively in my game has gotten better. Even if I am having a bad day in scoring I am always trying to contribute in other ways, whether it’s defense, getting a big stop, trying to make the right play at both ends of the court. There’s so many things you can do to help your team win.”

Aumer did it all for the Fury this summer. She scored 504 points, 198 more than her next highest-scoring teammate. She led the team in blocks and steals and was second by a hair in rebounds and assists. She shot 31% from three, 41% from two, 71% at the free throw line and was a +54.
 


Maya Nnaji has picked up a slew of offers recently including Michigan, Oregon, Texas Tech, Mississippi State and Louisville.
 




It’s ironic that NOW Stollings is trying to recruit a Minnesota player.

I assume there was already an offer from Minnesota?

I agree its comical that she now knows how to offer Minnesota kids. This was her second offer lately as she offered 2021 Center Sacia Vanderpool before she committed to Wisconsin. This was a new offer for Nnaji so they must be dipping their toe into the Minnesota offers after two years.
 


Yes Nnaji was offered by Minnesota long ago:

Following in the footsteps of older brother Zeke Nnaji, Hopkins Class of 2022 6-foot-2 center Maya Nnaji is starting to get high-major D-1 offers.

...

Maya got a little playing time with the Hopkins girls varsity team as an 8th grader, and after an impressive summer, will undoubtedly play more in 2018-2019. Technically, Maya isn't even in high school yet since in the Hopkins district middle school goes through 9th grade.

Maya got her first D-1 offer from Wisconsin in early June, then Lindsay Whalen and the Gophers followed up a few days later. She also is receiving solid interest from Ohio State and Baylor. Performing well for her AAU team, Minnesota Suns Coley 2021, helped college programs take further notice
 

Here is known offers for the Gophers for 2022: I think I got most or all of the known public offers but feel free to let me know if I missed one.

Offered/In-state:

Maya Nnaji
-Hopkins-6’4 Forward ESPN Ranked #8

Mallory Heyer-Chaska-6’2 Forward

Amaya Battle-Hopkins-Hopkins-5’11 Guard

Mara Braun-Wayzata-5’9 Guard

Nia Holloway-Eden Prairie-6’1 Forward

Ellie Buzzelle-Rogers-5’9 Guard

Lilly Meister-Rochester John Marshall-6’2 Forward

Out of State Offers:

KK Branford,
5’10 G, Mount Notre Dame HS (OH) ESPN Ranked #9

Aaliyah Smith, 5’5 PG, Verona HS (WI) ESPN Ranked #10

Alyssa Crockett, 6’2 Wing, Westfield HS (IN)

Brianna McDaniel, 5’10 Guard, Kenwood Academy (IL)
 




Raoul updates his Nnaji recruiting page: In June, she picked up offers from Arizona, South Carolina and Stanford.

 
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The recruits will come. Just gotta make sure that we have coaches that are making the connection with our local talent. Recruits will come.
 

Point guard Acacia Hayes tweeted she has an offer and Whalen liked the tweet.
 

Nnaji is a very good player, but there's no way that she's a must get. We just keep offering lots of good players, and take the ones that want to be here, whether they're from here or from somewhere else.
 

Not sure what position she plays, but is anybody else impressed with the play of Emily La Chapell of the Wisconsin Flight?
 




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