Because the basketball-u guys seem to have missed one, this is updated information of the current status of our next year class. Three confirmed names up to today:
Shay Shippen, 5-11 CG (Idaho Falls, ID). Top150 by Prospect nation, #1 player from Idaho. +2000 points in varsity basketball, averaging 23.9 PPG, 12.9 RPG, 3.1 APG, 2.6 SPG last year and similar numbers over all years. Chose Columbia over Utah St, UNLV, LMU, UPenn, Yale, etc. Definitely someone you could build a team around in the future. Very tough player who does it all. I would define her as a mix between CC and Kitty, and expecting that she has immediate impact starting next season.
Announcement: x.com
Bio: https://www.devenzio.com/
Why Columbia: x.com
Vasiliki Cholopoulou, 5-10 PG (Greece). U16/U18 Greece National team player. Currently a bench player for the senior Greece National Team at the Eurobasket Qualifiers. Currently a starter for Panathlitikos SF, a Greek D1 TOP4 professional team, averaging 10.8PPG, 3.9RPG, 4.4APG, 2.6SPG this season. Very fast, european-style point guard that resembles a lot to Avlijas’ play-style, with slightly more shooting variety and consistency. This season pro experience will be really valuable, so I would expect her to start having some minutes from the beginning being Avlijas’ replacement for the PG position. Will see how fast she adapts to NCAA play-style.
Announcement: https://shorturl.at/flaA2
Bio/stats: Vasiliki Cholopoulou, Basketball Player, News, Stats - Eurobasket
Alicia Mitchell, 6-4 PF/C (Springfield, MA). Top150 by Prospect Nation (she appears as 2024 but she is 2025). Averaging 13.5PPG, 11RPG, 2 APG, 2 SPG, 2BPG. Playing for iDream academy and Loomis Chaffee in New England Div A. Chose Columbia over Cincinnati, St John’s, Memphis, etc. Tough defensive PF/C, who seems to be a slightly bigger and more center-inclined version of Rafiu. Hard to know in advance how she will fit in Griffith’s style, but definitely some needed size that this team has been lacking for several years.
Announcement: https://www.instagram.com/a.liciaaa13/
Overall a really balanced class given what we are going to loose. I would expect another addition to these three, coming either from the transfer portal or international player that we could have missed. I imagine next year team to be a 3 guards 1 guard/forward and a center with something like (in order)
This checks out with her being removed from the official roster a month ago, but yours is the first info with a source that I hear. And from the outside seems to be the exact situation as Noa Comesaña last season, as she also disappeared and got removed from the roster at some point in january.
I doubt is has to do with an injury as she has been around campus for the whole academic year with no signs of any type of injury. If it was a health issue, I would assume that her teammates would have posted something supporting her. So it’s either academic related or some personal issue that doesn’t allow her to compete. Strange that we have had a similar situation 2 years in a row.
This is one of the only things I don’t like about this team: the lack of transparency with absences. Broom had some sort of ankle injury in a practice game against Uconn 1 week before the season started and was out for the whole month of November and we got no official info. Jaama had some sort of knee injury (looked like acl) in the opener against Stony Brook and hasn’t been back since (and I don’t think she is going to until next season), but we also got no info. All this comes from indirect info sources, and pisses me off a bit.
Good analysis here. It’s also very possible that she’s simply lost interest in hoops. These student-athletes have been grinding hard for years and sometimes their interests change and they move on. 30+ hours per week of D1 basketball and a full academic load is no joke. I understand the desire to get details but, respectfully, I don’t think it’s necessarily appropriate. Academic issues and personal issues are private and it seems like teams no longer provide injury reports. Hopefully the Dartmouth men are worried they will see Geronimo this week. In my opinion, it’s usually not a culture issue at Columbia. That’s not always true, but the women’s team has a really good culture. Just my observation.
Years ago, I wondered what a post-Abbey Columbia team would look like… would they remain competitive? Would they fall to the bottom half of the league?
With the loss of another two All-Ivy caliber players in Kitty and Collins next year, that question remains, but it’s becoming more clear that Megan is dead set on keeping this program on the right track… I love what I see in Broom and Simmons… and the class of 2029 looks solid too. It appears that Princeton, Columbia, and Harvard will remain as the Top 3 for the next few years at least.
I did also wonder about loosing Abbey, and at some point during this season considering how much impact Kitty and Cece have on this team. But if there is something this season is teaching me is that, as long as Megan is in our boat, this team will keep being a title contender and a team that can compete against anyone. I also found myself surprised, but it is now clear to me that this team is better than last season despite loosing the best player the program has ever seen.
And looking at the 2029 class, I can only think this is not a one year thing but a tendency. A few years ago we couldn’t even compete for Top100 prospects when recruiting. For the 2030 class we are already in the fight for several of them. Maybe at some point after the season I will write some of the info I gathered regarding that class, but right now lets enjoy what we have and improve over last year
Maybe I’m being a bit delusional here…, but could this be a CeCe 2.0? We will be a young team next season, and her experience would be invaluable, plus she is a heck of a player.
I just found out there might be an extra commit for the 2025 class. Chloe Dix, 6’0" G from Sidney, Australia. Same high school and team than the Henderson sisters. Named one of the best high school basketball players in Australia as a junior.
It seems she committed back in 2023 during a US tour, but the link is now broken and I found it impossible to find any type of confirmation. I guess we won’t know until the official announcement.
I will correct myself, the agency that organizes tours for Australian basketball players to the US has this in one of their pages promoting these tours
Last minute recruit for the 2025 class:
Eirny Erinugha, 6’1" PF, from Calgary, Alberta. Highly athletic forward part of the U16 Canada team silver medalist of the 2023 AmeriCup. Reminds me a bit of Kaitlyn Davis in terms of play style. Unclear the reason for the late commitment, but it wraps up the 2025 class really well, that now includes a 5’10" PG, a 5’11" CG, a 6’0" G/W. a 6’1" PF and a 6’3" PF/C. https://www.instagram.com/p/DHyuMHSyVen/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I heard from someone who spoke with Fliss’ mother after the Penn semifinal game that she left the team related to an injury… additional details unknown, and not sure if her college basketball career is over.
Let’s see if Jaama is healthy by the start of the season. Also, if Fliss ends up coming back, what is the deal with the roster limit? Isn’t it supposed to be 15 players? Does that change with injuries?