Brianna Jackson, 6-3 F, Princess Anne HS (Virginia Beach, VA): committed to Miami (FL), following an official visit over the weekend. She took an earlier official to Indiana; Old Dominion and Virginia Tech were among the other schools that had offered her. (4/30/2018)
Jackson, named the All-Tidewater Girls Basketball Player of the Year in March after her junior season, committed to the Hurricanes after mulling more than a dozen scholarship offers.
Jackson, a 6-foot-3 post player, also took an official visit to Indiana and had offers from Virginia Tech and Old Dominion, among others.
“What attracted me was the chemistry I had with all the coaches,” Jackson said of Miami. “Some players have good chemistry with one coach, but it seemed like all the coaches were already family to me. The players treated me like I was already on the team for three years. We just really hit it off.”
JaMya Mingo-Young, 5-8 G, Loranger HS (LA): committed to Mississippi State, giving the Bulldogs three 2019 commitments in the span of a week (see below for the other two). Mingo-Young’s other finalists were Tulane, Little Rock, and Alabama. She’s currently ranked #39 in the 2019 class by espnW. (4/24/2018)
“I liked it (Starkville) the first time I went there,” Mingo-Young said. “It is a small town and it reminds me a lot of Loranger. They have one of the best programs and fan bases in the country and I wanted to be part of that. The coaches are great … very positive. I want to go in there and compete for a chance to play.”
Jordan Horston, 6-1 G, Columbus Africentric HS (OH): currently on an official visit to North Carolina, her first one. She’s also planning officials to Tennessee and Louisville, with the other two not yet scheduled. (4/23/2018)
Kate McArthur, 5-9 SG, Warren Cousino HS (MI): decommitted from Clemson, following the coaching change there. She had committed to the Tigers in October 2017. (4/21/2018)
McKinley Bradshaw, 5-11 SG/W, Lyman HS (WY): A Casper Star-Tribune article details Bradshaw’s commitment to Wyoming in late March. (4/21/2018)
“I made a few visits to Wyoming and watched them play a little bit,” Bradshaw said. “And I talked a little bit with other schools, but in the end I knew Wyoming was the place for me so I’m super excited to continue playing.”
Her college lists never got that extensive. She mulled offers from Northern Colorado, heavily considered Pepperdine and even looked into Snow College. Despite her impressive individual numbers over her three seasons at Lyman, she garnered very little attention.
Angel Parker, 5-6 G, Cardinal O’Hara HS (Tonawanda, NY): Buffalo News feature article on Parker provides a summary of her current recruiting situation. (4/21/2018)
Parker is on the recruiting radar of 10-15 colleges currently, but O’Neil expects that number to double during the summer AAU season. Her scholarship offers include Niagara, Siena, Brown and Hartford. UB, Princeton, Hofstra, Binghamton and Stony Brook have shown interest as well.
But as great as Parker is on the court for the Hawks, O’Neil can’t say enough about her as a person outside of basketball.
“One of most important things is she’s the nicest kid I’ve ever coached,” O’Neil said. “She’s another kid with a high GPA, so she not only just does it on the court but in the classroom as well. I’ve never, ever heard anybody say a bad word about her. It’s just been an honor and a privilege to coach her.”
Jaelyn Batts, 6-0 W, Freedom HS (South Riding, VA): announced her commitment to Boston College. Batts had previously committed to Albany, in February 2018, so she’s following head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee from Albany to BC. (4/18/2018)
Anissa Rivera, 6-1 W, Rock Creek Christian Acad. (Upper Marlboro, MD): decommitted from West Virginia. She’s currently ranked #55 by espnW in the 2019 class. (4/18/2018)
Jayla Hemingway, 5-10 G, Houston HS (Germantown, TN): committed to Mississippi State, over Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas. (4/17/2018)
Hemingway, one of five girls basketball nominees for The Commercial Appeal Sports Awards player of the year honor, chose the Bulldogs over Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. She said that despite feeling strongly about Mississippi State for about two weeks it wasn’t an easy choice.
“It was a tough decision,” she said. “Other schools I had close relationships with as well, but I wanted to stay close to home and be near my family.”
Mississippi State, on this same day, landed another 2019 commitment: Kennady Tucker, 5-11 PG, North Little Rock HS (AR). She also had offers from Arkansas, Louisville, and others.
London Clarkson, 6-1 F, Pflugerville HS (TX-2019): recently took an official visit to Arizona State, her first one. Her other finalists aren’t known, but among her reported offers are LSU, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M. (4/17/2018)
Shemera Williams, 5-9 PG, Milwaukee Academy of Science (WI): picked up offers from Virginia*, Kentucky, and Arizona State. Williams, a top-50 ranked prospect, includes among her previous offers Marquette, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Illinois, and Georgia. (4/16/2018)
*The Virginia offer came on the same day Tina Thompson was named the new Cavaliers women’s basketball coach. Also receiving an offer from the new UVA coach on day one was another 2019 top-50ish prospect—and another point guard—Corina Carter, 5-6 PG, Judson HS (Converse, TX). Info on her previous offers is sketchy, but Carter had home visits in March 2018 with Kentucky and Wichita State.
Duke: The Blue Devils picked up their first 2019 commitment on Saturday—Jaida Patrick, 5-11 W, Saddle River Day School (NJ). She selected Duke over Michigan. (4/16/2018)
The Saddle River Day junior combo guard committed to Duke on Saturday, selecting the Blue Devils over Michigan.
“One day when I was little I was watching basketball and just said I love Duke and I want to go there,” said Patrick Monday morning. “It’s a great academic school. I know that going there I will be pushed and challenged as both a student and an athlete.”
Patrick, who is from Rockland County, NY, transferred to Saddle River Day in the fall of 2017 from Long Island Lutheran. She spent her freshman year of high school at North Rockland HS (NY).
Makenna Marisa, 5-11 SG, Peters Township HS (PA): Post-Gazette Girls Fab 5 article notes her current offers as Duquesne, Villanova, St. Joseph’s, and Ball State. (4/16/2018)
The scoop: Talented point guard and one of the best juniors in the state. This season, averaged 22.9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals a game for WPIAL Class 6A finalist. Has 1,115 career points. Granddaughter of legendary former Waynesburg University coach Rudy Marisa.
College talk: Duquesne, Villanova, St. Joseph’s and Ball State have offered scholarships.
Taylor Jones, 6-3 C, Dallas Christian HS (TX): took an official visit to Florida State this weekend. As of January 2018, Jones had a top 10 of Baylor, UCLA, Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Mississippi State, Oregon State, Stanford, Tennessee, and Texas. (4/15/2018)
Kaia Harrison, 5-7 PG, Baldwin HS (NY): took an official visit to Iowa State this weekend. Other schools she might be considering aren’t known, but she had a home visit with St. John’s in March. (4/15/2018)
Samantha Brunelle, 6-2 F, William Monroe HS (VA): committed to Notre Dame, joining Anaya Peoples in their 2019 class. (4/15/2018)
Brunelle said the that she knew after the in-home visit by Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw the second week of March. Before that, she said the Irish and the University of Virginia were probably tied at the top of her list.
Virginia coach Joanne Boyle announced her retirement following an appearance in the NCAA Tournament by her Cavaliers. In order to finalize the adoption of her 6-year-old daughter Ngoty, Boyle has to travel to Senegal, where Ngoty was born. Because she has no idea when she’ll be able to return, Boyle decided to step down from the Virginia job.
Brunelle admitted that surprise decision by Boyle played a role in her choice.
“It did a little bit,” Brunelle said when asked if the coaching change affected her decision. “I was conf in my decision with Notre Dame. But I was kind of hanging around to see what was going to happen [at Virginia].”
Meanwhile, UConn “sources” played the “we didn’t want her anyway” card:
She did not pick the Irish over UConn. Sources familiar with the process indicate that the Huskies did not offer Brunelle a scholarship. Instead, UConn focused its frontcourt recruiting efforts on Aliyah Boston, a 6-foot-4 forward from Worcester Academy and also a junior. The timeline for her college decision is unknown.
Michigan: The Wolverines land their first 2019 commitment—Michelle Sidor, 5-8 guard out of Saddle River Day School (NJ). She picked Michigan over Harvard, Villanova, Stanford, and Florida, among others. At this time, Blue Star has her ranked #53 in her class. (4/13/2018)
“I was stressing all week about this,” said Sidor, who plans to study business. “I thought I was going to Michigan but after my visit to Harvard I really had to think about it. Michigan has what I want, obviously great academics and top basketball and I just loved the coaches.”
Sania Wells, 5-7 PG, East Central HS (MS): MaxPreps feature notes that she has seven offers: LSU, Auburn, Boston University, South Alabama, Southern Mississippi, Chattanooga, and Louisiana Tech. Auburn is her apparent leader. (4/12/2018)
Wells was speechless when she received offers from LSU and Auburn.
“I really like Auburn right now, but I’m still waiting on my official visit,” Wells said.
Categories: recruiting
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