The best of New England's girls basketball pipeline is increasingly stamping its presence in Division 1 college basketball.
This year could be special. It's a rare season we could see two locals potentially play their way into the top two rounds of the WNBA Draft. There's a decent likelihood you can find some former high school and prep school stars on national television. And even the nearby mid-majors are chock full of productive players that could lead a magical run to March Madness.
But who are the best of the best right now?
I'm ranking the top 10 New England natives actively competing in Division 1. It's quite a difficult exercise because we have so many variables to account for, like level within Division 1, winning pedigree of a program, and of course, stats and the eye test.
Unlike other work I do here with a prospect-focused lens, I'm looking more at production and what we've seen from players' careers to date. Prospect pedigree doesn't matter to me, but winning and level of winning do. Here are 10 players you absolutely must follow this season.
FRESH FACES:Â These 10 freshmen could make an impact right away
1. Oluchi Okananwa, Maryland
Senior, 5-10 guard
Worcester Academy/Peabody, Mass.
Okananwa is probably New England's best WNBA Draft prospect since Veronica Burton. She has a good chance to go in the back half of the first round and will be one of the most prominent names in college basketball this season. Okananwa fit right in as a Maryland star, putting up 17.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals in her first season as a Terrapin.
2. Carys Baker, Louisville
Senior, 6-2 forward
Loomis Chaffee/West Hartford, Conn.
Is there a second high-level WNBA draft pick on the way? Baker averaged 14.3 points and 6.9 rebounds last year at Virginia Tech while canning nearly 38 percent of her 3-pointers. Then she transferred to Louisville, a projected top-25 team this season. I've recently seen sites list Baker in the late teens and early 20s of 2027 mock drafts. She has the size and versatility to stick in the pros when she gets there.
WE DISCUSS:Â What NCAA rule changes could help high school recruits?
3. Grace Oliver, Boston College
Junior, 6-1 forward
Nobles/Norwell, Mass.
Oliver, as we've written about, is motivated to make her third new college her final destination and put on a show for her home state. She was hyper-efficient with a 60.4 percent shooting clip (including 38.7 percent behind the arc) as a sophomore at Wake Forest. If Oliver stays efficient and levels up the BC program, I could see her popping onto WNBA team radars by her senior year.
CAN BC BE RELEVANT? Here's how the Eagles are rebuilding
4. Mackenzie Nelson, Clemson
Senior, 5-8 guard
St. Luke's/Greenwich, Conn.
Nelson dished out 5.7 assists, good for 17th in the country, as a Virginia Tech junior. She also tallied 8.0 points and 3.3 rebounds while guiding her team to the NCAA Tournament. Now at Clemson, Nelson will be in a similar position in the middle tier of the ACC.
PLAYING THE PORTAL:Â 10 big-time transfers to know
5. Abigail Wright, Harvard
Senior, 6-1 forward
Newton North/Newton, Mass.
Wright skyrocketed up via a junior year breakout, starting every contest and more-than-doubling her minutes (28.5), points (13.3) and rebounds (6.3) per game. She's developed into a standout energy-giver at the forward spots who can outmuscle players around the basket and on the boards. Harvard sits third in the Ivy League preseason poll and they'll have a shot to go dancing via the always-chaotic Ivy League tournament.
6. Anna Foley, Villanova
Senior, 6-3 center
Andover/Andover, Mass.
Foley has quietly laid down one of the most productive college careers of anyone on this list. In three years at Quinnipiac, she collected more than 1,100 points, 500 rebounds, 100 steals, 100 blocks and nearly 300 assists. The Wildcats should be an NCAA Tournament threat and perhaps even a Top 25 team this winter, with Foley transferring into an important center role.
DIV. 1 TELL-ALL:Â Advice from Foley, Wright and more
7. Ahnay Adams, Miami
Junior, 5-6 guard
Tilton/New Bedford, Mass.
Adams cemented herself as a starting guard and took a nice step forward as a sophomore. Her per-game stat line included 8.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals, and her efficiency improved particularly inside the 3-point arc. Adams has long used speed and ferocity to make up for her smaller stature, and now that she's more comfortable at the high-major level, she should keep improving.
8. Mia Mancini, Bryant
Senior, 5-6 guard
New Hampton/Mansfield, Mass.
An America East preseason all-conference pick, Mancini has averaged double-digit points in all three seasons of college basketball to date. She knocked down 59 treys at a 32.2 percent clip last season and handed out a career-high 3.9 assists per game as part of her all-conference third team winter. Bryant surprised me a bit as a quality AE competitor last year and they might be a sleeper to win it this go-round.
9. Orlagh Gormley, Providence
Junior, 5-6 guard
Dexter Southfield/Quincy, Mass.
After her freshman year was bogged down by injuries, Gormley returned healthy and started all but one game as a sophomore. She got involved everywhere with 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.5 steals per game, and she moderately improved her scoring efficiency. I expect her and Providence as a program to keep making progress.
10. Sophia Vital, Rhode Island
Senior, 5-3 guard
Tabor/Cambridge, Mass.
Rhode Island made the NCAA Tournament last year under coach Tammi Reiss. She's now at Florida and most of the core has either graduated or transferred. But Vital, the starting point guard, remains. She far exceeded her small stature last year by tallying 7.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
FINDING YOUR FIT: These players transferred out of Div. 1 — and became happier
Ten more names to know: Camryn Collins (Northeastern/Foxboro, Mass.), Kendall Eddy (Holy Cross/Haverhill, Mass.), Mia Fiore (Rhode Island/Narragansett, R.I.), Ayanna Franks (UMass/Windsor, Conn.), Catherine Gilwee (Vermont/Shelburne, Vt.), Lana McCarthy (Fairfield/Bedford, N.H.), Maranda Nyborg (Bryant/Bethel, Conn.), Brooke Paquette (Stonehill/Hudson, N.H.), Thalia Shepard (Towson/Boston, Mass.), Mia Zaccagnini (Iona/Waterbury, Conn.)
