Trio of Starks Elite Players Sign National Letters of Intent

Merlea Mrozik, Hannah Hannuksela and Lexiss Trygg each officially made plans to play basketball at the college level.

DULUTH, Minn. – Starks Academy has been a staple in the Northland youth basketball community for several years. And this past summer, they created a girls AAU basketball team, which is designed to help players get more exposure in front of college scouts. So how did it go? Three players on that team have already made plans to play at the college level.

Duluth Marshall’s Merlea Mrozik signed her National Letter on Intent to play at UW-River Falls. Mesabi East’s Hannah Hannuksela will be taking her talents to UW-Stout. And Virginia’s Lexiss Trygg signed her NLI to join the women’s basketball team at the University of Jamestown. The trio says they are thankful for the time they spent with their instructors at Starks Academy.

“CJ [Osuchukwu] and Dyami [Starks], their workouts are so structured that when you go down there, you get stuff done. So it was worth it, an hour drive every week, three times a week. It was worth it,” said Hannuksela.

“It really taught you how to push through things and keep going and keep playing hard, even if you don’t think you can or you’re getting really tired. They really work on your fundamentals, too,” Trygg said.

“Dyami really advocates for women’s basketball and I can’t stress that enough, how much he’s impacted pretty much everybody’s capabilities on the AAU team. Just being a part of that and being part of Starks as a whole is just incredible,” said Mrozik.