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C3 Scouting will be identifying and projecting South Dakota high school girls basketball breakout candidates in a series. Intros are boring and skipped over, so here’s part one with five names.

Nia Talley | 5’9” | 2030 | point guard | Mitchell

I didn’t see much of Talley this offseason with Sanford Sports Academy 14U Black, but she’s a D1 talent that played varsity ball for Mitchell last season. She has offers from University of South Dakota, Nebraska Omaha, Augustana University, and Dakota Wesleyan University. A two-way playmaking point guard that’s physical, strong and fast in the open court with finishing ability. As you’ll see in her highlight below, she plays all over the court and can score from all levels. She’ll be playing alongside fellow ball-handlers Londyn Hajek and Mia Larson and I think they’ll mesh well together in a formidable backcourt with Talley leading the charge off of shear playmaking, toughness, and elite two-way production. Talley has high-major potential.

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The Prep Hoops Dakotas Freshman Showcase took place Saturday, August 29, at Impact Sports Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

C3 Scouting was there live. It’s always exciting seeing the up-and-coming prospects in the Dakotas live and up close.

In this article, C3 Scouting has the showcase MVP, a first team all-showcase team of six players, and we evaluate the top three prospects from the showcase.

Upcoming, we’ll have our second team all-showcase team and evaluations on the remaining first team all-showcase prospects, evaluations on the second team prospects, and additional evaluations and observations.

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The South Dakota School of Mines Hardrockers Elite Camp ended up having a great turnout of athletes, with nearly 60 total. There were a handful of solid prospects both in-state South Dakota and from out of state. There was some high-level athleticism being displayed and some length—with a 6-foot-11 2029 prospect out of Nebraska in attendance at the camp.

C3 Scouting gives our top prospects and standouts from the elite camp.

Top Prospects

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Who breaks out at the AA level for the upcoming 2026-2027 season? C3 Scouting has 20 names.

Noah Woods, 6’8” 2029 wing/forward, Sioux Falls Washington

Woods has AA experience already as an incoming Sophomore and experience with Minnesota’s top travel/grassroots program D1 Minnesota 3SSB. He had a huge offseason with them and collected offers from D1 programs Ohio State University, University of Iowa, University of Nebraska, TCU, and South Dakota State University. Woods is easily the top prospect in South Dakota and was recently tabbed as a top 30 2029 prospect in the entire country by national recruiting services. If he takes an aggressive approach as a young AA player he could do some special things as a versatile two-way impact player with a rare length and athleticism combination. I think he lives on the rim for Washington in 2026-2027.

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The South Dakota School of Mines Hardrockers Men’s basketball program is holding an elite camp on their campus at the King Center this Sunday, August 23, from 12pm-4pm MT. It’s for classes 2027, 2028…

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It’s finally here. C3 Scouting’s reactions to the Prep Hoops Iowa Freshman Showcase.

C3 Scouting made the near seven-hour drive to the Prep Hoops Iowa Freshman Showcase in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 9 at Kingdom Hoops.

The showcase brought some of the top 2030 and 2031 prospects in Iowa together under one roof.

The level of play and skill was very impressive for such young prospects. Both the level of play and how many of them could play at a high skill level and IQ was somewhat of a surprise. Basketball in Iowa is in good hands from a standpoint of the number of good prospects with upside and already-developed skill coming up into the high school ranks. That’s just based on one showcase as well.

Coming up with three all-showcase teams was a very difficult exercise because there were many good players who played well.

*There are a few prospects left off that were not on the roster that I was given*

All-Showcase First Team

Adrian Carter - 5’8” 2030 point guard, Cedar Falls HS, Martin Bros.

Carter was the top pure point guard and playmaker at the showcase. He’s a left-handed lead guard and floor general that controls the pace of the game and has mastered change of pace, speed, and change of direction at a young age. He had instances of slowing pace and running half-court action. He also passed up-court at the first pass to start a quick break. He showed change of speed and impressive burst at times to get himself free from multiple defenders. Carter has a full offensive package to work with. He’s very advanced with the ball and his handle and can manipulate defenders with jabs and shoulder shakes to get their feet moving. He showed the ability to get free from defenders and create large separation for free looks at the basket. He was good at finishing through traffic at the rim and showed decent vertical pop when he got there. He’s a distributor, scorer, and shot-maker from three levels and contains a nice float-game and touch. Adrian Carter is already polished and skilled as a dynamic, yet true point guard that will be considered one of the top point guard prospects in the region going forward.

Evan Weiss - 6’0” 2030 guard, Ames HS, Kingdom Hoops

Weiss is a hooper and really caught my attention quickly. He has a thin, upside frame with long limbs. He brought the ball up for his team and was in downhill attack mode and constantly putting pressure on the defense. He wasn’t out there to just stand on the perimeter and swing the ball around—when he had the rock he was driving to score or dish the ball out when multiple defenders collapsed on him. Weiss was heavily assertive and a master at getting downhill with a quick and decisive initial separation move. His ability to finish with both hands and his finishing ability with his left hand may have been his most impressive skill. He got the ball up high on the glass with soft touch with his left hand. He had an effective crossover that he was able to perform on the move as he was attacking. With his downhill aggression Weiss drew contact and got fouled a lot and was one of the leaders in free-throw attempts and makes. He showed the ability to stop and pop a pull-up midrange jumper as well. He was an active playmaking passer that racked up assists because he brought more than one defender his way because of his ability to get all the way to the rack. He was tops in scoring and tops in assists by my accord. Weiss will be one of the top players in Iowa going forward. And I think I can say that after seeing him only for one day. He has the killer’s mentality, skill, and ability to finish plays for that to ring true. If he gets up to around 6-foot-5, he becomes a valuable and widely-recruited prospect and highly-productive high school player in Iowa. Weiss will be one I’ll be following as a top prospect in the Midwest.

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C3 Skills is back working with 5’10” 2029 point guard Max Cooper of Warner High School in South Dakota. We meet 2-3 days per week.

Areas of improvement:

Finishing layups at the rim—especially left hand.

Overall touch close to the hoop, in the lane.

Playing faster and more explosive. Max is a good athlete that can run and jump but he doesn’t always show it on the court.

Shooting on the move and in in-game scenarios.

Ball-handling on the move and continuing his dribble to translate to a pure point guard.

Development plan:

Max’s footwork on his shot has came a long ways. Recently he would bow out his right foot/leg and not square up, causing inconsistencies with his shot. That was fixed and he’s shooting much better and more consistent.

His right hand was also too far up on the ball, also causing inconsistencies with his shot. He’s learning to have his hand lower on the ball.

Exaggerating on dribbling harder and faster when practicing so his handle is quicker in games.

Three-point shooting consistency. Since he’s a smaller guard, having an elite three-point shot is a must. We will be progressing to improving his range as well.

Work left hand with ball-handling and passing. Incorporating left hand passing and left to right hand ratio with his dribble with skill work should be around 5:1.

The Augustana University Elite camp took place Sunday, August 1st—and C3 Scouting was there live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the Augustana University campus.

What I like most about these elite camps is that it brings talent from the neighboring states—such as Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska.

Augustana University has assembled elite camps with more higher-end talent in the past, but I thought the overall play and quality of basketball was the best I’ve seen from an elite camp. The ball movement and the sharing of the basketball with crisp and clean passing was a pleasant surprise. The impressive shooting and the finishing off of plays was a takeaway. In short, the ball was moving around and the players were hitting their shots and finishing in traffic.

Jack Mroczenski, 6’1” 2028 guard, Rosemount

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The 2030 class is the deepest South Dakota class I’ve ever scouted. There is top-end talent and upside well down the list— filled with scholarship-level talent. There’s a few with D1 upside as well.

When scouting such young prospects it’s an educated-guessing-game and a lot rides on how they grow and mature physically, and of course how hard they work on their game, skills, and building their bodies and athleticism. Work ethic and keeping on the straight and narrow is paramount.

In this tier-ranking—beings it’s such a young class—the emphasis is on upside and ceiling rather than how well a player looks on the court and has been performing recently. There’s some interesting prospects with Division I bloodline that get the favor when sorting prospects based off of future outcomes.

This list is a work-in-progress and is by no means perfect or close to perfect. Take it with a grain of salt for now. There are names left off of here because I haven’t seen them play for awhile or at all in a live setting.

More analysis wil be added to the article and it will be updated on the site.

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C3 Scouting gives our South Dakota girls ‘Major Breakout Candidates’ in the 2027 and 2028 classes. We will highlight the major breakouts before going into the breakout candidates that will breakout after not being all-state level varsity contributors. Those that will take advantage of their improvements in skill over the Summer and with the Seniors that graduated and opened up playing time and production opportunities.

But first, which girls players in South Dakota’s 2027 and 2028 classes will take things to a whole new level and be highly-productive or even dominant on the court in 2026-2027?

Major Breakout Candidates

Lezlei Setzer, 6’3” 2027 center, Sioux Falls Christian

Setzer gained valuable experience against legitimate competition playing with All Iowa Attack 17U on the EYBL Circuit. Although she wasn’t a dominant go-to force for them playing 10 minutes per game, she was productive in the interior on a per-minute basis and rebounded well when she got extended minutes. The EYBL experience did prepare her to be a dominant force in the paint at the class A level in South Dakota. She’ll need extra defensive attention and opposing coaches will need to gameplan for her because she will be a lot to handle.

Ruby Moore, 5’8” 2027 point guard, O’Gorman (South Dakota State University)

O’Gorman graduated Division I signee guard Sydney Terveen (Omaha) and Division II signee guard Sadie Mehrman (USF), so Moore will have the greenlight to do whatever she wants. She’ll be a high-volume shooter from all areas of the court. She happens to make a lot of her shots as well and is my vote to lead AA in scoring in the 2026-2027 season. She scored 15.3 points per game last season and I expect her to be at 20+ points per game.

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C3 Scouting is now in full-go-mode, diving into a bunch of offseason film in the Midwest to bring a wider range of content and more consistent and developed rankings going forward.

First we start with the film from the Prep Hoops 2K26 tournament and we go into the top prospects from Minnesota Magic Cornell 16U.

The team went 2-2 with wins over Northern Lakers 16U and Minnesota Comets Schumann 16U—and losses against Minnesota Lightning Gregor and Powerhouse MN 16U.

Jackson Holder, 6’5” 2028 wing, Owatonna HS

Stats from Prep Hoops 2K26 per his X account:

17.5 points per game, 6.0 rebounds per game, 1.5 steals per game, 1.25 blocks per game, 55.75% Field Goal percentage, 42.8% 3-point percentage.

Jackson Holder has the biggest upside on the Minnesota Magic 16U Cornell squad and is a 2028 prospect for college coaches to watch over the next year and a half or so. I don’t have a ton of backstory on him, but he has the feel of a prospect that could surprise and blossom—and his stock will continually gain momentum as the high school season starts and until next offseason. I predict that this time next year he will be viewed in a different light. College coaches will be enamored with his 6-foot-5 positional length from the wing and large amount of area and space his wingspan and reach can cover.

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C3 Scouting brings part two and the final article on the Sanford Sports Academy ‘Who’s Next’ High School Girls Combine. This list features a few college-level 2027 and 2028 prospects and list of prominent 2029 and 2030 guard prospects in South Dakota.

Emma Casey, 5’5” 2030 point guard, Sanford Sports Academy 14U White

Casey was very impressive for a 2030 guard playing against some competition and as well as her own age group. She handled the ball as the primary ball-handler for her team and handled and moved the ball well without turnover. She was accurate from three and capitalized on her open opportunities from there in addition to being able to long-stride quickly off the dribble and get the ball quickly up on the backboard for off-the-glass finishes. The most standout-ish thing about Casey at the combine was that she was picking up full-court after every score and denying the pass to her matchup. Casey was one of the top overall defenders by being a disruptive defender that had an overall attacking style going for the ball. Her willingness to defend full-court and get on the floor for loose balls was a positive sight to witness. If Casey can develop her left hand as a ball-handler, she’s going to be a tough guard to contain. Regardless, she’s one of the best guards in her class with her two-way impact and especially her ability to change a game and momentum as a defender.

Makinli Reitsma, 5’10” 2027 shooting guard, Sanford Sports Academy 17U White

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C3 Scouting has Part 1 of evaluations from the Sanford Sports Academy ‘Who’s Next’ Combine. There are 12 prospects mentioned in this article with more on the way.

Prospect Evaluations

Hayden Weber, 5’11” 2028 shooting guard, Sanford Sports Academy 16U Black

Weber made a good first impression having the top touch height at 9’8” and also the top standing vertical with a 23.0” jump. So Weber clearly played above the competition at the combine and she was a leading rebounder. She’s one of the top off-ball guard prospects in the South Dakota 2028 class and offers unique upside with her supreme length, defensive prowess, and opportunity to expand and refine her developing offensive game. On the defensive end Weber is both a sound, lockdown on-ball defender that also gets a ton of tips on passes. She shuts down the drive and gets her lengthy arms to gets tips on the ball on the dribble as well. At the combine she often drove middle and scored in the middle of the lane, as well as knocking down her threes in the 5-on-5.

Emory Lems, 6’0” 2027 forward, Sanford Sports Academy 17U White

Lems was very productive and a clear top performer as a disruptive, lengthy defender that also kept the ball in front of her and shut down the drive instantly. Opposing players caught on and stopped challenging her off the drive with her defensive positioning, focus, and length on the ball. She made plays off the ball by getting her hands on passes and she was all over the boards as well as one of the top rebounders. Lems was fourth overall in touch height at 9’ 2.5”—to go along with her consistent activity going for the ball off the rim.

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The Sanford Sports Academy ‘Who’s Next’ Girls High School combine took place Tuesday, June 23rd in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the Sanford Sports Complex (Pentagon). The combine featured some of the top talent in the state—with the top prospects in the 2028 class especially featured—plus a group of up-and-coming 2029, 2030, and 2031 talent that showed upside and promise.

What was most interesting and productive for me to see was the group of top 2028 guards going at it in individual 1-on-1, in 3-on-3, and we saw their full display in the 5-on-5.

This post is a pre-evaluation post, other than I talk about the Co-MVP’s of the combine, Kacey Jaton and Ellie Meyer. Everything is similar here to the boys article outline, but I do add some awards and recognitions at the end.

There’s still a few prospects for me that I want to cover and write about for the prospect evaluations, so that article could post tomorrow night—with many prospects evaluated.

Who’s Next Combine Co-MVP’s

Kacey Jaton & Ellie Meyer

Kacey Jaton, 5’10” 2028 shooting guard, Sanford Sports Academy 16U Black

Jaton is listed as a shooting guard and is one of the top shooters and scorers in the state, but at the combine she showed a lot more than that and presented a well-rounded game. She played on the ball often and showed skilled distribution of the ball and saw up the court at an elite level.

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After going through the film on all three courts at the Sanford Sports Academy ‘Who’s Next’ Combine, I was able to pick up on many more things from the event. There’s still a lot to talk about and take away from the combine.

The analysis in this article is 95% based off of the 5-on-5 play, where the prospects also competed in front of some college coaches that were in attendance. I picked out coaches from Northern State University, University of Sioux Falls, Dakota Wesleyan University, and Dakota State University.

C3 Scouting has 23 prospect evaluations for our audience, with no categorization or order to the names mentioned.

Teelan Kjerstad, 6’2” 2027 guard, Sacred Hoops 17U Mueller

Kjerstad was uber-aggressive and one of the top scorers, and he should have been chosen first team all-combine and not second team after viewing everything. Because he absolutely light it up and was consistently scoring and putting pressure on the rim and the defense. If the defense got lazy Teelan was getting a bucket. He was high-volume and high-efficiency. Kjerstad was piling on the points by finishing creatively at the rim in ways—with turnaround jumpers in the lane, by simply pulling and hitting a three, etc.

Teelan looked quick in short areas and in the full court transition. He was playing very fast and showed speed with the ball, pushing tempo and passing the ball upcourt.

Jackson Kudera, 6’3” 2028 shooting guard, Yankton HS

Jackson is one of the purest scorers in South Dakota and has top five scoring potential in class AA this upcoming season at Yankton. He’s slowly growing taller and he’s up to about 6-foot-3 with potential for more growth. He doesn’t play travel ball with a program but he’s continually working on his game and staying active. He’s a pure shooter from deep range that can also get to the rim and finish with skilled creativity—as you’ll see in the video below from the combine.

At the combine, Jackson was delivering some nice passes to teammates for assists and showed off his entire skillset, to go along with his scoring acumen.

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