ROCHESTER — Three of the top young girls basketball prospects in Minnesota all live within a few miles of each other.

Rochester is their home, with Mayo, Lourdes and John Marshall their respective schools.

That’s 5-foot-6 eighth-grade guard Amelia Mills at Mayo, 5-5 freshman guard Aaliyah Williams at Lourdes and 6-0 guard/forward Jazmin Daing at John Marshall.

Daing is ranked as the 12th-best prospect from the Class of 2027 by Junior All-Star, Williams the 33rd best. Rankings aren’t available for eighth graders, but if they were, Mills would figure to be near the top. As a seventh-grader last year, she’d already cracked the lineup of a Spartans team that finished a robust 23-5. Mills started the final seven games following a teammate’s injury and more than held her own, averaging 13 points, 4 assists and 4 steals in that stretch.

The future looks bright in Rochester basketball. These three are a big reason why.

Mills was a slightly built 5-3 when she joined the Mayo varsity to begin last season. She was quiet and unassuming but also richly talented, with speed, quickness, and shooting and ball-handling skills that belied her age.

Mayo second-year coach Andy Bromeling recognized the rare talent and immediately shot her up to the varsity. Mills spent the next four months proving how astute he was, her fitting right in with and against kids five years older than her. Those numbers she put up to close the year— averaging 13 points, 4 assists, 4 steals and shooting 35% on 3-pointers in her final seven games— said it all.

Now, the only question about Mills is how great might she become. And how vocal, too. She didn’t say much last year. But this is already a new Mills this season, with more words, more height (up to 5-6) and an even better game.

“Amelia has already shown a lot of improvement,” said Bromeling, who was thrilled with her last year. “She has so much more confidence now. When you talk to her, she just looks confident. And when you tell her to do something on the court, she just does it. She is now fully in control of what we are doing. She knows when to attack and she knows when to get the ball inside. She knows what to do within our system.

“She doesn’t have to prove anything anymore. She might be just an eighth-grader, but she acts like a senior.”

Mills comes from a basketball family, her father, John Mills, a former college player. She fell in love with the game at an early age.

It’s led her to hoops dreams. One of them is expressed on film, Mills guessing that the video was taken when she was in fourth grade. There, she expresses one desire that she’s already crossed off her basketball bucket list.

“In the video, I said that I want to play on the varsity as a seventh-grader,” Mills said. “So, it’s definitely cool to be reaching those goals.”

Mills has goals for this season, too. Now a definite starter and sharing the point-guard load with fellow standout Kaia Kirkeby, Mills wants to average more points and assists than last year, and keep her turnovers to as close to zero as possible.

The comfort she’s feeling now after having played one varsity season figures to send her to new heights. And when her high school career is done in another four years, she has another goal.

“I want to play Division I basketball,” Mills said.

She seems on her way.

This has been building for some time, Aaliyah Williams becoming a basketball star.

There was all of the individual work she used to do with her father, Eric Williams, at the former Rochester YMCA or the family driveway.

As early as age 5, he had created ball-handling and shooting drills for her. Aaliyah took to them beautifully, often getting to her workouts before the sun came up. She reflects on that time with nothing but gratitude.

“It helped me a lot, especially starting at that young of an age,” Aaliyah said. “I liked going through everything, learning how to dribble with (either) hand and getting the correct form down for shooting. That has definitely come in handy.”

What has also worked nicely for Williams is that she is fast, strong, agile, smart and with uncanny vision. All of that was enough on her side that last year, as just an eighth grader, she was already called up to the Lourdes girls basketball varsity. On one of the top Class 2A teams in Section One, Williams was among the first players off the bench, playing her most natural and favorite position, point guard.

The way Lourdes coach Todd Greguson saw it, Williams had the complete package. He feels that way now more than ever and with it has tossed her the keys to the team, this season as its starting point guard.

Greguson says that Williams is ready. He’s sure of it.

“She is a great team player and is really impressive with her passing ability,” Greguson said. “This year, she is looking to score more. Last year, she didn’t need to score much because we had three (seniors) who could do that. But seeing her in practice now, it’s like a light has been flipped on. She doesn’t seem like a freshman. She seems to have more of the mind frame of a junior. She is mature beyond her years, a smart kid and just the nicest kid.”

Williams has the look of the ultimate point guard. There is her wizardry ball handling, all of that speed, plenty of strength, a rare 25-inch vertical jump, and an ideal basketball mind.

“Her basketball IQ is way up there,” Greguson said. “She sees things that others just don’t see.”

After getting much-appreciated tutelage from last year’s seniors, Williams says she’s ready.

“Having those seniors last year, they kind of took me under their wing,” Williams said. “It was kind of like they were preparing me for this year since I now have to step up and be the point guard on the floor. But this year I am definitely more confident. I know what I’m doing.”

It was older brother Jacob Daing who got things rolling for younger sister, Jazmin Daing.

Jacob, a 2020 John Marshall graduate, was a talented guard for the Rockets. He could put the ball in the basket. He could also inspire his little sister, Jazmin.

“Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve liked basketball,” said the 6-foot Jazmin, who already was a starter for JM last year as an eighth grader when she averaged 5.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. “Whenever I’d watch my brother play, I’d always have a ball in my hands. I just fell in love with this sport after watching my brother play.”

Jazmin now has some recruiters who have fallen in love with her. This fall, the University of Nebraska already came through with a scholarship offer for her. The Cornhuskers aren’t alone in thinking she’s got a heck of a future. Smooth, long, skilled and with gliding speed, Daing is listed as the 12th best prospect in Minnesota out of her 2027 graduating class.

She is certainly not nearly all the way there yet, as her frame is slender, she has defensive work to do and she doesn’t always yet finish strong at the rim. But the potential of what she might become seems limitless.

“Talentwise, Jaz is right there,” said new Rockets coach Chad Ohl.

Though she’s 6 feet and still growing, Daing isn’t some back-to-the basket player. She likes to get out and run and is a strong enough ball handler to handle guard duties.

Daing is a natural scorer with a smooth shot. But it’s not scoring that she prides herself on most. It’s playing with a high basketball IQ and knowing all of her options when the ball is in her hands.

“I feel like I see the court really well,” Daing said. “Whenever my teammates are cutting, I already know where to put the ball.”

Ohl has the Rockets playing a style this year that she prefers. It’s fast paced, with the goal to get shots up in under 10 seconds. It’s that, and playing aggressive defense.

Daing can’t wait to operate this hurry up offense.

She also can’t wait to start making an impression.

“I just love putting myself out there, especially as a really young player,” Daing said. “A lot of people don’t know me and I’m just starting to build a name for myself. I’m just very thankful that I’m in the position I am now.”