Super team of Minnesota’s best boys basketball talent looks to beat a nationally assembled AAU powerhouse

Top Minnesota basketball seniors Nolan Groves and Chase Thompson were only a couple of months removed from battling on opposing high school teams in the Class 3A state semifinals at Williams Arena when they found themselves in the same group chat this week.

Several high-profile players across the state discussed joining forces on a super team to challenge a national AAU squad known as Rod Wave Elite in this weekend’s Prep Hoops Battle at the Lakes tournament with 500 teams in town from the 15U through 17U levels.

“I was at school and heard from my friends that RWE Elite was coming to Minnesota,” said Groves, a Star Tribune All-Minnesota selection and guard at Orono who recently signed with Texas Tech. “I talked to guys about putting a team together. We had jerseys made. It’s a cool opportunity. We’re going to come together with that talent we have here in Minnesota and try to beat a national powerhouse.”

Minnesota’s all-star team is sponsored by locally based social media content brand Strictly Bball. Along with Groves and Thompson, the team features Benilde-St. Margaret’s Jalen Wilson, Cretin-Derham Hall’s Tommy Ahneman and Ty Schlagel, Mankato East’s Brogan Madson, St. Louis Park twins Marley and Micah Curtis and Jayden Moore from Hopkins. Schlagel, the state’s top-2027 prospect, and Moore, a junior, are the only non-seniors on the listed roster.

High school seniors are eligible because it’s a spring AAU event, and they have not yet turned 18.

A 6-9 forward at Alexandria and the Star Tribune’s All-Minnesota Player of the Year in boys basketball, Thompson is heading to Clemson next month, but he looks forward to playing in one last AAU event to end his high school career, especially against an opponent with RWE’s reputation.

“They come to cities and try to take over the state, it seems like,” said Thompson, whose team won the Class 4A state title in March. “We’re going to do our best job to stop it.”

Social media basketball influencer Cam Wilder, who has a 6.9 million TikTok followers, started the RWE AAU program in 2023 and named the organization after his favorite music artist, rapper and singer Rod Wave.

Last week, Wilder created significant buzz showing up to an Indianapolis AAU tournament with a group led by five-star AZ Compass Prep and Class of 2026 forward Miikka Muurinen, who has offers from Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina.

“My parents don’t really know who they are, but everyone who is my age and younger knows,” Grove said. “Cam Wilder has a huge social media following. He’s always able to get five-star recruits on the team. It’s cool to be able to play in that game. It provides a big national stage for the players here in Minnesota.”

RWE collects a new ensemble each week of some of the country’s most followed and highly sought after college prospects from all classes, including five-star recruits who moonlight as social media stars. The games attract large crowds and massive attention on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.

Announced Monday on RWE’s IG account, five-star Baylor recruit Tounde Yessoufou and five-star Kentucky recruit Jasper Johnson committed to play for Wilder in the Prep Hoops tournament in Minnesota.

Yessoufou, a 6-5, 215-pound senior from California, has been compared to Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards because of his powerfully built frame and explosive dunking ability.

Nelson Neumann, a Class of 2028 point guard from North Carolina, also is expected to play for RWE. His flashy style and ball-handling ability helped him gain more than 2 million Tiktok followers.

“I just see it as another opportunity to showcase my ability,” Thompson said. “Shout out to Strictly guys [for sponsoring]. What they do is really appreciated by not only the fans and kids who sign autographs, but also the players for the showcase.”

Three Minnesota teams will get a chance to take down Wilder’s star-studded RWE squad in Saturday’s pool play, including D1 Minnesota’s 17U adidas 3SSB circuit team comprised composed of East Ridge’s Cedric Tomes, Wayzata’s Christian Wiggins and Totino-Grace’s Dothan Ijadimbola. Also facing REW is Iso Elite, which is led by Hopkins guard Anthony Smith III.

“It’s an AAU tournament, but a lot of all-star players are forming teams to also make it like a fun get-together,” said Smith, who signed with North Dakota. “We definitely want to show [RWE] that Minnesota is one of the best basketball states, for sure.”

Strictly Bball co-founder Joe Doerrer tried to lure Wilder to Minnesota in the past. Last year he pitched a national 3-on-3 event at the Mall of America. Minnesota’s basketball community can show how much they love watching top talent at this weekend’s Battle at the Lakes event.

“This is the first time [Wilder’s] come to Minnesota since he really has blown up,” Doerrer said. “I’ve been to some of his events in other cities. They get absolutely nuts. The middle school and high school kids go crazy for these games, so when we saw he was coming to Minneapolis, we really wanted to use the connections we had with the high school players to put together the best team we could to hopefully beat him. We want to show Minnesota hoopers are legit.”