LORMAN, Miss. – Head Coach
Courtney G. Pruitt and the Alcorn State University women's basketball program strengthened its roster with the addition of three high school and two junior college signees.
Alcorn's incoming class includes freshmen Cayla Obillo, Nia McCalphia and Aja Wheeler, along with juniors LaRae Rascoe and Nyenkeer Mawal.
"I'm very excited about the 2019 signing class. We've got state championship experience, as well as junior college experience that will mix in well with what we have returning," said Pruitt. "Each young lady will make an immediate impact on the Lady Braves women's basketball team."Â
Wheeler, a guard for Robbinsdale Cooper High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, led the Lady Hawks to the 3A State Championship as a junior and a Final Four appearance in her senior year. Wheeler was named to Minnesota's All-State Team and the Wells Fargo Class 3A All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of her senior season.
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McCalphia was the starting point guard for this year's Mississippi 2A State Champions at Newton High School. She guided the Lady Tigers to a 29-2 record and an unblemished mark in the region. McCalphia was ranked as MaxPreps's fifth-best player in the state and was named Player of the Game six times.
She averaged 12 points, seven assists, four rebounds and four steals per contest last season while earning MVP in the Championship Game with a 12-point, three-assist and four-steal outing.
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Obillo starred at point guard for Pass Christian High School this past season, getting nominated for the McDonald's All-American game as one of five players from Mississippi to make the cut. She was the leading scorer for the Lady Pirates, producing 12.5 points per game and making 65 percent of her field goal attempts from the floor. Obillo helped the team go 23-8 and win its first-round playoff game.
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Rascoe, a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, went down as one of the most prolific players in Ancilla College program history. Rascoe's freshman season was historic, guiding the team to its first ever NJCAA Women's Basketball National Tournament while breaking the school record for most free throws made in a season (149) and steals (103). The guard also contributed top-three single-season marks in steals per game (3.12), points (551) and assists (136).
Her sophomore campaign was even better, netting her a NJCAA Division II Third-Team All-American selection and second consecutive MCCAA Western Division Defensive Player of the Year award. She averaged a team-high 20.2 points per contest and 7.4 rebounds per game while being among the top-ten nationally in field goals (201), free throws made (149), defensive rebounds (170), assists (151), steals (94) and points per game.
Rascoe finished her Lady Chargers career as the program's all-time leader in steals (287) and assists (197) as well as placing second in career points with 1,136.
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Malwal, a transfer from Jacksonville College, was a part of the team's 21-6 campaign during her freshman year and plays forward. She's coming off a season where she averaged 11.5 points per outing and was the team's leading scorer.
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The incoming recruiting class will join an Alcorn squad that returns four starters in
Jamaysha Bernard,
Toddriana Isler,
Aysha Kirkland and
Jada Hargrove.
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| Name |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Cl. |
Hometown/Previous School |
| Aja Wheeler |
G |
5-9 |
Fr. |
New Hope, Minn. / Robbinsdale Cooper HS |
| Nia McCalphia |
G |
5-6 |
Fr. |
Newton, Miss. / Newton HS |
| Cayla Obillo |
G |
5-0 |
Fr. |
Pass Christian, Miss. / Pass Christian HS |
| LaRae Rascoe |
G |
5-4 |
Jr. |
Indianapolis, Ind. / Ancilla College |
| Nyenkeer Malwal |
F |
5-9 |
Jr. |
Wylie, Texas / Jacksonville College |
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