Kenny Brooks has led Virginia Tech to some impressive recruiting victories during his tenure at Virginia Tech both from the high school and JUCO recruiting pools to the transfer portal. However, the Hokies had their most impressive recruiting victory of the Brooks era landing a commitment from Maryland star guard Ashley Owusu, a two-time All-American.
Very big news for #ACCwbb — former Maryland guard Ashley Owusu is joining @CoachBrooksVT in Blacksburg. Two-time AP All-American, 2021 Drysdale winner. @TheNextHoops pic.twitter.com/OfmCmAkkOO
— Mitchell Northam (@primetimeMitch) May 1, 2022
Owusu, a Northern Virginia native, returns to her home state with the Hokies after three impressive seasons at Maryland during which she was an All-Big 10 honoree all three seasons and an AP All-American honoree each of the past two seasons. She was also the 2021 winner of the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the best shooting guard in the country.
With Aisha Sheppard moving on after an illustrious career, Virginia Tech had an opening in their starting lineup next to PG Georgia Amoore, and Owusu is the best possible replacement anyone could have imagined. Owusu may also be the top transfer in the country and Kenny Brooks landing Owusu is extremely impressive to say the least and significantly raises Tech's already high 2022-23 floor and ceiling.
Owusu has averaged at least 12 points per game in each of her three season averaging 14.3 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game this past season for the Terps after averaging almost 18 points per game in 2020-21. She saw her three-point shooting percentage jump from just under 29% to over 40% this past season while also shooting almost 80% from the free-throw line.
Owusu is also highly-regarded as a WNBA prospect as she's ranked as the #7 2023 WNBA Draft prospect by Lines.com with returning VT star Elizabeth Kitley ranked #5 on the same list. Virginia Tech is now the only team with two top 10 prospects in the country.
Owusu has the versatility to run the point in addition to playing at shooting guard meaning that Tech can run a backcourt duo of Owusu and Amoore together while also shifting Owusu to point guard if Amoore needs a break and vice versa.
Most importantly, Tech now has two proven All-Americans to lead the way in Kitley and Owusu. Those two have a strong supporting cast around them loaded with a pair of all-conference level players in Georgia Amoore and Kayana Traylor plus quality role pieces like Cayla King, D'Asia Gregg, and Boston College transfer addition Clara Ford.
While the Hokies could probably use a little more depth (though they have intriguing, incoming freshman talent), this is the type of team that suddenly looks like a legitimate Final Four contender and a preseason top 10 team. Given the star talent that left other ACC schools this offseason, there may be a strong argument that the Hokies should be considered the preseason ACC favorite as well.
