15 Top Uncommitted Seniors From Nebraska Top 10 Camp
KEARNEY – Every year, a handful of the top senior players in the state get recruited directly from the exposure they get while competing at the Nebraska Top 10 Camp at Kearney Catholic. That will be the case again this…
Access all of Prep Dig
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingKEARNEY – Every year, a handful of the top senior players in the state get recruited directly from the exposure they get while competing at the Nebraska Top 10 Camp at Kearney Catholic. That will be the case again this year.
While it’s easy getting caught up in watching players like Kelsie Cada of Bishop Neumann, Marriah Buss of Lincoln Lutheran or a handful of other returning all-state players that competed, college coaches are there looking for those players that have slipped through the cracks for various reasons. The fact that college coaches can be at one school and watch 50+ teams play over the course of 3-4 days draws them to the event. It also helps that event organizer – Kearney Catholic coach Kris Conner – equips college coaches and the occasional nerd (that’s me) with booklets of information about the teams and the players, including all the player info needed for colleges to add athletes to their recruiting pipeline.
Seniors are always in high demand as coaches look to put the finishing touches on their 2019 recruiting class. There were plenty of seniors at the camp with college potential and many will find homes, but here is a list of the top 15 uncommitted seniors I saw during three days of covering the camp.
Players are listed alphabetically.
Hayley Fox, 6’0, OH, St. Paul
Fox, and the whole St. Paul team for that matter, really turned heads at the camp. Fox suffered a severe knee injury at substate in 2016 and the team didn’t recover from that at state. Fox was back last year, but she looks much stronger and mobile this season. She’s got a lot of athleticism and power and could be a real difference maker for a high-level NAIA or DII program.
Calli Groseth, 5’9, Setter, North Platte St. Patrick’s
North Platte St. Patrick’s could be a sleeper team in Class D-1 this year and Groseth is a big reason why. All successful teams have to have an outstanding setter and Groseth fits the bill. She showed some great hands and athleticism and can definitely play at the NAIA, DIII or Two-Year College (TYC) level.
Colby Grossart, 5’9, Setter/RS, Central Valley
Both Groseth and Grossart have similar skill sets and both are players that I simply hadn’t seen before but that are legit high school setters. Grossart really impressed me as a blocker as well. Overall, Central Valley has a very athletic team and Grossart was a steady and consistent presence for it.
Belle Harms, 6’1, MB, Hartington-Newcastle
Let’s be honest – if you’re over 6’0 and still uncommitted, you’re going to get looked at, but Harms has legit size and ability and has been a victim of a lack of exposure through her career than anything. She moves well on the court for her height and has a pretty good ceiling. She’s the kind of player that would benefit from a TYC or a couple years of JV time at the college level.
Abbie Hedgecock, 5’8, Setter, North Platte
Hedgecock is part of a two-setter system at North Platte, so she’s not going to put up eye-catching stats, but it doesn’t take very long watching her to see she can play at the next level. She’s a good enough athlete to do just about anything and sets a real nice ball. She comes from a good program, is well coached, and probably winds up at the TYC, DIII or NAIA level.
Whitney Jensen, 5’10, MB/RS, Grand Island Northwest
If Jensen were just 2-3 inches taller, she wouldn’t be on this list because she would be long committed somewhere. Jensen is really athletic with a good vertical and she’s very active at the net. She’s a middle in high school and she’s going to be very successful there, but as a left-handed with a hammer and good vertical, she will make someone a really nice right side.
Haley Kempf, 5’10, MH/RS, Archbishop Bergan
You want a right-handed version of Jensen, that’s what Kempf is. In the past year it looks like Kempf has gotten stronger and more explosive and she was being pretty punishing at the net for the Knights. She’s a really intriguing prospect because she could probably play anywhere along the net.
Rebekah Klenke, 5’11, MH, Seward
Klenke is a player a lot of coaches like because she has a strong, physical presence about her and she’s proven the ability to play big in big matches. She has 730 kills in her career for Seward and has gotten better each year. In 2017 she had a 14-kill match against Class A Lincoln East and a season-high 21 against Aurora. Her game translates at the next level.
Kayla Lee, 5’2, Libero/DS, Kearney Catholic
Every year there is a kid at Top 10 that you notice and think, “OK, that’s a decent player.” Then you notice her again. And again. And she keeps making plays until she forces you to write her name down. In 2018 Kayla Lee was that player for me. She comes from an outstanding program, plays her butt off and she’s really good. She averaged five digs a set for the Stars last year.
Olivia Micek, 5’7, Setter, Kearney Catholic
There was a really good crop of uncommitted senior setters at the camp this year and Micek was as good as any, in my opinion. She doesn’t have the ideal size for the next level, but in the right system or at the right school she could have a really nice college career. Sets a really nice ball, is athletic and is a high-energy player that has been well trained.
Logan Poppe, 5’9, OH/DS, Doniphan-Trumbull
I feel like there has been a Poppe at Doniphan-Trumbull for the last decade (maybe there has?) but Logan is heading into her senior year. A little undersized for an attacker, she has the athleticism to play high enough to make up for it. Poppe is just a solid all-around player that could play at the net or back row at the next level, depending on whatever a program needs.
Hollie Sell, 5’11, OH/MB/RS, Loup City-Arcadia
Loup City-Arcadia was one of the teams that played extremely well at the camp and has a pretty strong and deep team. Sell is flat-out a couple years away from being a contributor at the college level and only has 15 career kills in high school, but I saw a pretty good athlete with a lot of potential in Sell.
Miranda Summers, 5’8, Setter, Ewing
Honestly, I don’t expect that Summers will be in the “uncommitted” category very long. She probably has the highest ceiling among the setters on this list and has a real court presence about her. She was keeping opposing teams off balance with her mixture of sets and has the kind of athleticism you look for from a setter at the next level.
Lauren Walenz, 5’9, OH/DS, Millard South
Walenz is probably the best of the “tweeners” on this list. She’s gotten some DI sniffs for her ability in the back row while smaller schools are looking at her as potentially a full-rotation outside. Walenz doesn’t have the explosive leaping ability but makes up for it with having perhaps one of the best arsenal of shots and she’s a flat-out gamer. She had 220 kills and 295 digs in Class A last year.
Kalee Wiltfong, 5’9, Setter/RS, Doniphan-Trumbull
Where Wiltfong fits at a college program is a good question, but the reality is that she can fit pretty much anywhere a program would need her. Another of the incredibly athletic players from the camp, Wiltfong does it all. She’s really athletic and springy and last year she had 300 kills, 65 blocks, 211 digs, 290 assists and probably filled the water bottles between sets. She does it all.