New Jersey Recruiting Update: 4/28

<p>It's been a bit since our last recruiting update in New Jersey, but the beginning of a new AAU season in the Garden State has helped to ramp up recent recruiting efforts, especially in the last week. Here's the latest buzz on what high school prospects have been in the recruiting news.</p>   <p><strong>GiGi Battle - Rutgers Prep (2026) offered by Northwestern, Princeton, Boston College, George Washington</strong></p>   <p>Add four Division 1 programs and two Power Five schools to the ever-growing portfolio of offers that 2026 Rutgers Prep prospect GiGi Battle has received just in the last week! </p>   <p>Big Ten school Northwestern and ACC program Boston College highlight the schools that Battle has been offered by, as well as Ivy League power Princeton, the home of St. John Vianney superstar Madison St. Rose.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/gigi_battle2026/status/1651351583131566080?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/TeamSharp23/status/1650884977016332289?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/gigi_battle2026/status/1651732926097178625?s=20 </div></figure>   <p>Battle has deserved all of the additional press after coming into her freshman season with size, height and tenacity on the floor, backing that up in a big way with the Argos. A complementary piece to [player_tooltip player_id='325201' first='Mikayla' last='Blakes'] in the backcourt, the 5-10 guard averaged 9.9 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.7 SPG and 0.7 threes a game last season. She's going to be making some strides in AAU ball and should have an All-Conference type season as a sophomore.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='491718' first='Morgan' last='Matthews'] - Pennington (2024) offered by Northeastern and Providence</strong></p>   <p>The offers haven't quite come in at the same pace that we've personally expected for as lethal of a scorer as Matthews is, but this week, she got some New England love as Northeastern and Providence sent the junior offers.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/morgan11hoops/status/1651331169034596358?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/morgan11hoops/status/1650664065935593476?s=20 </div></figure>   <p>Having a Big East offer under her belt is massive for Matthews, and she's played her way into the eyes of basketball fans across the Garden State this season alone. In 24 games with Pennington, Matthews averaged 22.4 PPG, making more than 85 percent of her free throws, along with 2.5 steals a game and more than a made three-pointer a game. Those stats have remained consistent the past two seasons, and should continue that way as a senior.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='404210' first='Kaylan' last='Deveney'] - Life Center (2023) offered by Rider</strong></p>   <p>Deveney has gotten considerable time in more than one program in New Jersey, starting out with Shawnee, where she was a great shooter and solid scorer, before transferring over to Life Center this season. This week, she got an offer from NJ program Rider.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/kaydeveney_/status/1650967974663139328?s=20 </div></figure>   <p>Deveney will have to make a decision soon as her graduation date is coming up, and Rider is more than a solid option to continue her basketball career at, a Division 1 school playing in the Metro-Atlantic against strong teams. Playing alongside [player_tooltip player_id='238691' first='Kiyomi' last='McMiller'] definitely helped out her game, and hopefully, we'll see her playing D1 ball in the fall.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='482250' first='Alexandra' last='Loucopoulos'] - Holmdel (2023) commits to Emory</strong></p>   <p>Emory seems to be a hot spot for New Jersey talent as Holmdel star [player_tooltip player_id='482250' first='Alexandra' last='Loucopoulos'] committed to playing for the Eagles on April 25.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/ALoucopoulos/status/1651026509715365888?s=20 </div></figure>   <p>Her last two seasons have been incredibly productive for Holmdel, knocking down 89 three-pointers in 53 games, as well as a 13.2 scoring average, 2.2 assist average and 1.8 steals average in that time. Her production jumped tremendously from her sophomore to junior year, and those numbers continued in consistency through her senior year with the Hornets. Continued success to her in college.</p>   <p><strong>Gabby Vaughn - Camden Catholic (2026) offered by Monmouth</strong></p>   <p>It's great to see younger talent getting noticed by colleges because Vaughn was great with the Irish last season. Monmouth has since offered her, which the program announced on April 24.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/IrishGBB/status/1650658226759712770?s=20 </div></figure>   <p>Something important to note about Vaughn, especially because of her ability to score in the interior, block shots, get rebounds and just command the game in the lane, is that she's going to be a main contributor next season. [player_tooltip player_id='134752' first='Aaryn' last='Battle'] and [player_tooltip player_id='155448' first='Kassidy' last='Thompson'] are graduating, leaving her as a big name to take over and be a playmaker. She's more than got that clutch gene in her, so it will be a fun transition for Camden Catholic.</p>   <p><strong>Arliana Torres - Toms River North (2023) commits to Connecticut College</strong></p>   <p>The senior guard from TRN made a big jump in production as a senior, and as a result, she got recognized. On April 17, Torres made her college commitment as she'll be playing at Connecticut College.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/arliana_t/status/1648130236825976834?s=20 </div></figure>   <p>This is a player who went from a bench piece in her first few years to equaling her total production from her first three seasons just as a senior, averaging 11.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 5.1 SPG, 0.8 made threes a game and 0.4 BPG. This jump in production was no fluke, and all Torres needed was an open opportunity and more playing time to show how good of a player she could be on the floor, and she was electric to say the least.</p>

It's been a bit since our last recruiting update in New Jersey, but the beginning of a new AAU season in the Garden State has helped to ramp up recent recruiting efforts, especially in the last week. Here's the latest buzz on what high school prospects have been in the recruiting news.