Tori Oehrlein, ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ Crosby-Ironton guard, says she will play for the Gophers

Gophers women’s basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit made Tori Oehrlein a recruiting priority in the Class of 2026.

It paid off.

On Friday evening in the Dave Galovich Gym at the high school in Crosby, Oehrlein, a 5-11 junior guard and the state’s second-highest-rated girls basketball recruit in the Class of 2026, announced she will play for the University of Minnesota.

Oehrlein, ranked as the 43rd-best junior in the country by ESPN and labeled a four-star recruit by 247Sports, took Plitzuweit’s affection to heart.

“I became really close with Coach Dawn during the recruiting process,” Oehrlein said. “They really wanted me. I think she is going to build a great program.”

Oehrlein led Crosby-Ironton to fourth place in the Class 2A state tournament last season, when she averaged 35.4 points, 15.2 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. She shot 56.9% from the floor, 39.8% from three-point range and 83.7% from the free-throw line. She totaled 114 points, 43 rebounds, 13 assists and 15 steals in the Rangers’ three state tournament games.

“Tori is a once-in-a-lifetime player,” Crosby-Ironton coach Pete Vukelich said. “She is extremely loyal. She is No. 1 on my pedestal.”

Oehrlein scored her 3,000th point sooner than any player in Minnesota history, accomplishing the feat in 101 games. She reached the milestone against Providence Academy in late January. She has 3,341 career points; Rebekah Dahlman of Braham holds the state record of 5,060.

Oehrlein picked the Gophers over Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Utah and Virginia Tech. She received her first four collegiate offers as a seventh-grader.

“I built a great relationship with them. It was hard to tell them no,” said Oehrlein, who plans on majoring in sports kinesiology. “My final three schools all had what I want to major in.”

Oehrlein’s selection of the Gophers had a lot to do with family.

“Having my family close by played a big part in my decision,” said Oehrlein, whose family — father Josh, mother Sarah and older brother Jordan — lives on a hobby farm just south of Crosby.

“It was a tough decision for her,” Josh Oehrlein said. “She didn’t want to make a mistake. I don’t think she could have gone wrong with any of her final three schools.”

Schools in the running envisioned Oehrlein at point guard, shooting guard and small forward. That meant plenty of work for her this past summer on her Minnesota Suns AAU team.

“I worked on my shot a lot,” Oehrlein said. “I had to improve my range, midrange pull-up jumper and get my shot off quicker.”

She didn’t solely work on her offensive game.

“I was always put on the other team’s best player,” Oehrlein said. “My defense has improved a lot.”

Her all-around athleticism and competitiveness helped her climb the rankings, Vukelich said. Oehrlein also plays tennis in the fall and runs track and plays softball in the spring.

“Tori is as competitive as it gets,” Vukelich said. “Tori has a work ethic like I have never seen before.”

By choosing Minnesota, Oehrlein became the third highly recruited athlete from greater Minnesota to select the Gophers in the past two years, after football safety Koi Perich of Esko and men’s basketball guard Isaac Asuma of Cherry.

“You can go to a program and make a name for yourself by helping them become great or you can go to a great program and just be another name,” Vukelich said. “It’s nice to see the best Minnesota kids going to the Gophers.”