Friends’ Central hoopster Mikayla Vaughn commits to Notre Dame

Wynnewood – Mikayla Vaughn, who last winter became only the third Friends’ Central hoopster to reach the 1,000 career point milestone as a junior, verbally committed July 30 to University of Notre Dame to play basketball.
But first, the 6-foot-3 Vaughn will be making a stop this coming school year at Paul VI Catholic School in Fairfax, Va. Vaughn will spend her senior year playing basketball for Paul VI, whose roster includes nearly a dozen Division I players.
“I’ve attended Friends’ Central since first grade, and I’ve really liked it here, but Paul VI plays in a stronger league [than Friends’ Central],” said Vaughn. “I want to play at a high level. I want to be really, really good. I want my game to be college ready.”
Friends’ Central girls basketball coach Phil Annas said, “We’ve been pretty fortunate to have Mikayla in our program for the last three years. She works so hard, and is only going to get better. She’s very versatile – she can defend in the paint, can step out on the wing to guard a player, and is a tremendous rebounder. Her work ethic and attitude are tremendous.”
Last winter, Vaughn averaged 16.2 ppg, 8.5 rpg and 2.0 bpg and was a first team All-Friends’ Schools League selection for the second straight year as the Phoenix captured their second consecutive Friends Schools League title.
Annas said, “Anytime you have a player as talented as Mikayla who remains as humble and well-grounded as she is, that says a lot about her character, as well as her family and Friends’ Central School.”
Vaughn compiled a 3.9 grade-point average at Friends’ Central, and her college choices came down to Duke, Penn State, Virginia, South Carolina, Louisville and Notre Dame. One of the key factors for Vaugh in choosing Notre Dame was the reputation of Irish assistant coach Carol Owens, who is in charge of the post players.
“It was really hard to pick one school, but I think I can develop under Coach Owens,” said Vaughn. “I’ve seen her work with players in the post, and I can learn all the nuances of being a post player.”
Annas said, “One of the things Mikayla has really been working on is her ability to face the basket and make the jump shot.”
Vaughn has many fond memories of her basketball career at Friends’ Central. Two of her favorites were defeating Shipley for the Friends’ Schools League title in her sophomore year (“Shipley used to crush us”) and scoring her 1,000th point – at the time she was not aware that she reached that milestone.
“When I scored my 1,000th point, I had no idea it was coming,” said Vaughn. “Iyanna McCurdy (Friends’ Central’s all-time scoring leader with 1,469 points) fed the ball for the basket, and after I scored, she came over to congratulate me, and I didn’t want the action to stop, I said to her, ‘Let’s go, let’s go, we gotta keep going.’”
Vaughn’s off-the-court interests are wide and varied, and when she attends Notre Dame, she would like to focus on one (or more) of the following fields: photography, communications, nutrition and sports medicine.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time at Friends’ Central,” said Vaughn. “One of my favorite times there was during seventh grade, when our entire class spent a week at the Echo Hill Outdoor School in Maryland, by the Chesapeake Bay. It was an amazing time, very carefree, and we did a lot of teamwork exercises.”