LSU WBB's 2023 class continues to shine in all-star events

Over the past two months, LSU’s 2023 signing class has ended their high school careers, watched their future team win a national title, and then went on a tour of the top All-Star games in the country. In that time, we’ve gotten an even clearer view of what the Tigers’ No. 1 signing class brings to Baton Rouge next year – and fans should be excited.

The class includes the four top 75 players in No. 2 Mikaylah Williams, No. 7 Aalyah Del Rosario, No. 44 Angelica Velez, and No. 73 Janae Kent. Over the past month, Williams and Del Rosario were selected to both the McDonald’s All-American Game, the Nike Hoop Summit showcase, and the Ballislife All-American Game. Velez only participated in the Ballislife game, which took place on Saturday evening, and took advantage of her time on the court.

Kent was not invited to the three events, but there’s a lot of optimism that she has valuable skills on the wing to help the Tigers in the coming seasons.

For this story, though, we’ll be focusing on what we learned from these three All-Star games. We knew this was a special class, but what did this group show going against some of the best players in the class? Let’s get into it.

Mikaylah Williams

The best player in the country, Williams was not only excellent in all three games, but she was extremely efficient. In the McDonalds and Hoop Summit games, she combined to go 13-of-21 from the field with most of those makes being 3-pointers. She put the nation on notice at the Hoop Summit, going 6-of-7 from deep and casually lit up the Ballislife game as well with four 3-pointers in the first half. She won MVP of both the Hoop Summit and Ballislife games.

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The 3-point shooting is immediately translatable. The size at 6-foot-1 paired with good strength will allow her to immediately contribute at LSU. She showed flashes of being a good passer, but also had more turnovers than assists in the Hoop Summit game. She’s a good wing rebounder who can handle the ball at a very high level for being over 6-feet tall. Williams defended well in the McDonalds and Hoop Summit games, but in the more casual Ballislife contest was out of position a few times.

We knew what Williams was, so I’m not sure we learned anything new about her game, but I think her role on LSU year one is obvious. She can step in and immediately score the ball for the Tigers in whatever role she’s in. We saw it when she played 3X3 on Team USA last summer, but she can put the ball in the hoop. The rest of her game is mature for a freshman and I’m excited to see how comfortable she can be in the SEC.

Aalyah Del Rosario

The 6-foot-5 post had her share of ups and downs in these games. She was at her best in the McDonald’s All-American game where she had her full array of offensive tools on display. In the other two contests, she struggled, shooting under 50 percent and bringing down limited rebounds.

It’s hard for a post player to really shine in all-star game formats. It’s a glorified pickup game. Who passes the ball to the post in pickup games? The guards dribble the air out of the ball, shoot threes, have fun. I refuse to overreact to Del Rosario’s struggles in these games.

She’s shown good positional awareness, good footwork, and a really impressive jump shot that can help her settle into games away from the rim. The rebounding radius and overall finishing ability needs to improve, but that’s normal for any young center. With Angel Reese and S’Myah Smith ahead of her, there’s no pressure on Del Rosario to step in and play big minutes. It will be a process, but one that will pay off for the Tigers.

Angelica Velez

A 5-foot-7 point guard from New York, the first thing that stood out about her was her strength. She’s not getting pushed off the ball on either end. She stays low to the ground and pairs that with really awesome quickness that makes her tough to guard.

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She only played in the Ballislife game, but it was a coming out party for her to LSU fans. Her passing was exceptional, the ball handling was on point, and she even hit a pair of 3-pointers. She was always under control and had the ball in her hands late to create.

As I mentioned earlier, the Ballislife game was more casual. It was the game with the least defensive intensity of the three games, but Velez’ talent showed through. She has a ton of confidence and a swagger about her that will fit right in at LSU. If that 3-point shot continues to fall at the next level, she will set herself up to be the point guard of the future for Kim Mulkey.

This was a really strong showing from Velez and I’m excited to see how she fares in practices against Hailey Van Lith, Kateri Poole and Last-Tear Poa, three veterans who know the college game well. It feels like she’s too good to redshirt this season, so we’ll see if she carves out a role on this loaded roster.