By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, September 17, 2025 | 5:08 PM
Christopher Horner | TribLive
Quaker Valley’s Mimi Thiero drives upcourt against Eden Christian Academy on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, at Eden.
Two weeks after cutting her college basketball choices to a dozen schools, Quaker Valley’s Mimi Thiero whittled her list all the way to one.
The 6-foot-4 senior committed to Maryland on Wednesday, choosing a Big Ten program that just made a trip to the NCAA’s Sweet 16.
Thiero announced her decision on social media. Her list of finalists had also included Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida, Kentucky, Louisville, Memphis, Michigan, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Oregon and Vanderbilt.
ESPN rated Thiero as a four-star prospect and ranked her 35th among recruits in the 2026 class.
As one of the WPIAL’s top talents, she averaged a double-double last season with 23.1 points and 16.7 rebounds per game. Thiero added 3.9 steals, 3.8 blocks and 3.2 assists per game, stats that earned her all-section and all-state honors.
She earned a spot among the Trib’s Terrific 10 basketball all-stars and later was named the 2024-25 TribLive HSSN Girls Athlete of the Year after winning a WPIAL high jump title.
The elite athlete comes from a basketball family.
Her brother, Adou, was drafted by the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers in June after playing college basketball at Kentucky and Arkansas for coach John Calipari. Her mother, Mariam, played college basketball at Oklahoma City and was a WNBA draft pick. Her father, Almamy, played at Memphis, also for Calipari.
Thiero received more than 50 college offers, including from Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia.
Maryland went 25-8 last season under longtime coach Brenda Frese, who won a national title there in 2006. The Terrapins’ most recent NCAA Tournament run ended with a four-point loss to South Carolina, the eventual national runner-up. Maryland was ranked 12th in the final Associated Press poll.
At Quaker Valley, Thiero helped the Quakers improve from a 5-16 record in her sophomore year to 15-10 as a junior. She scored 30 or more points five times last season and grabbed 20 or more rebounds six times, helping her team to ultimately reach the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals.
She already ranks third in Quaker Valley girls basketball history with 1,248 career points.
Excited to announce my verbal commitment to the University of Maryland! Thank you to Power 24, SLAAM Basketball, and Prospects for giving me the opportunity to showcase my skills, and to all family and friends that have impacted me in my life and thus gotten me to where I am.🐢🐢 pic.twitter.com/DpGQjFIOPS
— Mimi Thiero (@mimi_thiero) September 17, 2025
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
Tags: Quaker Valley