The Georgetown University women’s basketball program welcomed seven new players to its ranks this season — five first-years and two graduate transfers — to round out a roster of 13. The team’s recruiting strategy seems to mirror Georgetown’s own ideals: cura personalis and a focus on developing the whole person rather than just the athlete.
The first-year recruits hail from four states spanning both coasts and two countries. Point guard Jaeda Wilson joins the Hoyas from nearby Potomac, Md.; guard Jayden McBride joins from Erie, Pa.; point guard Khadee Hession hails from Miami, Fla.; guard Amanda Ajobiewe joins the ranks from Riverside, Calif.; forward Alexia Araujo-Dagba ascends from Recife, Brazil.
The recruits all have experience playing at the highest level in high school — something that is key for Head Coach Darnell Haney. Araujo-Dagba even played internationally for Brazil prior to joining the Hoyas this August.
The two graduate additions to this year’s team similarly have experience competing at the highest level, each hailing from NCAA tournament-qualifying teams. Guard Siobhan Ryan joins the team from the Atlantic 10 team University of Richmond, while forward Chetanna Nweke hails from the Ivy League’s Princeton University.
Haney emphasized the importance of finding not just players who are athletically talented, but also fit into Georgetown women’s basketball’s greater vision.
“That’s what we hang our hats on,” Haney told The Hoya. “We just wanted to make sure we bring great people into our program that help enhance the program.”
First and foremost, this means finding players who feel comfortable within the Hoyas’ structure and camaraderie. Georgetown, as an institution, spotlights the idea of cura personalis — care for the whole person — and attention to the gifts of individuals. Beyond this match in philosophies, Haney and the staff look for players who add individual talents that enhance the overall roster.
A quick glance at the Hoyas’ roster makes apparent the fact that these gifts vary by design. From McBride’s coolness to Hession’s electric play, from Ryan’s shooting to Nweke’s rebounding, each new addition provides a complementary dimension to Georgetown’s plans.
Above all, the recruits share one trait in common: a winning attitude. Haney said knowing the grind and the dedication behind every postseason success helps establish the necessary culture for an eventual NCAA tournament team.
“One of the biggest things we wanted to do with transfers is that we wanted to go grab people that knew how to win — not just transfers but with freshmen as well,” Haney said.
Still, as Haney noted, graduate transfers have quickly become a major part of the college athletics landscape. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, athletes were guaranteed four seasons of eligibility during which they could compete and five years to complete these four seasons. That meant redshirt opportunities typically emerged only when a player had to sit out for academic, medical or transfer reasons.
The pandemic changed this landscape, allowing all players who missed seasons due to the pandemic to gain additional eligibility. Furthermore, transfers no longer needed to sit out a year before returning to play. This created a market for graduate transfers across all sports, as many athletes choose to transfer to other schools to play out their final year of eligibility after earning their undergraduate degree.
This year’s class of graduate transfers is the last of the COVID-19 fifth-year players, and the Hoyas have three graduate students who are taking advantage of this policy: Georgetown’s homegrown point guard Kelsey Ransom, along with transfers Ryan and Nweke.
Graduate athletes have a limited 30-day window to enter the transfer portal and find a new school to compete for each year following the conclusion of the regular season. In contrast, high school recruits begin the recruiting process in their junior year and they can officially commit in November of their senior year.
Haney, who took on interim head coaching duties after Head Coach Tasha Butts’ death, was officially named the Georgetown program’s permanent leader just this March. These challenging conditions meant Haney and his assistant coaches, including two-time WNBA champion Kelly Mazzante and former USA international Mariya Moore, needed to outcompete more established staff for recruits.
Still, this did not seem to affect the success of the Hoyas’ recruiting efforts. Following a first-ever appearance in the Big East conference championship and a Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament appearance, Georgetown secured the commitments of Ajobiewe, Hession and Wilson, who flipped her commitment from Marquette.
In other situations, it meant being more creative in recruiting targets. After a colleague referred Araujo-Dagba to Haney, he noticed the need for a new first-year forward on the team. Then, the right pieces fell into place.
“Coach Mariya Moore says, ‘Oh, there’s this kid in Brazil I’m seeing go on recruiting services, and she’s open. We need to see if we can get in or not,’” Haney said. “I’m like, ‘That’s the same kid that my guy was telling me about. Let me call and find out.’”
“We did some more research, I just got in there and she liked our staff, she liked what we stood for,” Haney added. Araujo-Dagba eventually officially joined the team after international play in August.
This year’s seven new recruits, making up more than half the team, will have the opportunity to contribute to Georgetown’s success starting next Wednesday, Nov. 6 at home in McDonough Arena, something the coaching staff who hand-picked them are sure they will do.
