With the 2026 class having completed its journey in youth basketball, the spotlight now shines on the soon-to-be seniors in the Class of 2027.
This is a fascinating group that I had a difficult time ranking. The top three college prospects could stack up with any group of three stars from the last five years of New England girls basketball. But the rest of the high-level talent is packed pretty close together. It's loaded with scoring guards that should be recognizable names at this point in prep and high school circles. You'll also find wings and post players who aren't putting up big numbers, but their athletic gifts and skills will intrigue colleges.
Our Best of New England rankings aim to depict the hierarchy of talent in New England from a college evaluation lens. My opinions are formed through my own viewing first and foremost, as well as conversations I've had with opposing high school coaches and college coaches, plus players' high school production. You can read more about my approach to building these rankings here.
Here are our top 50 college prospects in the 2027 class.
MORE RANKINGS: 2026 girls | 2028 girls | 2029 girls | 2026 boys | 2027 boys | 2028 boys | 2029 boys
1. Bella Owumi
6-0 wing
Tilton/MCW Starz
Hometown: Lynn, Mass.
2. Corinne Lomax
6-0 wing
Tabor/Mass Rivals
Hometown: Watertown, Conn.
3. Anna Moser
5-8 guard
Hoosac/Team Northeast
Hometown: Rutland, Vt.
NCAA: Florida
4. Ava Bryant
6-5 center
Tilton/Jersey Gemz
Hometown: Rye, N.Y.
5. Alannah Baehr
6-1 wing
Suffield/Connecticut Basketball Club
Hometown: Colchester, Conn.
NCAA: Penn
6. Kendra Foy
5-10 guard
St. Luke's/iBelieve Elite
Hometown: Bethel, Conn.
7. Gabby Middleton
5-10 guard
Newman/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Stoughton, Mass.
NCAA: UMBC
8. Lucianna Parrotta
6-0 forward
Sacred Heart/Mass Rivals
Hometown: Armonk, N.Y.
9. Zariah Ottley
5-7 guard
Northfield Mount Hermon/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Rockland, Mass.
NCAA: Boston University
10. Izzy Kittredge
6-1 forward
Nobles/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Medfield, Mass.
NCAA: Brown
Top 10 thoughts: This top three is awesome and will define the next year of prep school basketball. Owumi, ranked No. 30 nationally by ESPN, found success at Tilton right away and showed her explosive scoring moves are still hard to contain in NEPSAC. She also keeps getting better as a shooter. Lomax might have the most unstoppable athletic gifts of any returning player in New England. Then there's Moser, who I would put right up with Nobles alum Christina Pham as the best perimeter players I've watched in this region. She's also become more dangerous running offense too. All three are high-major talents who could end up on national rankings lists.
After them is a tier drop to a group of promising wings and scoring guards. Bryant, though, deserves a mention. She's still a relative unknown here, but if you watched the tall, lanky bench center swat shots at Tilton and thought, "Who was that?" – there you go. Bryant has offers from Texas A&M, Georgetown and Yale.
The New England girls Class of 2027 has a top trio of stars that shined on the NEPSAC scene this past winter.@ethman43 gave a rundown of why they're each uniquely talented. ⬇️
Full Top 50 rankings: https://t.co/lFwSR259P7 pic.twitter.com/AlQODksBru
— New England Basketball Journal (@nehoopjournal) April 3, 2026
11. Gracyn Barnes
5-6 guard
Worcester Academy/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Grafton, Mass.
NCAA: Stony Brook
12. Leah McKenzie
6-0 wing
Loomis Chaffee/iDream
Hometown: Farmington, Conn.
NCAA: Sacred Heart
13. Lauren Fitzgerald
6-1 wing
Tabor/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: North Attleboro, Mass.
NCAA: Colgate
14. Maddie Benigni
5-5 guard
Hamden Hall/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: East Hampton, Conn.
NCAA: Sacred Heart
15. Naya Annigeri
5-8 guard
Medfield/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Medfield, Mass.
Note: Since these rankings were published, Annigeri has reclassified to 2028 and transferred to Nobles. This will be reflected in our next update.
16. Autumn Udoh
6-0 forward
MacDuffie/iBelieve Elite
Hometown: Bristol, Conn.
NCAA: Central Connecticut
17. Paola Kanoute
6-3 forward
Putnam Science/iBelieve Elite
Hometown: Brignolles, France
18. Mel McCarthy
6-1 forward
Bedford/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Bedford, N.H.
Note: Since these rankings were published, McCarthy has reclassified to 2028 and transferred to New Hampton. This will be reflected in our next update.
19. Gemma Murray
5-9 guard
Londonderry/MCW Starz
Hometown: Londonderry, N.H.
NCAA: Le Moyne
20. Charlotte Theriault
5-10 wing
Suffield/Connecticut Basketball Club
Hometown: Palmer, Mass.
NCAA: Iona
11-20 thoughts: We start dipping into what is a pretty deep group of possible mid-major point guards. Barnes (behind Ottley) leads this pack to me because she's a pest defensively in addition to her quickness off the dribble and skill scoring around the basket. Annigeri (who has since transferred to Nobles and reclassified to 2028) is another I'm higher on than most because she's a genuinely elite shooter and her long arms cause so many problems on defense.
I want to spotlight Kanoute here, who joins Fitzgerald and Udoh as wings/forwards with standout athletic tools. The French forward is surprisingly fast in the open floor, has a legit handle for her position and can rack up deflections and blocks. She had some notable peaks and valleys at Putnam Science this season but is a Division 1 prospect with her size and potential.
To me, there's a tier gap after Kanoute. Once we get to No. 18, you could make an argument for any order down through No. 28.
21. Sammi Santacroce
5-7 guard
Suffield/iBelieve Elite
Hometown: North Haven, Conn.
Note: Santacroce is staying in the 2027 class and transferring to MacDuffie. This will be reflected in the next update.
22. Jocelyn Gesner
6-3 forward
Northfield Mount Hermon/West Virginia Thunder
Hometown: Chapel Hill, N.C.
NCAA: Drexel
23. Pearl Dickson
6-4 center
Berkshire/Castle Athletics
Hometown: Aboase, Ghana
NCAA: Niagara
24. Tiffany Burns
5-9 guard
Austin Prep/Mass Rivals
Hometown: Methuen, Mass.
25. Jacylah "LaLa" Goode
6-0 forward
Loomis Chaffee/iBelieve Elite
Hometown: Derby, Conn.
26. Jordyn Crump
5-8 guard
Biddeford/Maine Firecrackers
Hometown: Biddeford, Maine
NCAA: Colgate
27. London Powell
5-8 guard
Greens Farms/iBelieve Elite
Hometown: Milford, Conn.
28. Javonah "Juice" Coston
5-8 guard
Dexter Southfield/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Boston, Mass.
29. Zoe Knight
6-0 forward
St. Andrew's/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Wakefield, R.I.
NCAA: Manhattan
30. Sarah Poland
6-0 forward
Rivers/Mass Huskies
Hometown: Sudbury, Mass.
21-30 thoughts: More score-first guards sit in this group. Burns is the most explosive of the four here. Powell and Crump are well-rounded and Coston brings the most upside as a three-level scorer. Despite varying archetypes, Gesner, Dickson, Goode and Knight also fit a common theme as forwards and centers with multiple skills and higher ceilings who I'd like to see grow more consistent.
Poland, also a forward, is different. Though not as explosive an athlete or dominant a scorer, she flies under the radar for her steady playmaking without commanding a ton of touches. She's going to fit in a program looking for a secondary shotmaker who keeps the offense flowing.
31. Shannon Welburn
5-9 guard
Newman/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Wellesley, Mass.
32. Fatima Diouf
5-9 guard
Putnam Science/iBelieve Elite
Hometown: Nice, France
33. Maliah Pierre
5-9 wing
Whitman-Hanson/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Hanson, Mass.
34. Taelor Arnold
5-3 guard
Darrow/Mass Rivals
Hometown: East Hartford, Conn.
35. Teegan Lanpher
5-3 guard
Wachusett/Mass Rivals
Hometown: Holden, Mass.
36. Skyelyn Schoen-Rene
5-11 forward
Choate/Connecticut Basketball Club
Hometown: Colchester, Conn.
37. Nyasia Caban
5-4 guard
Kimball Union/Mass Rivals
Hometown: Lawrence, Mass.
NCAA: Stonehill
38. Skyler Burke
5-9 guard
Choate/Exodus
Hometown: Meridan, Conn.
39. Riley Hamilton
5-11 wing
Dexter Southfield/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Lexington, Mass.
40. Ava Perry
5-7 guard
New Hampton/Mass Rivals
Hometown: Groveland, Mass.
31-40 thoughts: I would call these 10 the "I fear I might be underrating them" tier. This middle part of my rankings includes a lot of versatility at the wing and guard positions. Three wings specifically — Pierre, Schoen-Rene and Hamilton — I've really enjoyed watching in person and think they could each have individual leaps in store.
We also have three small guards who are certified bucket-getters in Arnold, Lanpher and Caban. I have a difficult time projecting these types of players because it's so hard to score at the next level. But they're all standouts who overcome their smaller statures in different ways against quality competition — and they're each tough, relentless competitors.
41. Sara Santimaw
6-2 wing
Taft/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Halifax, Nova Scotia
42. Mila Harmon
6-0 center
Sacred Heart Academy/Connecticut Basketball Club
Hometown: Trumbull, Conn.
Note: Harmon is reclassifying to 2028 and transferring to Kent. This will be reflected in our next update.
43. A'laya Colbert
6-0 center
North Quincy/Bay State Jaguars
Hometown: Quincy, Mass.
Note: Colbert is reclassifying to 2028 and transferring to Dexter Southfield. This will be reflected in our next update.
44. Eva Stirk
6-4 center
Hopkins/Connecticut Basketball Club
Hometown: Orange, Conn.
NCAA: UMBC
45. Sidney Anderson
6-0 wing
Marianapolis/iBelieve Elite
Hometown: Brooklyn, Conn.
46. Casey Stores
5-7 guard
New Hampton/MCW Starz
Hometown: Bellingham, Mass.
47. Kamryn Derba
5-6 guard
Tilton/MCW Starz
Hometown: South Easton, Mass.
48. Kaylee Maier
5-5 guard
Dracut/New England Storm
Hometown: Dracut, Mass.
49. Alani Rodriguez
5-5 guard
Phillips Andover/Mass Rivals
Hometown: Haverhill, Mass.
50. Alexa Huckaby
6-0 wing
Hamden Hall/Mass Rivals
Hometown: Bristol, Conn.
41-50 thoughts: Three more centers appear in this group that will either be coveted at the Div. 2/Div. 3 level or a possible underrated Division 1 snag. Santimaw, Anderson and Huckaby all have the tools to be potential 3-and-D wings with continued growth. I'll go to bat for Colbert and Maier as two MIAA talents I'm probably higher on than consensus. Colbert is a mobile, impactful defensive center with great touch around the basket as well. Maier's pull-up scoring and playmaking are just so much fun to watch.
Some close cuts that I'm keeping an eye on include Andrea Crump on Hamden Hall and Payton Scurry on St. George's. Marianapolis has a 2027 class with a few more candidates after Anderson, like Sophia Webb and Jaela Hanley. CIAC stars Lia Calderon (North Haven) and Layla Ljubuncic (Lewis Mills) are names I want to learn more about.
There are more sharpshooters in this class such as Ryanne Sheehan (St. Andrew's), Ruby Thompson (Austin Prep) and Avery Littlefield (Dover, N.H.). I'll admit that Rhode Island has a great collection of 2027 players I've seen a bit of, but want to watch more before I think about putting them on the list. Those top names would include: Reign Whiteing (Lincoln School), Marron Nerney (Ponaganset), Gyselle Mairs (Portsmouth), Delaney Bonneau (Narragansett) and Jaelynn Perez (St. George's).
Lastly, another reminder that we do not include non-New England natives at non-New England prep schools. Darrow center DD Harcourt is a probably top-five NEPSAC prospect in her class but is not eligible for these rankings. Shooting guard Brooke Lilley, also on Darrow, would be on the list if eligible, as would Hoosac forward Teagan Keane.
