Northern Indiana: Michiana
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The featured image is of Monique Mitchell Monique Mitchell 5'11" | SF South Bend Washington | 2025 State IN (2024) of South Bend’s Washington High School. The area that includes South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart, and the surrounding towns, has commonly…
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Continue ReadingThe featured image is of Monique Mitchell Monique Mitchell 5'11" | SF South Bend Washington | 2025 State IN (2024) of South Bend’s Washington High School.
The area that includes South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart, and the surrounding towns, has commonly been referred to as “Michiana” over the years, but South Bend has also been dubbed “The Metropolis of Northern Indiana” and “Wagon City”, Mishawaka has been identified as “The Peppermint Capital of the World” and “Princess City”, while Elkhart has also been nicknamed “The Town with a Heart” and “The RV Capital of the World”. For the purposes of this article, I am going to focus on the 31 high schools that reside in St. Joseph County, Elkhart County, Marshall County, and Kosciusko County.
“Michiana” has seen a great deal of success in girls’ basketball, with South Bend Washington (2022 Class 3A), NorthWood (2020 Class 3A), South Bend St. Joseph (2017 Class 3A), and Penn (2016 Class 4A) all winning state titles in the last seven years. Additionally, recent prospects like Trinitee Harris (Elkhart Central 2019), Keegan Sullivan (South Bend St. Joseph 2020), Kaitlyn Costner (Penn 2021), Brynn Shoup-Hill (Goshen 2021), Kelly Ratigan (South Bend St. Joseph 2022), Mila Reynolds (South Bend Washington 2022), and Taylor Bowen (Culver Academy 2022) have all represented the area well, and each of the 2021 and 2022 graduates listed above are currently playing at Division-I schools. Costner, Shoup-Hill, and Reynolds were Indiana All-Stars as well.
However, year after year there are many other quality players in Northern Indiana who often go underrecruited, so I encourage small colleges to drive up U.S. 31 or across the Indiana East-West Toll Road a couple of times each high school season to check out the area teams. Below, I wanted to take the time to highlight a handful of girls who may not often grab the spotlight, but who deserve their share of recognition for their basketball abilities. Not all of these girls are technically in “Michiana”, but they are from the extreme Northern part of Indiana.
Dionna Craig
Dionna
Craig
5'7" | SG
Culver Academy | 2023
IN
, 2023, 5-7 G, Culver Academy
– Dionna is a really nice athlete who plays with a good motor. She has length, wiry strength, and she moves well in just about every direction. She is more of a slasher/driver offensively, but she can slice through the defense and finish around the basket. She can knock down the occasional outside jumper, but it would benefit her to make that more consistent, especially for the next level. Defensively, I enjoy her intensity, and she’ll defend the ball in all areas of the floor with effort. She’s also aware and reacts quickly from “help”.
Julia Economou
Julia
Economou
5'11" | SF
Penn | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, 5-11 F, Penn H.S.
– Julia is one of those “jack of all trades” sort of kids. She isn’t elite at any one thing, but she also isn’t deficient and has good balance to her game. She plays extremely hard, she’s willing to be physical and play inside/rebound, but she also flashes some skill around the perimeter. She’s productive with her dribble, and she can knock down the occasional outside jumper. I think the mid-post is probably her forte right now, as she can consistently knock down the 15-footer or attack the basket and finish through contact.
Kennedy Hayden
Kennedy
Hayden
5'9" | SF
John Glenn | 2023
IN
, 2023, 5-9 W, John Glenn H.S.
– Kennedy has always flashed some intriguing qualities in her game, and she’s one of those kids who should continue to grow and develop her game at the next level. She has nice length, fluid athleticism, and some bounce to her. She plays with a solid motor and some versatility as well. She plays primarily around the perimeter, she can knock down the occasional outside jumper, but she’s probably better in the mid-range game and attacking the basket. I also like her ability defensively to guard wings and forwards.
Dominique Stilley
Dominique
Stilley
6'0" | PF
Concord | 2024
IN
, 2024, 6-0 F, Concord H.S.
– Dominique strikes me as one of those kids who potentially could have the upper-tier small colleges fighting for her services next Spring and Summer. She has nice height, great length, and a wiry-strong frame. She is a fairly fluid athlete, she has some bounce to her, and she can play inside or out. She prefers to play around the perimeter, and she has some touch outside. But she can also put it on the floor and straight-line drive it to the basket or pull-up in the mid-range. Defensively, she can take on ‘3s’ and ‘4s’ alike.
Addyson Viers
Addyson
Viers
6'1" | C
Triton | 2024
IN
, 2024, 6-1 F/C, Triton H.S.
– Addyson is a really nice, small school front-liner. She has a fairly strong frame, she’s a solid North/South athlete, plus she has good hands, decent footwork, and she can score it comfortably around the block. Additionally, she is developing a perimeter jumper, and as she begins to make that more consistent, she will be a real threat in screen-and-roll-or-pop situations. Addyson plays extremely hard, she’s somewhat feisty and physical inside, and she will both box out to rebound and pursue caroms outside of her area.
Ella Mohamed
Ella
Mohamed
5'6" | SG
Northridge | 2025
IN
, 2025, 5-5 G, Northridge H.S.
– Northridge always seems to have really nice, disciplined, and skillful guards and wings spread throughout their program. Ella is no exception. She is a fairly strong combo guard who has a nice handle, she’s quick with the ball too, and she understands how to create space with the dribble. It’s important because she’s a knockdown shooter, whether she’s handling it or coming off of screens. She plays with a nice motor, good all-around awareness, and she continues to improve as a facilitator.
Additional Northern
Indiana Prospects
in Our Rankings for 2023-2025:
Shayla Alexander
Shayla
Alexander
5'10" | SF
Mishawaka Marian | 2023
IN
, 2023, Mishawaka Marian H.S.
Kinsey Atkins
Kinsey
Atkins
5'3" | PG
Triton | 2023
IN
, 2023, Triton H.S.
Brighton Bird
Brighton
Bird
5'9" | SF
Culver Academy | 2023
IN
, 2023, Culver Academy
Savannah Boerema
Savannah
Boerema
5'7" | CG
Northridge | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, Northridge H.S.
Peyton Brooks
Peyton
Brooks
6'0" | PF
Penn | 2023
IN
, 2023, Penn H.S.
Taylor Delp
Taylor
Delp
6'0" | PF
Plymouth | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, Plymouth H.S.
Eva Fisher
Eva
Fisher
5'8" | SG
Northridge | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, Northridge H.S., committed to Marian
Nevaeh Foster
Nevaeh
Foster
5'8" | CG
Mishawaka Marian | 2023
State
#39
Nation
IN
, 2023, Mishawaka Marian H.S., committed to Western Kentucky
Brea Garber
Brea
Garber
6'0" | PF
Fairfield | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, Fairfield H.S., committed to Indiana Wesleyan
Aliyah Hershberger
Aliyah
Hershberger
5'6" | CG
Mishawaka Marian | 2023
IN
, 2023, Mishawaka Marian H.S.
Peyton Hull
Peyton
Hull
5'10" | PF
South Bend St. Joseph | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, South Bend St. Joseph H.S.
RaShunda Jones
RaShunda
Jones
5'7" | PG
South Bend Washington | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, South Bend Washington H.S., committed to Purdue
Tyra Marcum
Tyra
Marcum
6'0" | PF
Goshen | 2023
IN
, 2023, Goshen H.S.
Katie Moyer
Katie
Moyer
5'11" | PF
Bremen | 2023
IN
, 2023, Bremen H.S.
MaKaya Porter
MaKaya
Porter
5'11" | PF
Mishawaka Marian | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, Mishawaka Marian H.S.
Amiyah Reynolds
Amiyah
Reynolds
6'0" | PG
South Bend Washington | 2023
State
#35
Nation
IN
, 2023, South Bend Washington H.S., committed to Maryland
Kendal Taylor
Kendal
Taylor
6'2" | C
Concord | 2023
IN
, 2023, Concord H.S.
May Wiseman, 2023, Penn H.S.
Morgan Cross
Morgan
Cross
5'7" | CG
Northridge | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Northridge H.S.
Kaylie DeHaven, 2024, Northridge H.S.
Karleisha Echols
Karleisha
Echols
5'6" | PG
Penn | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Penn H.S.
Gaby Gates
Gaby
Gates
5'11" | PF
Northridge | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Northridge H.S.
Kyra Hill
Kyra
Hill
6'2" | C
Goshen | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Goshen H.S.
Jaya Johnson
Jaya
Johnson
5'7" | SG
Elkhart | 2024
IN
, 2024, Elkhart H.S.
Olivia Oman
Olivia
Oman
5'9" | SF
Lakeland | 2024
IN
, 2024, Northridge H.S.
Joey Rastrelli, 2024, Warsaw H.S.
Asiah Shaffer
Asiah
Shaffer
5'6" | SG
Mishawaka | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Mishawaka H.S.
Mariah Stoltzfus
Mariah
Stoltzfus
5'2" | PG
Bethany Christian | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Bethany Christian School
Samiyah Stout
Samiyah
Stout
5'7" | CG
Elkhart | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Elkhart H.S.
Lauren Walsh
Lauren
Walsh
5'7" | PG
Penn | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Penn H.S.
Zoe Willems
Zoe
Willems
5'7" | SG
Bethany Christian | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Bethany Christian School
Justyce Williams
Justyce
Williams
5'8" | CG
Jimtown | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Jimtown H.S.
Lena Jones
Lena
Jones
5'6" | PG
Plymouth | 2025
IN
, 2024, Plymouth H.S.
Mia Jones
Mia
Jones
5'10" | SF
Warsaw | 2025
IN
, 2024, Warsaw H.S.
Monique Mitchell
Monique
Mitchell
5'11" | SF
South Bend Washington | 2025
State
IN
, 2024, South Bend Washington H.S.
Abbey Peterson
Abbey
Peterson
5'7" | PG
Warsaw Community | 2025
IN
, 2024, Warsaw H.S.
Kira Reynolds
Kira
Reynolds
6'4" | PF
South Bend Washington | 2025
State
IN
, 2024, South Bend Washington H.S.
Jessa Troy, 2024, Penn H.S.
Ryiah Wilson
Ryiah
Wilson
5'8" | CG
South Bend Washington | 2025
State
IN
, 2024, South Bend Washington H.S.
Brooke Winchester
Brooke
Winchester
6'0" | PF
Warsaw Community | 2025
State
IN
, 2024, Warsaw H.S.