Schneider calls 2025 class one of program’s best ever

By Henry Greenstein     Nov 21, 2024

article image AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider addresses the media during the NCAA college Big 12 women's basketball media day, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.

After the Kansas women’s basketball team signed a pair of nationally prominent prospects in consecutive days, head coach Brandon Schneider stated in a press release on Thursday that his staff has completed “what we feel is one of the top recruiting classes in the history of Kansas Women’s Basketball.”

The addition of a fourth and final signee, Keeley Parks, on Thursday makes KU’s 2025 class one of the best in the nation per 247Sports, as Tennessee, LSU and Stanford are the only other schools with three or more 247Sports Composite five-star commitments set to join the program.

As of Thursday, the Jayhawks have now officially signed all three of theirs — recent commitments Jaliya Davis and Parks, along with summer addition Libby Fandel — plus a fourth player, 6-foot-2 forward Tatyonna Brown from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“We are very excited to add a player of Taty’s skill, athleticism, and character to our program,” Schneider said of Brown in a recent release. “She will bring a level of length and athleticism that will elevate our frontline play on both ends of the floor. We love Taty’s upside and look forward to being a part of her growth and development.”

Brown said she chose KU for “the great team atmosphere and culture.”

Fandel, who has played with some of the nation’s best on the prestigious All Iowa Attack club team, is a 6-foot-1 guard whose ESPN ranking is not far off S’Mya Nichols’ prior to her own arrival at KU last season, and who Schneider called “one of the premier wing players in the country.” She has also starred in volleyball for her high school, Xavier High in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

“She has great perimeter size, athleticism, and versatility, and she can space the floor from three but also play downhill and attack the paint,” he added. “She is a physical defender who can guard multiple positions.”

A fellow forward to go with Brown, Davis is the top in-state prospect in her class and has set and reset Blue Valley North’s scoring record, and Schneider said he was “elated that Jaliya made the decision to stay home and be a Jayhawk.”

“Jaliya is a long and extremely athletic forward,” Schneider said. “She is a dominant rebounder and a matchup issue on the offensive end. She can post, she can attack off the bounce and she can stretch it to the three-point line. Her versatility carries over to the defensive end as her quickness will allow her to guard multiple positions at our level.”

The final addition, the combo guard Parks, picked KU over her hometown Oklahoma Sooners and made her decision known on Wednesday afternoon shortly before the conclusion of the early signing period.

“She is an elite three-point shooter who uses her range to set up the rest of her game,” Schneider said. “Keeley can finish at the basket, she has a pull-up game, and she can get to the free throw line. We love her activity and mentality on the defensive end. She is a disruptor who is always in attack mode and her competitive fire will enhance our culture that we take so much pride in.”

The Jayhawks have now acquired four freshmen to match the four seniors or fifth-year players on the current roster: Nadira Eltayeb, Wyvette Mayberry, Danai Papadopoulou and Jordan Webster.

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Written By Henry Greenstein

Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off "California vibes," whatever that means.