Latest news with #GirlsBasketballPlayeroftheYear
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Who Dawn Staley is recruiting for South Carolina women's basketball 2026 class
COLUMBIA — South Carolina women's basketball's roster is seemingly set for the 2025-26 season. Coach Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks lost five players via the portal and to the WNBA, and gained four for 2025-26, but when next season ends they're set to lose even more talent. Advertisement South Carolina's Chloe Kitts, Raven Johnson, Ta'Niya Latson, Maryam Dauda, Ashlyn Watkins and Madina Okot will all be out of eligibility. It's not confirmed whether Watkins will get a medical redshirt season or not. Staley will return Ayla McDowell, Agot Makeer, Tessa Johnson, Adhel Tac, Maddy McDaniel and Joyce Edwards for 2026-27, depending on who enters the portal. Given the major gaps to fill, Staley has been recruiting and watching high school basketball so far this offseason. She was at an AAU event hosted by Select Events Basketball in Manheim, Pennsylvania, from April 25-27. She could use depth in every position after next season but here's a list of names to keep an eye on. Advertisement ESPN does not have anyone in its top 60 players in the class of 2026 from South Carolina. Oliviyah Edwards, forward Oliviyah Edwards is from Tacoma, Washington, and plays high school basketball for Elite Sports Academy. The 6-foot-3 five-star forward is the No. 4 ranked player in ESPN's HoopGurlz rankings for the class of 2026. Edwards is already somewhat familiar with Columbia, as she was on campus in January ahead of the Gamecocks' game against LSU and was seen at practice the day before the win. She had 23 points and seven rebounds in an AAU game in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on April 26. While it's still a mystery where McDowell, a small forward, and Makeer, a wing will play this season, losing Kitts and Watkins is more than enough reason to recruit Edwards hard. She can join the other Edwards (Joyce), in the paint. Advertisement Depth at forward has always been Staley's specialty, and she has the tools in Columbia to turn a great high school forward into a pro. So she may go hard for Edwards as she's developing in her senior high school season. Jordyn Jackson, guard Jordyn Jackson is a 6-1 guard from Washington, DC, who is No. 8 in the class of 2026 rankings. The five-star guard plays for Sidwell Friends High School and was named the 2024-25 Gatorade District of Columbia Girls Basketball Player of the Year. On Jan. 31, she announced her final six schools are: South Carolina, TCU, Ohio State, Miami, Maryland and Alabama. Advertisement Although Tessa Johnson will return, and Makeer can play a guard role, recruiting a true guard should be a priority for Staley. She brings height like Johnson does, and can balance out the guard room, giving some different play style than McDaniel brings as the true point. Kate Harpring, point guard Kate Harpring is No. 2 in ESPN's rankings and is a five-star 5-foot-10 point guard. She's from Atlanta, Georgia and plays for Marist School. She is the daughter of former NBA star Matt Harpring, who played for the Utah Jazz and Orlando Magic after playing at Georgia Tech. She was named Georgia's Gatorade Player of the Year, averaging 32.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 5.1 steals and 3.7 assists. Advertisement She can not only run the point but she's a dominant scorer, which Staley will lose when Latson leaves for the WNBA. On July 17, she announced she received an offer from South Carolina then she posted a picture on an unofficial visit in November. She's also taken unofficial visits to Duke, Southern Cal, Notre Dame, North Carolina and UCLA. McKenna Woliczko, wing McKenna Woliczko, a five-star 6-foot-2 wing and the No. 6 ranked player, posted a picture from an unofficial visit on X as South Carolina faced Texas in the Final Four: "Good luck today in @WFinalFour @GamecockWBB #uncommitted." She then reposted a post on April 20 that said she's expected to narrow down her top 10 this summer, with pictures of her in South Carolina, Iowa and Ohio State jerseys. Advertisement She is from San Jose, California, and plays for Archbishop Mitty. Brooklyn Hall, forward Brooklyn Hall is the younger sister of Bree Hall, who won two national titles with South Carolina before getting drafted into the WNBA on April 14. Brooklyn is a 6-foot forward and a four-star player who is ranked No. 57. Hall averaged 18.1 points for Western Reserve Academy. NEXT SEASON: Predicting Dawn Staley's starting lineup for South Carolina women's basketball in 2025-26 Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@ and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dawn Staley recruiting targets for South Carolina basketball in 2026
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Standout year, national attention earns Koupal POTY Nomination
WAGNER, S.D. (KELO) — Wagner's Ashlyn Koupal is our second nominee for Girls Basketball Player of the Year. A life filled with basketball has helped her become one of the top recruits in South Dakota history. Ashlyn Koupal and her sister Macy have been on a court since they were kids. 'They're gyms rats. They've been in the gym basically since they started kindergarten. They're coming to practice every day,' Wagner head coach and Ashlyn's dad Michael Koupal said. 'We've got some cool videos of them playing and scrimmaging each other on the side of the gym, while practice is going on.' Ashlyn's love for the game only continued to strengthen as she got older. 'Growing up, I'd look up to college players. Me and my sister would go to USD games with my aunt Mandy. I'm actually 24 because of Ciara Duffy,' Ashlyn said. Duffy is a former USD standout, as is Ashlyn's Aunt. Mandy is considered one of the most accomplished players in USD history, being named Division-II Player of the Year twice, an All-American three times and a USD Hall of Famer. 'Mandy was always talked about. I never got to see her play, but I know she was really good,' Ashlyn said. 'That was definitely motivation as I wanted to be like her. She was kind of always a role model growing up.' Ashlyn began playing varsity as a seventh grader and after four years of success, the window to contact her opened in June of 2024. 'That really picked up and I was taking 2-3 calls a day somedays,' Ashlyn said. 'It just got to be a lot, but I've narrowed it down to five, so that's really helped me out.' Koupal has recieved a total of 34 college offers, including 29 offers from the ACC, Big XII, Big Ten and SEC. However, Koupals final five are Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, Nebraska and TCU. That national attention, paired with a standout season helped her to be named a Player of the Year Finalist. Koupal averaged a double-double of 22 points and ten rebounds per game. She also tallied five assists, three blocks and two steals a contest, while shooting 58% from the field. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kettering Fairmont graduate picked No. 16 overall in WNBA draft
Kettering native and University of Notre Dame graduate Maddy Westbeld is heading to Chicago. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Westbeld was the No. 16 pick overall by the Chicago Sky in the WNBA draft on Monday. Advertisement She graduated from Fairmont High School in 2020 and was the Gatorade Ohio Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Westbeld declared for the draft earlier this week, according to a previous News Center 7 report. 'Thank you for everything thus far, but babygirl, this is only the beginning and you have so many gifts yet to realize. I am blessed to announce I am declaring for the 2025 WNDA Draft. Thank you God,' Westbeld said in the post. TRENDING STORIES: The 6-foot-3 forward played five seasons for the Fighting Irish and racked up several honors along the way. In her first year, Westbeld was named ACC Rookie of the Year and earned First Team All-ACC and ACC All-Freshman Team honors. Advertisement She made the Second Team All-ACC in both her junior and senior seasons and was named to the All-ACC Tournament First Team her senior year. She finished her career at Notre Dame with 940 rebounds, the seventh-best in program history. She also scored 1,710 career points, 13th-best in program history. Her sister, Kathryn Westbeld played for Notre Dame between 2015-2018 and scored 1,076 points, making them the only sister duo in school history to each score over 1,000 points. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Chicago Tribune
31-03-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Naperville's Greta Kampschroeder cherishes final NCAA Tournament. ‘I was lucky to find my place at Michigan.'
Greta Kampschroeder rediscovered her joy for basketball. Now the former Naperville North star is prepared to take on the world. Kampschroeder, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, saved the best season of her college career for last, leading Michigan to its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. More important, it was her happiest season. 'Coming in as a college athlete, I would tell anybody that it's a guarantee that you're going to go through some highs and lows and bumps in the road,' Kampschroeder said. 'Whether it was my freshman year at Oregon State, where I didn't feel like I was in the right place and having to navigate through that, and then going into the portal is scary, you don't know what's going to happen. 'So I was lucky to find my place at Michigan. Even through the highs and lows, I still felt like it was a good place for me and still a great experience.' Kampschroeder, a three-time Naperville Sun Girls Basketball Player of the Year, started 25 games as a freshman at Oregon State. Then she transferred to Michigan, becoming the first McDonald's All-American to play there. The lows included a couple of injuries, a fight for playing time and changing roles. But former Naperville North coach Erin Colletti knew the highs were coming for Kampschroeder. 'I talked with Greta last summer, and she was in such a good headspace going into her senior year,' Colletti said. 'She was taking the pressure off of herself.' Kampschroeder endured the same problem that Colletti, who played at DePaul, had in college. 'Sometimes you put so much pressure on yourself to do well that you almost handcuff yourself in your decision-making,' Colletti said. 'We saw that early on with Greta. 'I was the same way in college. I didn't play free. This year, she was like, 'I'm just going to play and let it go.'' That paid dividends for Kampschroeder. She started every game and averaged a career-high 6.8 points, a career-high 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists for the Wolverines (23-11), who used her as a facilitating center in a five-guard offense instead of the scorer she had always had been. 'I don't look like a 5, but I can do a couple things from that position and essentially gave our team an advantage this year,' Kampschroeder said. 'Other teams were having to figure out how to guard us, so that was fun. It was a fun year.' Kampschroeder scored 13 points during Michigan's 80-74 win over Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. She didn't score in the Wolverines' 76-55 loss to Notre Dame in the second round, but she has no regrets. 'There's a lot of lessons to be learned by going through some of those lows,' Kampschroeder said. 'You gain a lot of perspective in a short period of time, but I wouldn't trade any of my decisions anywhere for the world. It made me who I am, and it led me to where I was supposed to be.' Kampschroeder, who will graduate in May with a degree in sport management, aims to play professionally overseas in the fall. It will be unfamiliar territory, but Kampschroeder is prepared. 'I've been in a lot of uncomfortable positions,' she said. 'That's part of being a college athlete. It's never easy, it's never comfortable, so I think I'm ready to take on a situation where it's a little bit unpredictable. 'I think now is the time to do it, while I'm young and I can still play. If I don't do it, I'll regret it, so I'm looking forward to that.' Colletti is excited to see what Kampschroeder accomplishes. 'When you're a teenager going into college, your brain is still not ready to handle the emotions of college stuff, and I feel like she's grown up so much and is so much more mature and confident,' Colletti said. 'If she does go overseas, she's going to have such a strong career.' A pro career has always been Kampschroeder's goal. 'While it's a scary step, I think it's important to go out of your comfort zone and try something new,' she said. 'I think I'll gain a lot of perspective and experience out of doing it. 'I don't expect it to be easy right away, but I think it's a very fulfilling opportunity that I can't pass up.' Former Naperville North assistant Molly Murray, who played at Michigan, attended Kampschroeder's final two games and said young athletes can learn from Kampschroeder's example. 'She found another gear this year,' Murray said. 'Her role was different, but her attitude was the same. 'She stuck with it, and I think that's something that should be applauded more in college athletics. It speaks a lot to her character.'
Chicago Tribune
15-03-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Lincoln-Way West's Caroline Smith is the 2024-25 Daily Southtown Girls Basketball Player of the Year: ‘A great season.'
There were plenty of good reasons why Lincoln-Way West's Caroline Smith shouldn't have played high school basketball as a senior. She already had a scholarship locked in for volleyball at Drake. Playing basketball meant dealing with the overlap of two sports, including club volleyball with First Alliance, which could take a toll on her body and mind. Even though some people urged her to forget about basketball this winter and concentrate on volleyball, the 6-foot-1 forward forged ahead anyway. 'I considered not doing it,' she said. 'But for my high school career, I just wanted to finish it out.' And Smith finished it out in style. The 2024-25 Daily Southtown Girls Basketball Player of the Year averaged a double-double and helped lead the Warriors to a 23-12 record. Needless to say, she doesn't regret the decision to continue with her so-called second sport. 'This season was one of my favorites,' Smith said. 'I feel like we came in as the underdogs and we did better than expected. We kept getting better. 'Everyone on the team is friends with each other, and it was just a great season.' During a well-rounded final season, Smith averaged 13.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.5 steals and 2.8 blocked shots. 'I've always described her as a stat stuffer,' Lincoln-Way West coach Ryan White said. 'She checks all of the boxes. She scores. She plays defense. And she's our school's all-time leading rebounder and shot blocker.' Junior teammate Molly Finn also appreciated Smith's versatility. After Smith scored a career-high 25 points to go with 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocked shots on Dec. 19 in a 54-43 win over Lincoln-Way Central, Finn said Smith was 'super aggressive.' 'She always gets her rebounds,' Finn said. 'She's really good at driving and can hit her threes occasionally. I feel like she plays with a lot of energy all the time and plays hard.' Smith said her versatility started to develop after she began playing for Lincoln-Way West. 'Earlier in high school, it was harder for me to score and I focused a lot on defense,' she said. 'That's where my assists came, too, because I was always looking for my teammates. 'They were good at looking for me and passing to me also.' White had a chance to watch Smith grow into the player she is now. His daughter, Peyton, played AAU with Smith for the Lincoln-Way Xplosion and he got to watch her improvement. 'She had the length at a young age and you could see the athleticism with how she moved,' White said of Smith. 'I started watching her from fifth grade on, and every year, you could see the growth as she played more basketball. 'She was handling the ball and doing a little bit of everything, so you could see her progress all the way through.' As far as picking between volleyball and basketball, Smith took a deeper interest in volleyball as her older sister, Abby, started to excel in the sport. Abby, who also played for Lincoln-Way West, was a junior outside/right-side hitter in the fall for Augustana. Caroline, a natural outside, played some middle as well for the Warriors. 'At the beginning of high school, I was still undecided,' Caroline said of what sport she would pursue more seriously. 'But then the passion of volleyball grew.' Smith still maintained her fondness for basketball, however. She's sad to see that chapter end. 'I'm definitely going to miss it with all of the people I've met,' she said. 'It's always been a part of me when I was growing up. I started in the park district leagues and played it up until now. 'It's competitive. It's just a great sport, and I loved playing it.'
