Davis earns rare distinction as McDonald’s All-American for KU women’s basketball

By Henry Greenstein     Jan 27, 2025

article image Damon Young/Kansas Athletics
Kansas women's basketball signee Jaliya Davis poses for a photo at the Jayhawks' game against Penn State on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Lawrence.

One of the top recruits in the Kansas women’s basketball team’s recent program history received a noteworthy honor on Monday afternoon.

Future Jayhawk Jaliya Davis, a 6-foot-2 five-star forward from Overland Park who ranks as ESPN’s No. 17 prospect in the nation, was named a McDonald’s All-American.

She becomes just the third KU women’s basketball player ever to receive the honor overall and just the second one the Jayhawks have recruited out of high school, after Lauren Ervin in 2003.

KU coach Brandon Schneider has labeled Davis “a dominant rebounder and a matchup issue on the offensive end,” defined by her versatility on both sides of the ball. She holds Blue Valley North’s all-time scoring record, which she broke on Jan. 14.

Davis and guard Keeley Parks, from Norman, Oklahoma, are the headliners of a star-studded recruiting class that also includes well-regarded top-50 prospect Libby Fandel from Iowa and forward Tatyonna Brown from Colorado. All but Brown were nominees for the McDonald’s honor, and Schneider has called the class one of the best in the program’s history.

The group will join a very familiar roster for the 2025-26 season, as nearly all of KU’s current team has eligibility to return next year, headlined by star sophomore guard S’Mya Nichols, a fellow Overland Park native who is currently averaging more than 20 points per game.

The 2025 McDonald’s All-American Games will take place on April 1 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

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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.