Lawson Inks Three During Early Signing Period

DURHAM – Duke women’s basketball head coach Kara Lawson announced the three members of the Blue Devils’ 2023 freshman class with the signing of Jadyn Donovan, Oluchi Okananwa and Delaney Thomas during the NCAA’s early signing period.

The 2023 class marks Duke’s first recruiting haul since the 2015 class with a player ranked in the top-five nationally by ESPN, as well as the first group since the 2014 class with at least three prospects ranked in the ESPN top 30.

 

Jadyn Donovan | 6-0 | Guard/Forward | Washington, D.C. | Sidwell Friends School

Donovan, a five-star wing ranked No. 3 in the 2023 Class by ESPN, is Duke’s highest-rated signee since the 2015 class. She is the No. 1 overall ranked Maryland prospect in the class of 2023, according to PrepGirlsHoops.

Notables:

• 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball U17 World Cup Gold Medalist
• 2021 FIBA Americas Women’s Basketball U16 Gold Medalist
• 2021-22 Washington Post All-Metro First Team selection
• Averaged 15.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game during the 2021-22 season while helping lead Sidwell Friends to an unblemished 30-0 record, the DCSAA Championship and the No. 1 overall team ranking — according to MaxPreps and ESPN.

Lawson on Jadyn Donovan:
“Jadyn Donovan is one of the top overall players in the 2023 class. She brings a lot of what we covet as a program. She’s a high academic student. She is an athletic, two-way player and she is a great teammate. The other thing about Jadyn that I love is she’s put herself in positions where she’s playing high level competition. She’s playing in a lot of big games already as a young player. Whether that’s been her club team, her high school team or Team USA. So, we’ve been able to evaluate her in important pressure situations. She’s somebody that can play with anybody because she finds a way to highlight the strengths of her teammates. We couldn’t be more pleased to have Jadyn join our program, and obviously we couldn’t be more pleased that Jadyn and her family are joining our program. I think Blue Devil fans are going to be really excited at the type of electricity Jadyn is going to bring to Cameron.”
 

Oluchi Okananwa | 5-10 | Guard | Boston, Mass. | Worcester Academy

Okananwa is a physical, four-star combo guard ranked in the Top 30 of the 2023 class. The top-ranked player in New England according to…