Submitted Photo: Fairmont's Brylee Miller and Logan Junkermeier sign their Letters of Intent this past Wednesday at the Fairmont High School gymnasium.

FAIRMONT – This past Wednesday, Fairmont High School athletes Brylee Miller and Logan Junkermeier signed their official Letters of Intent to continue their respective basketball careers at Minnesota State University and Southwest Minnesota State University.

It was the first time Fairmont had two athletes, a boy and a girl, sign Letters of Intent to play Division II basketball in the same year.

“Anytime you get kids to represent their school at a higher end in college, it’s a cool deal,” Fairmont Activities Director Mat Mahoney said. “They are ambassadors of our school’s sports program.”

BRYLEE MILLER

Miller has always had her sights set on playing basketball ever since she was little, remembering her first involvement in the sport during her third-grade AAU days. This passion for basketball has only grown over time, quickly translating to the Fairmont High School varsity basketball team during her first year with the program in eighth grade.

Her college recruitment started earlier than most. Minnesota State University women’s basketball coach Emilee Thiesse reached out to Miller the summer after her freshman season, generating immediate interest in the Cardinal forward.

Thiesse and the Mavericks offered Miller just before her sophomore year at Fairmont. After visiting the Mankato campus later that fall, Miller got a feel for the program’s facilities to better understand what this university had to offer.

Miller made her college choice official on July 16, 2024, committing to the MSU basketball program the summer entering her junior year.

“I kinda got to see around campus and got a feel for what it would be if I would end up going there,” Miller said. “That made it kind of an easy decision, just seeing how campus is and how everything works up there.”

Thiesse and her Maverick program weren’t the only ones invested in her talents on the hardwood. Miller also received interest from Southwest Minnesota State, the University of Nebraska-Kearney, Minnesota State University Moorhead and Michigan Technological University.

The biggest draw Miller had to MSU was the style of play Thiesse implements into her coaching philosophy. Using an up-tempo brand of basketball on both sides of the court, this frantic pace and speed were exactly what Miller looked for when continuing her career at the next level.

“I think it was just the style of play,” Miller said. “They play so fast, and their defense is insane. That’s kind of the main talking point on their team, how fast they play their defense and offense. … I like to play at that fast pace, so I think it will be a perfect fit.”

While Miller’s future education plans at MSU are still undecided, the Fairmont senior is currently looking into the field of nursing.

LOGAN JUNKERMEIER

Unlike Miller, Junkermeier’s introduction into collegiate athletics developed further down the line of his Fairmont basketball career. His first instance of recruitment came this past season for the Cardinals.

In a home game against St. James Area, a Buena Vista University coach was present to watch former Cardinal player Oliver Tordsen. Junkermeier’s strong performance that night caught the interest of the scout, who then asked if he had any intent in taking his skills to the next level.

“After we played St. James at home last year, a Buena Vista coach was watching Oliver, and came up to me asking if I had any interest in playing basketball, and I said, ‘Yes'” Junkermeier said. “He asked if I had any offers, and when I said no, he was super shocked. I started to think I maybe needed to be taking this a little more seriously.”

Junkermeier then joined the Minnesota Rise, an AAU organization based in southern Minnesota, the next spring. His stock as an athlete rose tremendously with the exposure, seeing more and more coaches interested in his talents.

“It kind of seemed like after every tournament, I would always check my phone, check Twitter, and it always seemed like a new coach would be following me,” Junkermeier said.

Southwest Minnesota State University reached out to Junkermeier this past May during his different AAU competitions, showing interest in the Cardinal senior by keeping in contact the rest of the summer.

Mustang head coach Brad Bigler came to see Junkermeier play in Mankato during Fairmont’s summer league program, texting him right after to set up an official campus visit in Marshall.

While receiving interest from other schools in the Midwest, such as the University of Sioux Falls, Wayne State College and the University of Mary, it was this visit that pushed Junkermeier into wanting to be a part of Bigler’s program.

“We visited campus and talked about a whole bunch of stuff,” Junkermeier said. “One of the things that really stuck out to me was how the coaches were. I really liked their campus, it felt really well. And I liked that it was close to home.”

On top of this, Junkermeier felt comfortable in the system Bigler had in place at SMSU. Using a variety of screen-and-rolls to implement post players into the offense, Junkermeier knew this style of play was just up his alley.

Junkermeier committed to SMSU on Aug. 8 of this year, knowing he wanted to decide before his final year at Fairmont. He plans on diving into the field of elementary education.

“Anytime you can go play at a collegiate level, it’s a big deal,” Junkermeier said. “Any level you play at, it’s hard to play college basketball. I’m just super excited that I’m able to do it and be around the right guys. The guys at SMSU were great and super welcoming to me; it almost seemed like I had played with them before, which is why I thought this is where I want to be.”