Nebraska 2016-17 newcomers Kathleen Doyle (Illinois) and Hannah Whitish (Wisconsin) both earned Miss Basketball honors, while Mi’Cole Cayton, Nicea Eliely and Grace Mitchell all enjoyed strong senior seasons to cap their high school careers.
Doyle, a 5-9 guard from LaGrange Park, Ill., led Benet Academy to its second straight IHSA Class 4A state championship. In a 42-39 win over then-USA Super 25 No. 20 Fremd, Doyle scored 24 points and hit 4-of-9 three-pointers. Her effort in the state title game followed a 30-point outburst in the semifinals for Benet Academy, which moved into the USA Today Super 25 rankings at No. 15 following the victory in the state championship game.
Doyle averaged 17.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.7 steals per game as a senior to earn first-team Class 4A honors from the Associated Press and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association, while leading Benet Academy to a 32-3 overall record. She averaged 13.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.8 steals per game as a junior while leading Benet to its first-ever state championship in 2015.
Doyle finished her career with 1,636 points, 516 rebounds, 442 assists, 297 steals and 119 blocked shots. She was rated as the No. 27 guard in the nation by ESPN and ranked among the nation’s top 100 overall players by Blue Star, All Star Girls Report and Prospects Nation.
Whitish capped an amazing prep career as the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Miss Basketball and the Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year. The three-time first-team Division 5 All-State selection was also the Wisconsin State Journal Player of the Year.
As a senior, the 5-9 guard averaged 24.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 4.5 steals per game while leading Barneveld High School to its fourth consecutive state championship game. Barneveld fell to Assumption in the title game, but finished with a 28-1 record to cap a 110-3 career record for Whitish. Barneveld won state titles in 2014 and 2015 and was the state runner-up to Assumption in 2013.
Whitish, who hit 59 percent of her field goals including 48 percent of her three-pointers for the Golden Eagles as a senior, finished among the top 10 in Wisconsin state history in career scoring with well over 2,000 points. As a junior, Whitish averaged 21.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 4.6 steals.
With the addition of Doyle and Whitish to the 2016-17 Husker roster, Nebraska will have a strong flavor of top players from states around the nation. Two-time Nebraska Miss Basketball Jessica Shepard (2013, 2014), who was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2016, joins 2015 Nebraska Miss Basketball Maddie Simon as state players of the year from Nebraska.
They join two-time Tennessee Class 2-AA Player of the Year Jasmine Cincore (2013, 2014) and Natalie Romeo, a second-team All-Big Ten pick as a sophomore for the Huskers in 2016, who was the Cal-Hi Sports Player of the Year in California in 2014.
Mi’Cole Cayton, a 5-9 guard from Stockton, Calif., finished her career for one of the nation’s top high school teams. Cayton’s St. Mary’s squad closed the season in California’s Open Division semifinals with a 28-1 overall record as the USA Today’s Super 25 No. 1 team. A loss in the semifinals snapped St. Mary’s 57-game winning streak for Naismith National High School Coach of the Year Tom Gonsalves.
Cayton averaged 12.0 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Cayton was rated as the No. 80 overall player and No. 20 guard in the nation by ESPN last season.
Grace Mitchell and Nicea Eliely also enjoyed hugely productive senior seasons. Mitchell, a 6-2 guard/forward from Wellington, Kan., was one of the top players in the state of Kansas. She averaged 21.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.4 blocks and 1.0 steal per game in her only season at Wellington High School. Mitchell helped the Lady Crusaders to a 24-1 record and a third-place finish at the Class 4A state championships.
A first-team All-Kansas selection, she was the MVP of the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League. Last season, Mitchell averaged 17.6 points and 6.3 rebounds at Derby High School. She was ranked as the No. 51 wing in the nation by ESPN a year ago.
Eliely, a 6-1 guard at Rampart High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., saw the greatest increase in production from her junior to senior seasons. Eliely helped Rampart to a 19-6 overall record by averaging 21.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 3.4 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. She ranked eighth in the state of Colorado across all classes in scoring in 2015-16. She also ranked 11th in the state in free throws made (115) while shooting 84.6 percent from the line.
Eliely, who averaged 16.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.2 blocks for Rampart last season, closed her career with 1,366 points, 455 rebounds, 188 assists, 247 steals and 118 blocks for Coach Ashley Miller. Eliely was rated as the No. 25 guard in the nation by ESPN last season.