S’Mya Nichols, ESPN’s No. 34-ranked women’s basketball prospect, commits to Kansas

Shawnee Mission West High School senior S’Mya Nichols, the No. 34-ranked player in the recruiting class of 2023 according to ESPN, will be playing basketball at the University of Kansas, she announced Tuesday on Twitter.

Nichols, a 6-foot-0 guard, is a former five-star prospect who chose KU over Tennessee and Oklahoma. She currently has a four-star ranking on ESPN.

“Right where I belong,” read a tweet of Nichols linking to her commitment video.

Her high school coach Mark Rabbitt, wrote on Twitter following the commitment Tuesday: “Congrats to one of the all-time Viking greats!”

Nichols made an official visit to KU in late September. Former KU guard Christian Braun, now of the Denver Nuggets, wrote at the time on Twitter: “We gotta get (Nichols) to stay home for (KU women’s basketball) .. best hooper in KC, go show her love, she’s in Lawrence this weekend.”

Nichols, who played AAU basketball for Missouri Phenom, has been a member of successful USA Basketball teams. Current KU assistant Terry Nooner founded the Phenom team several years ago.

She is the top-rated recruit to commit to KU in the eight-year Brandon Schneider era.

As a member of the 2022 USA Basketball Women’s Under 18 national team, she won a gold medal at the 2022 FIBA U18 Americas Championship.

Here’s ESPN.com’s player evaluation of Nichols: “Versatile, athletic guard, manufactures shots, attacks the rim through traffic and delivers results; defends in pressure, forces turnovers and converts plays; mid-range game threat moves to the arc; a superb guard in the class of 2023.”