Penn State coach Carolyn Kieger has had an excellent offseason so far in the transfer portal. First, Kieger landed a former top 25 national recruit in Alli Campbell from Notre Dame, and Saturday, PSU picked up George Washington transfer Ali Brigham.
A 6-foot-4 center from Massachusetts, Brigham averaged a team-high 11.9 points while shooting 50.4 percent from the field as a freshman for GW. She also averaged 4.7 rebounds, played in 23 games (starting 19) and was selected to the Atlantic 10 all-Rookie Team.
I would like to thank GW and the coaches who have recruited me. With that being said, I’m super excited to announce my commitment to Penn State. I can’t wait to start this next chapter in Happy Valley! #WeAre 💙🤍
— Ali Brigham (@ali_brigham) April 3, 2021
This is what Brigham did during her high school career, from her bio page at GW:
High School: Completed a decorated career at Franklin High School, finishing as the program’s all-time leading scorer (men or women) with 1,692 points and rebounder with 1,276 boards … Named a Gatorade State Player of the Year finalist after averaging 22 ppg and 14 rpg as a senior, leading her team to the Division 1 State co-Championship and the #1 ranking in Massachusetts … … Two-time Hockomock League MVP and two-time honoree on the Boston Globe All-Scholastic and Boston Herald All-Scholastic dream teams … Two-time team MVP and Underclassman of the year as a freshman and a sophomore … Father, Bill (’93), also played basketball at George Washington
GW finished just 9-14 this season, and coach Jennifer Rizzotti was fired after five seasons. Rizzotti was the starting point guard on UConn’s first national title team in 1995, and she’s a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
GW hired Caroline McCombs to replace Rizzotti as coach. She previously served as head coach at Stony Brook.
Campbell announced she’s transferring to Penn State two weeks ago after getting little playing time as a freshman at Notre Dame.
So, with Campbell and Brigham coming on board, Kieger has added two key pieces to the PSU program. The Lady Lions finished 9-15 overall and 6-13 in the Big Ten this season, Kieger’s second as head coach.
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