Indeed, if you scan an ACC or Big East roster, or an Atlantic-10 or Colonial roster, chances are you will see a generous sprinkling of D-M-V girls there. In fact, a trip to most high school games in the region, this season, shows logo-clad polo-shirt, notebook-scribbling college coaches in the house, from as far west as the Pac-10 Conference, and everywhere in between.
Currently, there are about sixty girls in my region, in my opinion, who should be able to play at some level of Division-1 basketball in college. But these are some of the top 2010-class girls in my region that these college coaches have been lurking about watching play, during the Holiday season and into the stretch runs of everyone's school seasons.
1. Whitney Bays, 6-2, Huntington/Huntington, West Virginia
The prototype combo-forward; quite simply, she can do a little bit of everything, and she can do it all well. She's an athletic, versatile player, with a very good physique and very good instincts. At the high-school level, she can effectively play all five positions. When she plays hard and focused, she's right there with any wing forward in the country. She's definitely a high-major-D-1 prospect, able to play anywhere, if she wants to.
2. Jacqueline Brewer, 5-10, Martinsburg/Martinsburg, West Virginia
This Virginia Commonwealth-commit can just flat-out score. She's not as athletic as you'd like, but she does have a good basketball physique; and, she has an extremely-high IQ. On defense, she knows how to take advantage of the angles on the court. On offense, her constant movement and knowledge of the sweets spots on the court get her open out to NBA-3-point range, and get her to the basket to finish tough shots. And she rebounds well for a guard, too.
3. Janay Brinkley, 5-6, Archbishop Spalding/Severn, Maryland
This blur of speed and quickness is just now showing up on the radar of the major-D-1 college coaches. She's extremely athletic--she's also up on the rim--and makes plays, on both sides of the ball. She can run a team; she can get to the basket and finish; she can shoot the three-ball; she can defend her position; and, she can rebound. And she's physical. This girl is some skill polish and elite-level club work away from major-D-1 employment.
4. Lauren Burford, 6-1, Fairfax/Fairfax, Virginia
A whole lot of major-D-1 coaches looking for a shooter have been in this girl's high school gym this season. She's another girl who moves very well without the ball, and has a very high IQ. She's long and has a quick release on her shot, and has a very sweet stroke out to 3-point range. She has pretty good feet, too--she used to be a pretty good soccer player. She has good movement, and plays hard and focused.
5. Tiara Butler, 5-10, North Point/Waldorf, Maryland
She's ultra-athletic, long, wiry, effortless movement, physical, explosive. This Syracuse-commit, when focused, is as virtually-unstoppable as any girl her height range and body type in the country. From the wing position, this shooting-guard has such a quick first-step, that even when she makes a bad decision, she still can make a good play out of it. Becoming more of a playmaker than just a scorer, she's some shot mechanics away from national top-20 notoriety.
6. Nicole Cunningham, 6-1, Clarksburg/Clarksburg, Maryland
There are hundreds of girls like this, in this country: slightly-undersized post, who can step out and do some things facing the basket, but who can mix it up inside, who have a couple of post moves, who can block and alter a few shots, who can rebound, who can run the court. But the difference with this girl may be that she already instinctively has the short-corner/elbow/high-post quick-hitter game down.
7. Ataira Franklin, 5-11, Riverdale Baptist/Upper Marlboro, Maryland
This Virginia-commit isn't as athletic and physically-imposing as you'd like; but she has such a high IQ, and just makes plays. She came up as a technically-proficient post player, and was dominant in the post; now, she's transforming herself into a wing player, and has shown steady progress over the last year. Already a dead-eye spot-up 3-point shooter, she needs to get that handle tight. A crafty defender and rebounder, though.
8. Myisha Goodwin, 5-5, Thomas Edison/Alexandria, Virginia
There are many in my region who feel that this sparkplug of a point-guard might be the top pure point in the D-M-V. She does play the game with a little bit of flair, and has the abilty to make her teammates better--while getting her groove on, too. Has had the advantage of starting on a highly-successful high-school team with three major-D-1 players to service; and now, is the show herself, to the tune of about 25 points/10 assists per game this season.
9. Arielle Johnson, 6-5, Oak Hill Academy/Mouth of Wilson, Virginia
This much-discussed-player-in-national-circles has a WNBA body right now, and can run the court very well--which means you can coach around the rest. But the rest does need to catch up, with this girl. She does play hard, and has a great attitude. She's showing the beginnings of a couple of real post moves; she's starting to change shots in the paint; and she's starting to attack rebounds at rim level. She has a ways to go; but she isn't a project.
10. Tracy King, 5-9, Mount Vernon/Alexandria, Virginia
This jack-of-all-trades-master-of-some was such a dominant player, at the younger ages of AAU basketball. Now that she's pretty much maxed out on her height and size, she's settled into being a player of extremely high IQ, who is also fairly athletic, and is just skilled at both ends of the court. She's a playmaker, who almost always seems to make the logically-correct play. Not quite a star, but can make a college all-league team.
11. Asia Logan, 6-1, Digital Harbor/Baltimore, Maryland
This girl may have the best-looking basketball physique of anyone in my region: tall, long, not skinny-but not thick, everything proportioned--and she's just so athletic. And in Baltimore public high school, 20 point/15 rebound games are common. She's doing her transition from back-to-the-basket post, to ball-handling wing--skills-wise and mentals-wise. How long it takes her to develop will determine whether she goes mid-major-, or major-D-1.
12. Tyaunna Marshall, 5-9, Elizabeth Seton/Bladensburg, Maryland
Here's another girl who has hundreds like her in the country: she's long, with a nice physique, and physical; she has high IQ, and makes plays on both sides of the ball; she rebounds, from the perimeter and in traffic; she can shoot out to 3-point range, with a consistent mid-range game, and she can get to the basket and finish; she's solid in man-defense, and plays pretty good help-defense. The difference with her might be that notorious D-M-V swagger.
13. Chelisa Painter, 6-0, Indian River/Chesapeake, Virginia
This highly-versatile player is one that, at first glance, you don't pay much attention to--as she's not a flashy player. But as a game goes on, you start to notice a jump hook here, a spot-up 3-ball there; a rebound/put-back here, a slash-to-a-mid-range-jumper there; an altered shot in the paint here, some lock-down wing defense there; a textbook box-out here, a tough defensive rebound in-traffic there. A dependable player, who makes plays.
14. Jazmin Pitts, 6-1, Cosby/Chesterfield, Virginia
This Virginia-commit has the physique of an NFL linebacker--and knows what to do with it, too. She was a force of nature on a national level of the younger ages of AAU, and is the dominant post player in high school in the richmond area. She's not a lumbering beast, either--she's very crafty on the court, plays hard and with a purpose, and runs the court extremely well. But how well she does for ACC ball depends on how well she adjusts to the combo-forward position.
15. Ronika Ransford, 5-8, H.D. Woodson/Washington, D.C.
Not many national scouts or pundits agree with me, but I think this girl is the top scoring point-guard in this class in the country. She's athletic, physical, plays hard and with purpose, and has an organic, high IQ. She's unstoppable; and she always makes her teammates better. She knows how to run a team; and she knows how to score. And there's nothing she can't do with a basketball, with technically-proficient skill. And she defends, for real; and she rebounds. And she has the "X" factor. By far, the top 2010-class girl in my region.
16. Ondrea Shaw, 6-3, Oak Hill Academy/Mouth of Wilson, Virginia
Many scouts and pundits feel that this girl might have a higher upside than her schoolmate Arielle Johnson. She certainly makes a case for it, as she's very long and very athletic, with a whole lot of instinctive movement on the basketball court. To me, right now, she's extremely raw, skills-wise. But even so, she does get her hands on a lot of balls, in the rebound/put-back game, in the shot-blocking game, and in the deflection/interception game.
17. Orsi Szecsi, 6-3, Oak Hill Academy/Mouth of Wilson, Virginia
This Hungarian import is yet another girl in the Oak Hill stable, who's doing a little something. In many ways, she's a typical import: a very sweet shooting stroke in all phases of the game, out to 3-point range; some technically-proficient post moves; an impeccable passer; a clever rebounder. What separates her from most Europeans--especially at her age--is a willingness to mix it up, and a real attempt at playing some defense.
18. LaShay Taft, 5-7, City College/Baltimore, Maryland
This girl is a bit of a streetball legend around the Baltimore area--35- and 40-point games are common for her, on that circuit. She hasn't seemed to show as well on her school and club teams; but from time-to-time, she'll show how clever and slick a basketball player she can be. A streak shooter, but she can get on a run of 10-15 made 3-balls in a row; when in a groove, she's as slick a drive-and-dish player as it gets. And she can defend a little bit, too.
19. Sheronne Vails, 6-3, Arundel/Gambrills, Maryland
She's the hot commodity in my region, all of a sudden--because one of the National Champion college coaches came through to check out one of her games. I'm not sure if she's at that level, right now; but she does show intriguing potential. She's very long, very wiry, is athletic, does play hard, will mix it up, and does have a bit of a mean streak on the court. The potential is immense; but, she will have to bring it--with skills--this club season.
20. Talen Watson, 5-8, Arundel/Gambrills, Maryland
She's very strong, she's very physical, she has a great physique, and she plays very hard. But she has a nice handle, she has a little bit of flavor, and has an emerging touch on her jump shot. She knows how to run a team, and seems to have a steadying influence on her teammates. She's a very physical and aggressive scoring point-guard and man-defender, and is a great rebounding guard. She's not the best PG around, but might be the one that gets the best team results.
21. Kelsey Wolfe, 5-9, Seneca Valley/Germantown, Maryland
Her style of play with her school team could best be described as a train wreck on opium. But she regularly puts up performances of 30+ points/10+ rebounds/5+ assists/5+ steals a game. On her club team her style of play is more refined, a 3-point shooter who can finish in traffic; a slasher who can shoot the mid-range; a shooting guard, who can play the point. She may not be as complete as you'd like; but, she's more talented than you'd think.
James Nichols is director of The Real Basketball Report, which has been the scouting service of choice for the MD/DC/VA/WV region since 2001.He is also program director of Team Unique, a club program based in Washington, D.C., which has helped 92 out of 92 girls secure basketball scholarships over ten years; and, has helped 23 of these girls achieve high-school All-American and USA Basketball honors in that same time.