Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
—
Erin Daley found the answer she needed, fittingly, on a basketball court.
The Plymouth Whitemarsh senior had spent the majority of the year unsure if she’d continue playing basketball after high school. She had all the accolades, but it hadn’t led to much on the recruiting trail, leaving the versatile 6-foot forward to start applying to universities around the country and start thinking about life after basketball.
Plymouth Whitemarsh senior Erin Daley (above) committed to West Chester last month. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
There was one program nearby that didn’t give up, even without any guarantee Daley would keep playing, and kept checking in all season. Last month, it led to an idea: come visit campus, get on the floor and play with some other players on the team and see how it felt.
Daley’s visit to West Chester gave her all the answers she needed, leading her to commit to the Golden Rams in April.
“I really didn’t know what I wanted, it was always a 50-50 back and forth but I think since the season’s been over, I realized how much I missed it,” Daley said. “I was trying to figure out if I wanted to give it up or move forward in a new way.
“After going to West Chester to play with the team, I realized I didn’t want to leave it and try to come back, instead I wanted to go try it, give it my all and see what happens.”
The relationship started in September when WCU assistant Allison Hostetter reached out to Daley and the two talked on the phone. Daley was direct from the start, telling Hostetter she was on the fence about playing and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do and the PW senior would have understood if that was as far as it got.
Instead, West Chester kept checking in. They came to PW games, Daley went to West Chester games and she kept in touch with the coaches and that investment in someone who wasn’t even sure if they were going to pick up a ball again hit home for Daley.
“They wanted me, they showed that more than anyone,” Daley said. “That was the main reason why they were my first option when I decided I wanted to take this to the next level.
“It felt like, even if it didn’t work out with me going there, I’d still have a very special relationship with them.”
Daley, who served as PW’s defensive ace during last year’s 34-0 run to the state title that earned her third team all-state honors, didn’t have a drop off statistically as she and Abby Sharpe led an otherwise pretty inexperienced Colonials team to a fourth straight SOL division title and back-to-back SOL tournament titles. She scored her 1,000th point, played through a couple broken ribs at the end of the season and again was named all-state, but aside from an offer from Army between her junior and senior year, never gained much traction on the recruiting trail.
Daley (above) was part of the PW starting lineup that won an undefeated state title in 2021-22. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
While she’s still incredibly appreciative of coach Missy Traversi and her staff seeing something in her, Daley knew West Point wasn’t the right place for her. There were a few programs that showed a flash of interest, but Daley told herself early on she wasn’t going to accept an offer just to say she was playing in college and started crafting a list of potential schools all over to attend as a regular student.
Except West Chester never went away.
“One of the main reasons I kept going back and forth on playing was that I didn’t have the best process with recruiting,” Daley said. “I didn’t know if I still loved it because of how I was looked down on or torn down. This showed me I still loved the game and going into this new environment with new people will completely turn it around for me next year and find a place for basketball in my heart that kind of went away.”
Daley wasn’t even sure if West Chester still had a position to offer her, especially after the Golden Rams won the PSAC East in the regular season and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division II tournament. When she reached out, the coaches had her come down on a Friday early in April to play with the team and then they would make a decision.
As she waited for Rams head coach Kiera Wooden to call that weekend, Daley admitted to feeling pretty stressed and “freaking out” but that also told her just how much she wanted it when the call finally did come with the much desired offer.
“I didn’t know what to say,” Daley said. “I was so thankful it all worked out because not much has for me with basketball in the past. I knew I had this opportunity now and I’m just going to work hard at it and work hard for it and we’ll see where it goes.
“They show confidence in me, which just makes me have it 10 times more in myself. They didn’t even know if I was going to come and be their player and they still thought that highly of me.”\
What was also telling was that no sooner had Daley posted her announcement, the congratulatory posts from teammates, former teammates, opponents turned friends and on and on came pouring in.
Daley also had an inside source at West Chester. Anna McTamney, a 2021 PW graduate, transferred to West Chester last summer after spending her freshman year at USciences and found immediate success with the Golden Rams.
The West Chester sophomore, a Second Team All-PSAC East selection this winter, was one of the first to post a comment on Daley’s announcement on Instagram, expressing excitement to be reuniting as teammates.
“She’s like an older sister to me, especially when we were here at PW playing together and we’re very similar players, I thought we played really well together for the two years I was with her,” Daley said. “I saw her thriving in that environment and I didn’t see why I wouldn’t. Anna only said positive things about it and the main thing was her relationship with the girls and the coaches.”
Taking this path to the next level really reinforced something Daley had always held herself to anyway that if she was going to play, it would be because she wanted to. She’s eager to show West Chester, which has put together a pretty strong haul between incoming recruits and transfers, that its faith in her will be worth it and not only did she make the right choice with them, but they made the right choice with her.
It took Erin Daley a little longer than expected to find her answer, but she knew right away when she had.
“Once I went into the gym, they play the way I play, I just connected with them,” Daley said. “It felt like I was supposed to be there for a reason.”
Tag(s): Home Recruiting High School Andrew Robinson Plymouth Whitemarsh