The Missouri women’s and men’s basketball teams were able to add two players each on Wednesday, with women’s coach Robin Pingeton announcing the signing of Class 3 first-teamers and national Top-30 recruits Aijha Blackwell of Whitfield High School in the St. Louis suburb of Berkeley, and Hayley Frank, the two-time MBCA Class 3 Player of the Year from Strafford High School.
Blackwell, the daughter of former Missouri football letter-winner Ernest Blackwell, is ranked 8th nationally in the Class of 2019 by espnW’s HoopsGurlz recruiting rankings and #1 in the state of Missouri. As a junior, Aijha averaged 24.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and two steals per game, leading the Warriors to the Class 3 state semifinals and a 22-7 record.
Hayley Frank has been the backbone of the Strafford Lady Indians dynasty that has seen the southwest Missouri juggernaut rip off 82 consecutive wins and three consecutive Class 3 state championships. Rated #29 nationally and #2 in the state of Missouri, Frank has 2,293 career points and 1,213 rebounds heading into her senior season. As a junior, Frank, in a 33-0 state championship season, averaged 24 points and 13 rebounds per game, playing for her father, Lady Indians Head Coach Steve Frank.
The additions of Blackwell and Frank is considered to give MU the 11th best recruiting class in the nation, according to espnW, with both young ladies ranked as elite five-star recruits.
The Missouri men, on Wednesday, added St. Louis Vashon senior Mario McKinney. The cousin of former Mizzou guard Jimmy McKinney (2002-2006), Mario McKinney averaged 17 points and six rebounds per game. In 2016 and 2017, Vashon won back-to-back Class 4 state championships. He is rated the top prospect in Missouri’s 2019 high school recruiting class by ESPN and 247Sports. McKinney chose Mizzou over offers from Louisville, Kansas State, Auburn, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and VCU.
Also inking with Coach Cuonzo Martin was 6’8″ power forward Tray Jackson of Detroit, Michigan. Jackson is playing this season, and a prep school (Sunrise Christian Academy) in Wichita, Kansas. Ranked #56 in ESPN’s 2019 Top 100, Jackson averaged 13.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Meanstreets on the Nike EYBL circuit, with 218 points over 16 games.
