2026 Recruiting: Olivia Jones

[darrell]

Came across this post and noticed that Coach Valley is following Olivia on X (Twitter). Will keep Olivia and LuHi on my watchlist this year.

 

[broooce]

Many top Luhi players, practically in our backyard. I haven’t read any interest from UConn coaches on past players, Olivia is the first. Have I missed something?

 

[From Canada]

Many top Luhi players, practically in our backyard. I haven’t read any interest from UConn coaches on past players, Olivia is the first. Have I missed something?

A lot of top players in our backyard.

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There was some interest in Sanai Green, but that was before she joined Luhi, since when she's committed elsewhere. Two years ago, UConn had interest in Kate Koval, but nothing came of it. The 4 starters who left the program of Luhi in 2024 are off to a good start. Kate Koval (Notre Dame) Syla Swords (Michigan) Lauryn Swann (Arizona) and Kayleigh Heckel (USC), the first three even earned Freshman of the Week honors in their conference, the last Kayleigh Heckel was the #1 PG for Team USA U18 at the Americas Championship, while Koval is first in bocks with 4.8 and seventh in rebounds with 11.8 per game, Swords had a 27 pts and 12 rebounds game against South Carolina.

As for Olivia Jones, who now seems to be attracting interest from UConn, it's worth noting that, according to the information on X (attachment), she's only 15 years old and will turn 16 at the end of January. That means she'll be eligible for the U16 Americas in 2025, which to my knowledge will be a first for a JR (class of 2026). We tend to compare players by class, and that's normal, but it can be misleading. She's younger than Sydney Douglas, who turned 16 in September and is still in class 2028, and she won't be eligible for the next U16 Americas.

Yet again this year, there was no UConn representation at the various open gym sessions Luhi held a few weeks ago. The team renewed itself after the departure of their 4 starters, and is favourably positioned at #7 in the latest HoopGurlz ESPN National High School Team Rankings.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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[broooce]

There was also Grace Stone, from my hometown of Glen Cove. She was also a LuHi grad who played at Princeton with Kaitlyn Chen and did pretty well against us a couple of years ago.

 

[Charliebball]

Other than the Big "O", for whatever reason UConn has not been particularly interested in NY/NJ area players since Aubrey Griffen...........I'm hoping Vukosa isn't the latest in a long line of area players including Citron, Miles, Hedalgo, Miller, the Sword sisters and Koval who got away.......