CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2024-25 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 4. 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 you 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 alumni into a three-part list, the whole thing way too big to run all at once. Here’s Part 3 of our 2024-25 CoBL alumni roundup, featuring around 20 players who are on a Division I roster this season.
(If we’re missing someone, let us know: cityofbasketballlove@gmail.com)
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2024-25 Alumni Roundup: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
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Joanie Quinn (above) is part of a new-look roster at La Salle. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
Joan Quinn (Fr. | La Salle)
A guard out of Cardinal O’Hara from a basketball family, Quinn overcame some serious injuries in her high school years to become one of the best shooters around, the 5-8 combo guard committing to La Salle before her senior year. On a totally new-look Explorers roster that’s sure to utilize most of its depth, she’ll have a chance to earn a significant role from the get-go.
Sanaa Redmond (Sr. | Rider)
After two years at Samford, Redmond is wrapping up her college career at Rider, bringing a whole lot of D-I experience into her senior year. Her first season with the Broncs, she started 30 of 31 games while averaging 4.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg and 2.5 apg, all right around her career averages; she’s started 68 of her 84 career games, with more than 2,100 minutes on the court as she’s averaged north of 23 mpg each season in college.
Ava Renninger (Fr. | Fairleigh Dickinson)
Renninger brings her winning pedigree to the Knights after an accomplished career at Archbishop Wood. The 5-foot-6 guard was the PA Sportswriters Class 5A Player of the Year as a senior and helped Wood to three state titles in her three seasons with the PCL program. A tough competitor, Renninger will challenge for minutes as a freshman.
Tamiah Robinson (Gr. | Louisiana Tech)
A West Catholic grad, Robinson is in her second year at Louisiana Tech following one season at Utah State, after starting her college years at the junior college level at Labette (Kan.) Community College. The 5-9 guard started 24 of her 31 games last season, averaging 6.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 2.2 apg while making 35.8% of her 3-pointers. Her best game statistically was an 18-point, seven-rebound effort against Georgia Southern in February.
Sydni Scott (Jr. | Fairfield)
Scott went through one coaching change in her two years at Marshall, but after Kim Caldwell left for Tennessee after one season, she wasn’t interested in going through a second, the Cardinal O’Hara putting her name in the transfer portal and landing in Connecticut for her junior year. A 5-8 guard, Scott has been productive in both seasons, averaging 6.8 ppg in 63 career games, including 8.0 ppg and 2.0 rpg as a sophomore; she’s also a career 35.2% shooter from downtown (103-of-293).
Abby Sharpe (Soph. | Penn)
An injury in the latter half of the season slowed Sharpe’s freshman season, but she still made 20 appearances for the Quakers. The Plymouth Whitemarsh grad sank 34.5% of her three-point attempts while averaging 3.1 ppg. Sharpe figures to again play a role in the rotation for Penn and push for more minutes.
Kaylene Smikle (Jr. | Maryland)
Smikle arrives at Maryland after two years at Rutgers, where she was extremely productive over the course of a season-and-a-half for the Scarlet Knights. The 6-0 guard out of Westtown averaged 17.3 ppg and 4.7 rpg in 47 games (33 starts) before getting hurt 15 games into last season. She did set a new career high with 33 points against Delaware State and had two double-doubles, while also increasing her playmaking from the year before.
Bella Smuda (R-Sr. | Liberty)
A fifth-year senior, Smuda spent three years as a quality reserve for the Flames, averaging 6.9 ppg and 4.7 rpg in 93 games from 2020 through 2023. Then she exploded last year, moving into the starting lineup for the first time and averaging 15.0 ppg and 10.0 rpg, earning first team All-Conference USA honors along the way. The 6-6 post hit 58.5% of her shots and 72.% from the line, blocking 2.3 shots per game as well, her 77 blocks the most for anybody in the program in 19 years.
Aleah Snead (Soph. | Saint Joseph’s)
Snead had some flashes during her freshman year at St. Joe’s, especially as the season went on. The 5-11 wing guard from Penn Charter got into the starting lineup for a couple games, scoring 13 points in 33 minutes against Loyola (Ill.) on Jan. 31, both numbers her best of the season; she finished the year averaging 2.4 ppg and 1.6 rpg, with an increased role expected as a sophomore.
Elle Stauffer (Sr. | Harvard)
A Germantown Academy graduate, Stauffer has played in 51 games off the bench for Harvard, averaging 1.7 ppg and 1.4 rpg during that span. The 5-11 wing scored nine points in a game twice during her freshman year, and that remains her high-water mark thus far.
Grace Sundback (Soph. | Delaware)
It took Sundback until January to get on the court her freshman year, but the 5-9 Westtown School product got caught up quickly. Starting 15 of her 19 appearances, Sundback averaged 5.7 ppg and 2.5 rpg, setting her career best thus far with a 13-point outing at North Carolina A&T.
Bella Toomey (Soph. | Fairleigh Dickinson)
As a freshman at FDU, the 5-11 forward out of Penn Charter played in 31 games with three starts, averaging 3.8 ppg and 3.8 rpg in exactly 17 minutes per outing. She hit double digits once in scoring column, with 12 points against Stonehill, and saw as many as 27 minutes of action on two separate occasions.
Meliah Van-Otoo (Jr. | Loyola Maryland)
A Delco native who went to the Westtown School, Van-Otoo took a solid step from freshman to sophomore year. The 5-4 point guard averaged 4.8 ppg, 1.6 apg and 1.4 spg in 30 games (10 starts) for the Greyhounds a year ago, and now has 54 games (14 starts) under her belt rolling into her junior year. And her numbers got better as the year went on, as she averaged 6.9 ppg and 2.0 apg in the final 15 games of the season.
Maddie Vizza (Gr. | Northeastern)
Vizza opted to give it one more go-round with the Huskies coming off a bounceback senior season that followed back-to-back knee injuries. The Germantown Academy product started all 27 games last year, averaging 7.0 ppg, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game while sinking 34.1% of her threes. The 5-foot-6 guard also played a career-high 873 minutes after playing just 107 total the prior two years.
Khalis Whiting (Jr. | Stony Brook)
A serious knee injury at Abington cost Whiting her senior year, and she hasn’t quite been able to return to the form she showed in her early years with the Ghosts. The 5-6 guard has played in 32 games over two years at Stony Brook for a total of 46 minutes, with 16 points and five rebounds.
Carmen Williams (Sr. | Sacred Heart)
A Penn Charter grad, Williams spent two years at Radford, where she starts 42 of 59 games and averaged 9.5 ppg as a sophomore. But in one year at George Mason, she only came off the bench 14 times, averaging 1.1 ppg and 1.6 rpg. The 5-11 wing guard is hoping for a resurgence at Sacred Heart, which is playing in the MAAC for the first time.
Brooke Wilson (Fr. | Army West Point)
Brooke joins her older sister Taylor on the Black Knights’ roster following a decorated career at Archbishop Caroll. Wilson was named the PCL’s MVP as a senior while also surpassing 1,000 career points. The 5-foot-9 adapted to a role playing point guard and her nonstop energy will help push for early minutes at West Point.
Taylor Wilson (Soph. | Army West Point)
Wilson, who will be joined by younger sister Brooke this year at Army, found a role as a freshman by playing in 25 games with three starts. The 5-foot-10 forward, an Archbishop Carroll alum, averaged 2.9 ppg including a 33.3% mark on threes and 1.7 rebounds while making a defensive mark through 14 blocks and 10 steals.
Cire Worley (Soph. | Coppin State)
A 6-0 wing out of Abington, Worley spent her freshman season at UMass-Lowell, where she averaged 4.8 ppg and 2.6 rpg in 26 games off the bench. Now, the all-time leading scorer in Abington history is in Baltimore for her second season of college hoops, playing in the MEAC.
Reese Zemitis (Fr. | Bucknell)
Zemitis joins the Bison following a senior season that saw her set a new career scoring record for Neshaminy while also helping the program win its first SOL tournament title. The 6-foot forward is an excellent floor spacer as an outside shooter.
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