{"id":423828,"date":"2026-01-21T15:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T15:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/423828\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T15:10:08","slug":"womens-hoops-superstars-wow-in-n-j-homecoming-now-the-wnba-may-be-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/423828\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s hoops superstars wow in N.J. homecoming. Now the WNBA may be next."},"content":{"rendered":"

Friends and family of TCU point guard Olivia Miles surged through the Prudential Center concourse and down the steps between sections 8 and 9 Monday ahead of the noon tipoff between No. 12 Ohio State and No. 9 TCU. Her father, Yakubu, received them all as if at a reunion for the opener of the Coretta Scott King Classic in Newark.<\/p>\n

The faithful wore No. 5 TCU jerseys and carried signs with her name on them. It had been five years since the precocious Phillipsburg product departed Blair Academy to enroll early at Notre Dame<\/a>. But she returned to New Jersey as an All-American who had transferred to TCU and was now leading the Horned Frogs into national championship contention as she also readies to hear her name called during April\u2019s WNBA Draft.<\/p>\n

On the court, Miles took a moment before the start of the game to blow kisses and wave to her huge contingent of supporters. The crowd returned the tributes. One boy held up a sign that read, \u201cOLIVIA PLEASE BE MY BABYSITTER!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a really surreal feeling to know that I have a village behind me,\u201d Miles said.<\/p>\n

The day marked a homecoming for a pair of Jersey girls on the Newark stage. The second game of the double-header featured Mikayla Blakes, a sophomore guard for No. 5-ranked Vanderbilt and a former star from Rutgers Prep. Like Miles, Blakes is also pegged as a future top WNBA draft pick. <\/p>\n

Together, Miles and Blakes are at the vanguard of the next wave of potential future stars for a sport soaring in popularity, driven in part by the impact of All Star Caitlin Clark. The 2025 women\u2019s NCAA Championship game drew 8.6 million viewers \u2014 nearly double the numbers from 2022 \u2014 and the WNBA reported all-time highs in attendance, viewership and social media engagements in 2025.<\/p>\n

Miles, 22, demonstrated Saturday why she is in such demand with a flossy yet selfless style. She started the game with a 3-pointer, added a pull-up jumper and twisted her way to the rim for lay-ins with her right and left hands. She absorbed a charge, blocked a shot and poached a pass. But her all-out effort \u2014 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists \u2014 fell short against the Buckeyes, who outlasted TCU, 71-69, in front of a crowd of 6,742. <\/p>\n

\"SaddleBlair Academy’s Olivia Miles (15) stands on the court during a game against Saddle River Day in the Life Center Warrior Winter Classic on Jan. 31, 2020, at Life Center Academy in Burlington, New Jersey.Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media<\/p>\n

After the game, Miles quickly pivoted to identifying a pathway forward. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a silver lining somewhere,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ll watch some film. I thought I played well, not well enough. I need to get my teammates more involved. I take full accountability.\u201d <\/p>\n

Next up was Blakes, <\/a>a McDonald\u2019s All-American at Rutgers Prep who led No. 5 Vanderbilt against No. 7 Michigan in the second half of the doubleheader. <\/p>\n

She and Miles were not only linked Saturday; they also work out together when home in New Jersey with Grit Basketball trainer Kerry Foderingham. They also played together for Team USA at the AmeriCup in Chile last summer, where they claimed the gold medal. <\/p>\n

Blakes, who scored 55 points in a game against Florida and 53 points against Auburn as a freshman last season, was named the Most Valuable Player of that tournament, and she continues to develop an all-around game expected to make her a top WNBA pick just like Miles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that most impresses me is how they constantly raise the bar,\u201d Foderingham said. \u201cThey constantly step up to the next challenge. Olivia has stepped right into being one of the top players in the world, and now Mikayla has. When Mikayla would score 19 points as a freshman, I would say, \u2018Are you allergic to 20?\u2019 She would say, \u2018Next game,\u2019 and she did. Then it was, \u2018Are you allergic to 30?\u2019 I had to retire that joke after she hit 55.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GirlsMikayla Blakes (1) of Rutgers Prep makes a pass during the girls basketball game between Rutgers Prep and Ridge at Rutgers Preparatory School in Somerset, NJ on Thursday, January 18, 2024.Scott Faytok | NJ Advance Media<\/p>\n

Foderingham, whose training company<\/a> is based in and around Central Jersey, sat in the stands for both games, watching Blakes pick up two early fouls as the Commodores built a 17-point lead in the first half. Blakes was limited by the foul trouble and frustrated by the Wolverines defense as she committed five turnovers against Michigan, which rallied in the second half to cut the deficit to three points before Vanderbilt survived to extend its unbeaten start to 19-0. Senior Justine Pissott, a Toms River native, contributed 14 points with 8 rebounds and 5 assists off the bench. Blakes finished with 14 points and 4 assists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want more for ourselves and we know that it feels like to get to the tournament, we just want to make it further,\u201d Blakes said. \u201cSo these games are preparing us and like coach said, we\u2019re figuring things out that are going to be needed when we get to March Madness and SEC tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Afterward, she made her way up to the concourse, where over 100 family and friends gathered. Among the crowd was WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who is from Collingwood. The two embraced, and one by one, Blakes hugged every person who came, from her second grade teacher to her father\u2019s high school coach. Almost all wore personalized T-shirts featuring a photo of her with the tagline: \u201cMaking history. Building a Legacy.\u201d Several supporters posed for a photo with her holding up a banner that read: \u201cChef Mikayla Cooking It Up.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 5:30 p.m., a Vanderbilt staffer led Blakes back through a black curtain and down to the locker room before boarding the team bus for the airport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a flight to catch!\u201d Blakes\u2019 mother, Nikki, said. \u201cThey have a flight to catch!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Friends and family of TCU point guard Olivia Miles surged through the Prudential Center concourse and down the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-423828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}