Tori Oehrlein & Natalie Kussow Named 2026 McDonald’s All-American Nominees, 2026 Commits

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Two McDonald’s All-Americans on next years team? Has this ever happened for Minnesota basketball?
 

Bigk said:
Two McDonald’s All-Americans on next years team? Has this ever happened for Minnesota basketball?
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The phrasing is kind of confusing but they aren't actually All-Americans. They were both nominated to the shortlist but neither made the final list. Still a big deal, but not as big as it could be.
 

MaroonMagic said:
The phrasing is kind of confusing but they aren't actually All-Americans. They were both nominated to the shortlist but neither made the final list. Still a big deal, but not as big as it could be.
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I hate that schools in recent years flood social media with these vague and misleading announcements about their McDonald's All American nominees. Not sure what the point it. Perhaps it's a response to schools that flood social medial when one of their commits actually makes the McDonald's AA team. Referring to the nominee list as the "shortlist" highlights the misleading nature of the announcements by the Gophers and many other schools.

It is relatively easy to be nominated to be a McDonald's All American in girls or boys basketball. Still an accomplishment, but in the context of recruiting rankings, perhaps not much of one. This year, on the girls side, there were 392 players nominated to be a McDonald's AA, 6 alone in Minnesota and 5 in Wisconsin.
 



Bigk said:
Two McDonald’s All-Americans on next years team? Has this ever happened for Minnesota basketball?
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The Gopher roster has been full in recent years with McDonald's AA nominees who, like this year, were not selected for the AA team.

Sophie Hart was a McDonald's AA nominees in 2021.
The Gophers had 4 McDonald's All American nominees in 2022: Braun, Battle, Heyer and Holloway.
Grace Grocholski was a McDonald's AA nominee in 2023.
McKenna Johnson was a McDonald's AA nominee in 2024.
Makena Christian was a McDonald's AA nominee in 2025.
 

BigTenGuy said:
The Gopher roster has been full in recent years with McDonald's AA nominees who, like this year, were not selected for the AA team.

Sophie Hart was a McDonald's AA nominees in 2021.
The Gophers had 4 McDonald's All American nominees in 2022: Braun, Battle, Heyer and Holloway.
Grace Grocholski was a McDonald's AA nominee in 2023.
McKenna Johnson was a McDonald's AA nominee in 2024.
Makena Christian was a McDonald's AA nominee in 2025.
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Your.contributions are always.pro level. Thank.you.

I would take any of them even though not actual final winners at a Paige Beuckers level.

McKenna Johnson was the one bust and she may yet pull it together at Butler
 

WinMinGophers! said:
Your.contributions are always.pro level. Thank.you.

I would take any of them even though not actual final winners at a Paige Beuckers level.

McKenna Johnson was the one bust and she may yet pull it together at Butler
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I think Johnson could have become a better defender and contributed but it wouldn’t have been this year…..
 



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