2023 Rankings Rundown

Austin Kingsley August 10, 2021 @ 08:30 AM

We’re back with new rankings in Nebraska. This time, it’s the 2023s that are getting a refresh. There were a lot of big moments from this class throughout the 2021 club season. It took a lot of consideration and deliberation to identify all the stock risers and emerging players within this talented group. Of course, the upcoming high school season will inevitably shake things up again. We’ll shuffle the rankings accordingly. For now, though, these rankings seek to give credit to those who have shined over the past several months. These players are becoming upperclassmen now, and I’m excited to see how they take on leadership roles during the fall season. Let’s check out a few trends and storylines that stand out from this latest update.   Top Gun The presence of Nebraska Elite 16-1 Top Gun is felt pretty much everywhere. This team has a handful of athletes floating around the top ten, and we’ll still have plenty of chances to add more players from this team to the rankings. It’s a squad that knows how to thrive together, and many of them will reunite again for the high school season. A few top talents from this club team will likely have a say in who triumphs at the state championships in November.   Small-Town Talent I do this a lot when there’s a new rankings update. Who are the gems representing the smaller schools across the state? [caption id="attachment_124168" align="alignright" width="225"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-124168" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/12/Karli-Heidemann-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /> Heidemann[/caption] This class has no shortage of talent outside the big cities. [player_tooltip player_id="59193" first="Grace" last="Baumert"] should be one of the biggest statewide kill producers this fall. The same can be said about [player_tooltip player_id="83539" first="Channatee" last="Robles"] and [player_tooltip player_id="59202" first="Karli" last="Heidemann"], [player_tooltip player_id="83537" first="Georgi" last="Tenbensel"], and [player_tooltip player_id="78669" first="Jenna" last="Jakubowski"]. These players have the skills to put their team on the map. That’s a big part of what makes the high school season so much fun.   Big Movers We’ll go into much more detail on stock risers later, but I can tell you that these new rankings are characterized by players that made huge jumps since the last update. This class has a lot of big movers. There’s also plenty of new faces on the leaderboard, either in the rankings or on the watch list. It’s a testament to how much a standout season can help a player climb the ladder. Athletes are improving all the time, and that’s why rankings are updated.   Expanding the Watch List As I alluded to earlier, we’re still working to add as many names to the rankings as we can. There’s perhaps no better time to do that than the high school season. We’ll see 2023s that are now firmly established in starting lineups, and that will give a chance for many players in this class to shine. I can’t wait to watch it all unfold.