‘Hopefully here soon.’ One of Sweet 16’s biggest stars is still shopping for a college.
One of the highest-rated basketball recruits in the class of 2025 is right here in the Bluegrass State.
Bethlehem forward Leah Macy, the No. 8 recruit in the nation, scored 31 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in the Banshees’ 56-49 victory over Pikeville in Thursday’s first-round game of the Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament.
Macy holds more than 25 Division I offers, including from Louisville, LSU, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, North Carolina and Ohio State. UK was also one of the many schools in pursuit under former head coach Kyra Elzy.
When the Herald-Leader caught up with Macy in late January during the All “A” Classic in Corbin, the five-star prospect spoke highly of UConn, where she had taken an “amazing” visit over the New Year’s holiday. She also mentioned she was down to about eight schools.
“I would say I’m down to like, eight (schools) or so,” Macy said at the time. “And I’m just still building relationships with the coaches. We can take official visits now, but I don’t think I’m gonna take any until I commit, just because I took the unofficials I want. So I think I’m gonna wait it out this high school season.”
When asked for an update on her recruitment after the Banshees’ victory over Pikeville on Thursday, Macy said she hopes to make her college choice sometime after her team’s state championship run.
“I haven’t made any final decision yet, but hopefully here soon,” Macy said. “But nothing specific or anything like that. But it’s been a really fun process to get to experience everything. It’s cool watching them on TV this year, knowing I have personal relationships with basically every coach who’s playing on TV. So it’s just a cool experience and I’m enjoying it. But you know, this week is business. So I’m excited to be here with these girls.”
Teammate Kensey Clayton chimed in after Macy’s update with a story about just how sought-after Macy is.
“We were going in for, I think it was one of our district games,” Clayton said laughing. “And one of her coaches calls her, it’s like a pretty big coach, and she answers it, and I’m just like, ‘Does this happen daily to her?’ I’m so confused. She just has a full-on conversation, I’m like, ‘All right, whatever.’ We’re kind of used to it, and we get free merch out of it, so.”
Macy is one of three in-state prospects ranked among the best in the high school class of 2025. She is joined in the top 40 by Sacred Heart Academy guard and three-time Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year ZaKiyah Johnson (No. 5) and George Rogers Clark forward Ciara Byars (No. 37).
The Banshees will face the winner of Sacred Heart and George Rogers Clark on Friday at 6 p.m.
This story was originally published March 14, 2024 at 4:43 PM.
