MERRILLVILLE, Ind. – For the Illinois Elite, the 2013 season included a special group of players and another lengthy list of accomplishments, highlighted by a second-place finish at AAU Nationals in Orlando, Fla.
A good chunk of those standouts – like Jackie Kempf, Jenny Vliet and Duke commit Haley Gorecki – have moved on, but the Elite’s National team has reloaded.
The National squad went 3-0 over the first day of the 12th annual Mid-America Challenge despite being shorthanded. One of the few holdovers, 2015 forward Bryce Menendez, sat out with an ankle sprain, and starting guard Amri Wilder also was injured and won’t be back for a couple weeks.
No matter. The Elite appear to be developing a new brand of cohesiveness to go with some talented players in the younger grades.
“It’s completely new team,” said Menendez, the Neuqua Valley High School standout. “We knew it would be tough to mesh because it’s our first time ever playing with each other. But every single one of those girls is hard-working and dedicated. They’re just nice girls – good people. Our first couple tournaments were really rough. But I think we’re finally getting it figured out.”
Coach Tom Hohenadel labeled this a “transition year,” but his squad has “seven or eight” Division I prospects, including Kailyn Strawbridge (Rockford Lutheran), a 5-foot-11 point guard in the Class of 2017. He has intriguing frontline prospects in 6-7 Dana Rettke, who just completed her freshman season at Riverside Brookfield, and improving 6-4 Amber Lindfors (2015) from Elk Grove.
“Lindfors is playing out of her mind,” Hohenadel said.
Rettke, who has room to grow into her body, took up basketball about two years ago.
“She’s a phenomenal volleyball player so she can’t decide between the two, but she’s very good at both. Nikki Muffoletto Silmon is our post coach and she’s phenomenal with her. Rettke will be special. She’s already been invited to the Stanford Elite Camp and the Iowa Elite Camp. Gorecki was the only other one I’ve had invited to the Stanford Elite Camp. You don’t get too many of those.”
Then there’s Menendez, who carries the type of intangibles that coaches adore. She’s a charismatic leader who, despite being unable to play Saturday, was on the bench for every game, cheering her teammates and offering instruction, even as the late game stretched to 11 p.m.
“I’ve been doing this 21 years,” Hohenadel said. “She is the nicest kid I’ve ever coached.”
Menendez recently made a verbal commitment to Lehigh.
“The coaching staff is absolutely unbelievable. Fell in love with them right away,” she said. “I met the players, it was a family atmosphere, and I love that. And the academics, of course, are great. I put a lot of work into my school work.”
Beyond this summer, however, there might be even brighter prospects ahead for the Illinois Elite. The 13U and 12U teams are developing juggernauts. The Elite won its fourth straight state title last year, this one with the group of eighth graders that feature a roster with players headed for nine different high schools. And the seventh graders might have the potential to be just as good as any group that has come through the program.
Both squads went undefeated Saturday and were scheduled to face each other during bracket play on Sunday.
Bruszewski igniting Indiana MBA Select
Former Notre Dame standout Rebecca Bruszewski played with a trademark intensity for the Irish, earning the nickname “Bruiser” before her collegiate career ended in 2011.
She’s carrying that same passion in her first full year as the director of the Indiana MBA Select.
Bruszewski had four squads in the Mid America Challenge, including a 17U team competing in Pool A. The MBA Select finished 2-1 on Saturday, dropping a hard-fought 60-56 decision in the nightcap to pool winner Mac Irvin Fire Godfather.
It was the wrong result for MBA Select but the right process.
“Being able to take over, I’m bringing the intensity that I was taught with, and I think it’s making a difference – starting with practice and carrying over into games,” she said.
Bruszewski played in the MBA Select program before entering Notre Dame, where she was a little-used reserve until she began to grasp the full weight of what each day’s practice meant to her future.
“When I first got to college I didn’t play much,” she said. “I sat down and watched film of my practice. I wasn’t being effective in practice, therefore I wasn’t being effective in the game.”
She hopes to bring that message to her players, most of whom come from the South Bend area and surrounding towns.
“The (MBA Select) program, when I was there, was so efficient, so effective. We had eight D-I athletes on my team alone,” Bruszewski said. “Coming back, I saw how it had dropped off and wasn’t the same intensity-wise, and the expectations weren’t there, so I definitely wanted to bring that back and go at it strong.”
Bruszewski’s playing career is still going. After leaving Notre Dame she played a season in Finland. She has played the last two years in Puerto Rico, which has an August-November season. In December, she was picked up by a team in Ukraine – though, thankfully, she was five hours and mostly unaffected by the tumult that arose in that country this winter.
Toledo Elite quickly filling up with commitments
In early May, it’s not often you find a team that has half of its roster with players who have made college commitments. But Duffy Burns’ Toledo Elite 17 Premier squad has six players who made verbal commitments for their future.
Kendall McCoy (Miami University), Allex Brown (IUPUI), Molly Glick (Northern Kentucky, Dana Fricke (Findlay), Maddie Cole (Bowling Green) and Megan Burns (volleyball at Nova Southeastern) know where they’re headed in 2015.
“It is (unusual) for a club like ours,” said Burns, who coached in college for 24 years, including a stint as head coach at Cleveland State. “We help the mid-major schools and down. These kids work hard to commit early. To have six of them on your team that are already committed is a great thing. And the next four are going to get something. And the two kids that are hurt are going to get something eventually. I could have a whole team of committed kids by July. That’s the idea.”
And that’s just on one team.
The 17 Flight squad also has Kendall Jessing, a 2015 post headed to Ohio University. Another standout is guard Byrdy Galernik (2016), who is being recruited by at least a half-dozen BCS schools. Currently injured, Galernik is preparing for the U17 National Team tryouts in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Tourney notes
The 120-team event on Saturday attracted coaches from nearly 40 colleges along with three national scouting services. Follow the link below for more information on the 2014 Mid-America Challenge.
http://usjn.com/xtm_post_event_new.php?which=242
The Mac Irvin Fire 17 Godfather won Pool A, and the Illinois Elite 17 National took Pool B in the 17/16/15U bracket. Pool C was captured by Illinois Full Package 17 Truding, setting up a showdown against the Illinois Elite in Sunday’s bracket semifinal.
Check back with Blue Star Media for Day Two coverage from the Mid-America Challenge.
