City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2022-23 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 9. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)
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As always, Philadelphia basketball is everywhere.

Year after year, dozens and dozens of Philly-area ballplayers are spread around Division I rosters, from East Coast to West Coast, North to South, low-major to high-major and everywhere in between. Each fall, CoBL rounds up all of those local prospects to update our readers on how their careers are going and what’s expected of them in the year to come.

We’ve split the area’s D-I alumnae into a two-part list; here’s Part 1 of our roundup, featuring more than 30 local products who are currently on Division I rosters. (CLICK HERE for Part 2)

(If we’re missing someone, let us know: cityofbasketballlove@gmail.com)

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Lainey Allen (Fr. | Maryland-Eastern Shore)
First up on the list is one of a couple recent P-W grads in our alumni roundup, both of whom were major reasons the Colonials went undefeated last season en route to a PIAA Class 6A state championship. The 6-2 Allen was P-W’s starting center, a strong defender and rebounder who did what she was asked to offensively: namely, finish around the rim. One of four freshmen on the UMES roster amongst a group of six newcomers, Allen could be useful to a UMES roster that didn’t have anybody average more than 5.5 rpg a year ago.

Ryanne Allen (Fr. | Vanderbilt)

Two local freshmen into the roundup, and two state champs. Allen was a force to be reckoned with at Archbishop Wood, helping lead the Vikings to the Class 5A title, averaging 15.3 ppg and 3.3 rpg along the way. Ranked No. 82 in her class by ESPN, Allen is a 6-1 wing guard who can score from all three levels, using her size and physicality to get into the lane and make things happen. She joins a Commodores squad that graduated its top scorer from last year but returns their next five leading bucket-getters.

Nadjy Amira (R-Soph. | Coppin State)
Amira, who started off her college years going by Nadjy Tyler,  has still only played in eight collegiate games after taking a medical redshirt in 2019-20 and not playing last season, her first at Coppin State. She spent her first two years at Dayton, where the 6-4 Imhotep Charter grad averaged 1.4 ppg and 2.1 rpg. If she can get back on the court, the former top-100 recruit should be a force to be reckoned with in the MEAC. 

Mia Andrews (Jr. | FDU)
A 5-8 guard out of Archbishop Wood, Andrews is in her first year as a Division I player after spending the last two years at Chipola College (Fla.). As a sophomore, she averaged 1.7 ppg and 1.2 rpg, playing for the high-level JUCO program, and now she’ll try to show she can do even more at the D-I level under third-year head coach Angelika Szumilo, whose team went 19-12 a year ago and made it to the WNIT.

Brianne Borcky (Sr. | Drexel)
A 6-foot-tall forward out of Garnet Valley, who she helped lead to a District 1 championship in 2019, Borcky has been a reserve all three seasons at Drexel so far, playing in a total of 47 games. She hasn't been asked to contribute much besides her effort and defensive versatility, averaging around a point and rebound per game for her career. Listed as a senior, Borcky does have two years of eligibility left if she wants to use them. 

Bri Bowen (Fr. | Delaware)
Ryanne Allen’s backcourt mate at Archbishop Wood, Bowen starts off her college career at Delaware, where she’s joining a program that won the 2022 CAA Championship but is starting fresh after losing its head coach to Arizona State and most of its players to graduation and/or transfer. The Delaware roster is a mix of freshmen (2), transfers (6) and holdovers (5), and it’s not clear which way things will shake out. A 5-10 point guard, Bowen has great size on the ball and is a strong 3-point shooter and defender, and was a first team All-PCL selection as a senior.

Alexa Brodie (Sr. | Colgate)
Brodie has been a three-year starter for Colgate, with all but two of her 63 appearances for the Raiders coming as a member of the starting lineup; the last two years, she’s averaged just under 32 mpg, clearly an invaluable piece for head coach Ganiyat Adeduntan. The 5-6 Central Bucks South grad was Colgate’s third-leading scorer as a junior, averaging 9.0 ppg and 2.4 rpg, finishing second on the team with 50 free-throws (on an 80.6% clip). 

Anajah Brown (Soph. | Siena)
A 6-1 center out of the Baldwin School, Brown played in 22 games as a freshman at Siena, starting two; she averaged 2.4 points and rebounds for the season, playing 8.7 mpg. Her best outing of the season came in a successful 19 minutes at Rider in January, where she scored 15 points on 7-12 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive end; she also had an 11-point, nine-rebound game against St. Peter’s in March. Last year’s starting center graduated, so there’s a chance for her to see a much bigger role.

Maddie Burke (Jr. | Villanova)
The former Central Bucks West standout comes back to the area after two years at Penn State which saw her get off to a great start (8.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg in 2020-21) and then struggle a bit last year, averaging 2.8 ppg and 1.7 rpg while shooting 15-of-77 (19.4%) from 3-point range. The Wildcats are counting on a return to form for the 6-0 wing, a four-time All-State selection while piling up more than 1,600 points in a Bucks uniform, winning Player of the Year honors along the way. The Wildcats need a few scorers to step up, and Burke’s going to get her chance.

Anna Camden (Sr. | Penn State)
Camden has been a steady contributor through all three of her years at Penn State, first in a reserve role and then the last two years as a starter; overall, she’s played in 83 games with 51 starts, averaging 6.1 ppg over those three years. As a junior, Camden averaged 6.1 ppg and a career-best 4.9 rpg, making 38.6% of her shots and 33.3% of her 3-pointers. A 6-3 forward and the older sister of Virginia Tech’s John Camden, Anna played at the Shipley School, where she graduated in 2019 as the program’s all-time leading scorer (1,535 points).

Denae Carter (Soph. | Mississippi State)
One of the top players in the AACA in recent memory, Carter was a powerhouse at St. Basil’s, leading them to four straight league titles and leaving the program as its all-time leader in points, rebounds, blocks and steals. She brought that ability right down to the SEC, making the league’s All-Freshman Team last year, averaging 6.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg and 2.1 bpg before tearing her ACL in January, ending her season after she’d moved into the starting lineup. It remains to be seen how much of the 2022-23 season she’ll be able to play as she returns from her injury.

Bianca Coleman (Fr. | Navy)
Coleman captained Gwynedd Mercy to a 26-1 mark and AACA championship a season ago, averaging 9.8 ppg and earning third team all-state honors in the process. The 5-10 guard is one eight freshmen. Navy has just three seniors, three juniors and one sophomore, so Coleman and her classmates should have an opportunity to compete for minutes right away.

Maggie Doogan (Fr. | Richmond)
Doogan, another Philadelphia Catholic League and all-state first team selection a year ago, joins the Spiders after a terrific two seasons at O'Hara to conclude her high school career. She averaged 16.0 ppg last season to help the Spiders to PCL and PIAA crowns. Richmond only had three forwards in its main rotation last season and two of them are back, so Doogan will likely have to wait for an expanded role. The daughter of a La Salle women's basketball alumnae, she will face her mother's (and high school coach's) former team in Richmond on Feb. 8.

Kaitlyn Flanagan (Fr. | Holy Cross)

Anybody who watched enough of their games recognized that Flanagan was the driving force behind Plymouth Whitemarsh’s state championship last year, the 5-8 point guard absolutely unshakeable on the ball, doing everything to get the Colonials into their sets and leading their defensive efforts. Though her raw stats might not have been as impressive as her teammates (8.8 ppg, 4.5 apg), Flanagan’s abilities to get her teammates the right shots made her invaluable. Now she joins a Holy Cross program coming off a 20-win season but in need of a point guard following the graduation of Patriot League MVP Avery LaBarbera (16.4 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 4.0 apg).

Brittany Garner (R-Jr. | Temple)
One of more than a half-dozen new faces on the Owls under first-year head coach Diane Richardson, Garner’s one of the few locals on the squad. The 6-4 forward is a Philadelphia native, though she did her high school years just over the bridge at Winslow Twp. (N.J.), where she was a second team all-state selection after averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds her senior year. Her college path has taken her to Mizzou (2018-20), Prairie View A&M (2020-22) and now back home to Temple; last year, as a redshirt sophomore (thanks to COVID) at PVAM, she started 12 of 26 games, averaging 6.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg.

Maggie Grant (Fr. | Villanova)
It’s no surprise that Grant ended up at Villanova following her time at Archbishop Carroll — after all, her aunt is Wildcats head coach Denise Dillson. The 6-0 wing guard was a second team All-PCL selection as a senior, known for her outside shooting abilities with the Patriots. With several experienced players at her position ahead of her in the rotation, Grant’s role with Villanova will likely be on the smaller side this season.

Kaylie Griffin (Soph. | Saint Joseph's)
A two-time all-AACA selection when she was at Gwynedd Mercy Academy, Griffin followed her family roots to St. Joe’s, where she’s playing for her mother, Cindy Griffin, on Hawk Hill. A talented point guard who averaged 11.0 ppg and 7.0 apg as a junior in high school, Griffin redshirted her first collegiate season, not playing a single minute her freshman year. She’s listed as a sophomore but has four years of eligibility remaining.

Jaye Haynes (Jr. | La Salle)
Haynes took a big step forward from her freshman to sophomore years, going from averaging 3.1 ppg and 1.2 rpg to a full-time starting role for the Explorers, averaging 8.1 ppg and 3.3 rpg while shooting 44.9% overall and 33.3% from 3-point range. The 5-8 guard out of Germantown Academy and daughter of former Villanova standout Jonathan Hayes should once again be a major piece for a La Salle squad that was picked second in the Atlantic 10 and has NCAA Tournament expectations.

Zamara Haynes (Jr. | Maryland-Eastern Shore)
The UMES rotation last year was certainly interesting, with 11 different players starting a game, nobody starting more than 21 games, and eight different players starting at least 11 contests. Haynes was the Hawks’ third-leading scorer (7.3 ppg) despite playing only 19.2 minutes, starting 11 of her 27 appearances; the 5-7 Imhotep Charter grad shot 35.6% overall and 25.7% from 3-point range, adding in 2.6 rebounds per contest. Listed as a junior, she’s only in her second year of playing after losing the 2020-21 season due to the COVID pandemic.

Maura Hendrixson (R-Sr. | Drexel)

A four-year contributor the Dragons, Hendrixson decided to take advantage of her fifth year of eligibility and run it back at 34th and Market for one more season, the Cardinal O’Hara product fully recovered from the ACL injury that prematurely ended her 2020-21 season and caused her to miss the first few games of last season. A 5-9 guard, Hendrixson has played in 99 games (25 starts) during her college career, averaging 4.1 ppg and 2.3 apg. Her best season thus far has been her junior year, when she was averaging 6.6 ppg and 4.2 apg while making 34.7% of her 3-pointers in 18 games prior to her injury.

Diamond Johnson (Jr. | NC State)
The former Neumann-Goretti star made quite a splash in her first season with the Wolfpack following her freshman year at Rutgers, earning the ACC Sixth Player of the Year award and coming in the top 10 for the 2022 Nancy Lieberman Award, given out to the nation’s top point guard. Playing in 36 games, coming off the bench in all but one of them, she averaged 10.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg and 2.2 apg while shooting 36.0% from 3-point range (on 161 attempts!) and 81.8% from the foul line. The 5-3 guard was named preseason all-ACC, and is NC State’s leading returning scorer.

Megan Jonassen (Gr. | Fordham)
Another fifth-year player thanks to COVID, Jonassen has been a contributor for one of the A-10’s top programs for four seasons, playing an average of 18 minutes per game across 110 career contests, with 47 starts. Last year, the 6-0 forward out of Perkiomen Valley started all 28 games she played, averaging 4.5 ppg and 5.9 rpg while making 44.5% of her shots as Fordham won 18 games and qualified for the WNIT; no double-doubles, but she did come close a few times, including a 12-point, eight-rebound effort against George Mason and an eight-point, 12-rebound outing against St. Bonaventure.

Ashley Jones (Gr. | Southern Illinois)
Jones has taken quite a journey throughout her college years: the 5-7 Neumann-Goretti grad started off at West Virginia, where she averaged 2.8 ppg in 36 games in 2017-18, then transferred to Temple, where she sat out in 2018-19 and then averaged 16.0 ppg as the AAC Newcomer of the Year in 2019-20. Then she left Philly for Mississippi State, averaging 4.1 ppg last year. Now a grad transfer at SIU, she’ll be suiting up for her fourth collegiate program, and she’s shown she has the abilities to put up serious numbers in the Missouri Valley Conference.\

Dana Kiefer (Soph. | Bryant)
A 6-2 forward and 2021 Archbishop Wood graduate, Kiefer only played in five games as a freshman at Bryant, scoring a total of three points (her only 3-pointer) and grabbing five rebounds. The Bulldogs do graduate their leading scorer and rebounder in 6-3 center Brooke Bjelko (13.1 ppg 7.1 rpg) as they begin their first year in the America East Conference, but a few other experienced posts also return. 

Izzy Larsen (Jr. | Northeastern)
Yup, another Archbishop Wood product. Larsen spent most of her high school career at Wesleyan School (Ga.) but moved up to the Philadelphia area and averaged a double-double in her one season at Wood. The 6-1 junior wing has played in 49 games in her two years at Northeastern, but hasn’t yet been a significant offensive contributor, averaging 2.4 ppg in 10.1 mpg in her career thus far. She hit double figures twice as a sophomore, scoring 10 points against both Davidson and Towson; she also has three years of eligibility left thanks to the COVID year. 

Helena Lasic (Fr. | Penn)
The Quakers added some real size this offseason in 6-4 Florida transfer Floor Toonders and Lasic, also 6-4, a freshman from Ontario by way of the Westtown School. Lasic, who also played at the Patrick School (N.J.) and New Hope Academy (Md.) before coming to Chester County, is likely going to need some time before she’s making a big impact at the Division I level, after helping Westtown to a PAISAA championship in the spring.

Paige Lauder (Jr. | Columbia)
Part of the Villa Maria squad that won the District 1 championship in 2019, Lauder is now in her third year at Columbia but only her second on the court thanks to the COVID pandemic. The 6-1 wing saw action in 12 games last season, with her best game coming in 15 minutes against Rider, when she scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds, both high-water marks for the season. The Lions have seven seniors on the roster and all eight leading scorers ahead of her returning, so it might be a year away for Lauder to make her biggest impact.

Alisha Lewis (Sr. | Georgia)
Lewis is playing for her third major collegiate program, after starting her career at Syracuse (2019-20) and then going to Central Florida the last couple years, before winding up at Georgia to finish her college career. The 5-7 guard from Strath Haven averaged 6.9 ppg, 3.7 apg, 2.6 spg and 2.8 rpg last year at UCF, setting the American Athletic Conference single-game record with a 10-steal performance last year after earning AAC Sixth Player of the Year honors the year before. Last year, Georgia went 21-10 (9-7 SEC), losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Molly Masciantonio (Gr. | La Salle)
A recruit to D-II Holy Family out of Archbishop Carroll, Masciantonio led the Tigers in points, rebounds, steals and blocks as a freshman, then jumped up to La Salle, where she emerged as the team’s starting point guard a year ago. The 5-10 grad student was second in the A-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3:1) a year ago, along with averaging 6.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.5 apg and 2.1 spg, playing nearly 30 minutes per contest. Masciantonio will once again be a major piece for a La Salle squad with high expectations this season.

Dakota McCaughan (Jr. | UNC-Asheville)
A 3-point specialist, McCaughan comes to UNC-Asheville after two years at USC-Upstate, where she averaged 4.9 ppg over two seasons; 7.3 ppg as a freshman and 2.8 ppg as a sophomore. The Ridley alum, who once hit 92 3-pointers in a season for the Raiders, has a career high of six made in one game, which fueled her to a 20-point outing her freshman year. The 5-5 guard is hoping to bounce back under third-year Asheville head coach Honey Brown, as part of a program that’s coming off a 10-22 (3-15 Big South) season.

Maeve McErlane (Fr. | DePaul)
One of the area’s best prep players a year ago, McErlane is set to start her college career in the Big East, joining a DePaul squad that, led by preseason All-American Aneesah Morrow, was picked to finish fourth in the conference. A 5-10 combo guard out of the Academy of Notre Dame, McErlane is tremendously skilled with the ball in her hands, capable of getting her shot off from anywhere on the court or getting to the hoop, and she can also play off the ball to work free for open jumpers.