5-Star Forward Maori Davenport Commits To Rutgers Women’s Basketball

For Rutgers women’s basketball head coach C. Vivian Stringer, the Hall of Famer has probably had the song “Sweet Home Alabama” playing along the recruiting trail recently. After adding 5-star point guard Zipporah “Zippy” Broughton to the program for this season, Stringer added yet another star from the southern state in the class of 2019. 5-star forward Maori Davenport verbally committed to Rutgers on Saturday, joining fellow Alabamian and 3-star guard prospect Joiya Maddox in the current recruiting class.

Davenport is ranked the #15 recruit in the country per ESPNW HoopGirlz top 100 rankings for the class of 2019 and the second best post player overall. She is both a state champion and gold medalist, despite just entering her senior season of high school ball this winter. Davenport chose Rutgers over Louisville, Georgia, and Mississippi State.

From the ESPNw article:

“Davenport is set to become C. Vivian Stringer’s highest-ranked prospect since Tyler Scaife in 2013. Scaife finished her career second in scoring for the Scarlet Knights, with 2,233 points.”

”She is the reason I chose Rutgers. It’s just that simple,” Davenport said of Stringer. “I’m excited to be in her plans and her vision for me.”

“Davenport averaged 18.2 points, 12.0 rebounds, 5.1 blocks and 1.7 assists as a junior last season and led Charles Henderson (Troy, Alabama) to the first girls basketball state title in school history. Over the summer, she helped lead the United States to a gold medal at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Mexico City. She was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 7.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks.”

The Rutgers women’s basketball team has added plenty of transfers in recent seasons, but Stringer is making headway of late with elite prospects that happen to be from Alabama. Adding legitimate talent, regardless of from where, is crucial for the future of the program. With six seniors playing in their last year of eligibility, there is more work to be done in filling out the roster for the 2019-2020 season. Adding Davenport at this stage of the recruiting cycle is a massive victory for Stringer and her staff. Entering her 24th season at Rutgers, Stringer will lead a talented and veteran team this season beginning at home against St. Francis on November 6th.

Here are highlights of Davenport from her junior season and summer play with Team USA.

High School

Team USA