Sharpe’s growth in confidence with Plymouth Whitemarsh leads to Penn commitment

A different Abby Sharpe came back to Plymouth Whitemarsh this year.

The Colonials were certainly expecting more of Sharpe following an Honorable Mention All-SOL sophomore season, but they got much, much more than that. Sharpe came back burgeoning with confidence and a handful of college offers then parlayed it into a season where she led PW in scoring as the Colonials went 34-0 and won a state title while managing to catch the eye of a local Ivy League program along the way.

Sharpe added to her recent run of success by formally announcing her commitment to play basketball at the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday morning.

“I’m a very competitive person and I’ve been winning a lot lately, which is something I just love,” Sharpe said. “To announce this, I’ve definitely been feeling really great lately with everything that’s been going on.”

PW crowned its season with a PIAA 6A title on March 26, the final jewel in a crown that also contained SOL Liberty, SOL tournament and District 1 6A titles, a fitting ending for an all-around excellent team that shared in its belief, confidence and preparation. That night in Hershey was also a culmination for Sharpe, who was magnificent leading all scorers with 26 points in a blisteringly effective effort to set a new career high.

The junior, a 5-foot-11 guard with excellent shooting range, took a couple days to let it all sink in then got right back to work. Just last week, Sharpe was back at it with her Lady Runnin’ Rebels AAU team, the organization that cracked the well on her reservoir of confidence, in a warm-up tournament for the upcoming summer circuit.

“Confidence is the biggest thing that I’ve seen grow over this year,” Sharpe said. “I’ve always known I was a good, solid player, I had a good shot and I was athletic but to be able to get the ball and look to attack more or have more of that aggressive style, it takes a lot of confidence, at least for me, so that was the biggest thing I’ve seen grow.”

In her first season as a starter with PW, Sharpe averaged 14.3 ppg and totaled 442 points. She also led the team in scoring in every state playoff game but at this time last year, even Sharpe admits she wouldn’t have predicted any of it coming for her the way it has.

Sharpe credits her AAU coach, Bill McDonough Jr, for believing in her enough last summer to let her go and do her thing on the floor, which started building that confident foundation. After a really good summer, where she had her first exposure and contact with college coaches, Sharpe came back to PW more sure of herself and it didn’t take long for the Colonials coaches to notice.

“The difference was in her confidence level. She came in this year knowing there would be a bigger role for her in terms of scoring and what was going to be expected of her and she just had a more confident presence out on the court,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said. “She reminds me so much of Taylor O’Brien athletically, she’s so gifted athletically but sometimes you just need a few shots to go in to start believing in yourself. I know what a good summer she had and I think that also led to the confidence too, when the attention and the scholarship offers start coming in, it allows you to play with a little more freedom and a little less pressure.”

After missing three games in late December, Sharpe came back strong as PW hit the hardest stretch of its regular season slate and not long after, Penn came calling in January. Sharpe’s interest was definitely piqued, but with the Quakers focused on their Ivy League slate and just getting back on the court after not playing a 2020-21 season, the contact quieted until Penn’s season ended in early March.

Sharpe had a visit earlier in the year and was able to get a second in mid-March, which is when Penn coach Mike McLaughlin and his staff extended their offer while PW was on its own march through the state playoffs. Sharpe soon felt herself comparing every other prospective program after her to Penn and realized it had moved to the top of her chart then made the call to accept on Friday.

“When I visited the first time, you know how people always say ‘when you’re there, you’re going to know and you’re going to feel it,’ when I was there, it felt different,” Sharpe said. “Once I got the offer, I was super, super excited, it was probably the most excited I’d been with an offer so that was definitely a top choice.”

Sharpe is looking forward to another good summer with the Rebels, who have a Hoop Group Showcase League title to defend and even more time in the gym on her own putting in more hours of work. The junior is already preparing for next high school when she and Erin Daley will be the only returning starters as a new era of PW girls’ basketball begins.

With point guard Kaitlyn Flanagan graduating, Sharpe is figuring to take on more of the ball-handling responsibility for the Colonials next season and improving her handle is high on her offseason priority list. On top of that, Sharpe wants to get stronger and more explosive so she can be an impact defender and Dougherty added they already have some plans to work in some more tweaks to her offense to help the guard get shots as defenses focus on her next winter.

“There are moves we work on in practice she hasn’t necessarily needed yet,” Dougherty said. “We’ll be a different team next year and there will be more attention on her. She’s an athletic defender but we’ve also been very deep athletically on defense the last few years, next year, she’s going to have to use her size and we’re going to look for her to defend some bigger, stronger kids.”

Sharpe is also excited about the academic opportunity going to Penn presents, especially with the university’s vast alumni network and all the possibilities she can explore outside of basketball.

The last few months have been filled with a lot of winning for Sharpe. It’s no coincidence that’s she’s also as confident in herself as she’s ever been but at the same time, feels like this may only be the beginning.

“It’s honestly insane from where I was a year ago to where I am now,” Sharpe said. “I just know a lot of the confidence I’ve gained over the past year has come with the recognition I’ve gotten, which is incredible and I’m super-grateful for, but I know all the work I’ve put in. I’ve worked a lot of extra hours so I think that’s where a lot of my confidence comes from.”