Wichita State women’s basketball adds one of the tallest players in the country

One of the tallest players in women’s college basketball will be suiting up for Wichita State next season.

Aicha Ndour, a 6-foot-6 graduate transfer who played the last two seasons at Illinois, announced her verbal commitment to the Shockers on Wednesday.

Only one other player in program history has been listed at 6-6: Theresa Dreiling, who played from 1979-83 and still holds the career record with 256 blocks shots — 87 more than second place.

“Aicha is an imposing, physical center with excellent touch and footwork in the post,” Nooner said in a release. “Her shot-blocking and rebounding abilities will greatly enhance our defense. For her size, our fans will also admire her ability to run the floor and footwork and shooting range for her size.”

A native of Senegal, Ndour has represented her country at the international level and helped the Senegal National Team win a silver medal in the 2023 FIBA AfroBasket.

Ndour tallied a total of 47 points and 44 rebounds spread across 32 appearances in her two seasons playing at Illinois. She began her collegiate career at Rutgers, where she appeared just once, then spent her second season at Northwest Florida State, where she averaged 2.2 points and 1.4 rebounds for one of the nation’s top junior college teams.

Nooner, entering his second year in Wichita, has now added three players from the transfer portal, a class that also includes Wichita native Taylor Jameson, a guard from George Mason, and Bre’yon White, a 5-11 wing who averaged 2.4 points and 3.0 rebounds for TCU this past season.

WSU also announced a handful of junior-college signings in Princess Anderson, a guard from Pratt Community College who led NJCAA Division I in scoring at 26.7 points last season; Kyleigh Ortiz, a guard from Coffeyville Community College; Jasmine Peaks, a guard from Indian River State College; and Mali native Maimouna Sissoko, a forward who set a program record in rebounds last season at Cloud County. The two freshmen signees are Kiyleyah Parr, a standout guard from Waco, Texas, and Fiona Diomande, a wing from Paris, France.

While WSU did see leading scorer Daniela Abies (Miami, Fla.) transfer out, the Shockers return a core of players in sophomore guard Salese Blow (12.3 points last season), junior forward Jayla Murray (7.1 points, 4.0 rebounds), senior forward Ornella Niankan (4.1 points) and senior center Ella Anciaux.

“I am thrilled to complete our roster for the 2024-25 season,” Nooner said in the release. “Our staff made a concerted effort to improve our overall athleticism, toughness, scrappiness and tenacity at every position. We believe we have a deep roster and are excited to play a faster, more aggressive style of offense and defense.”

Nooner also welcomed Wichita native Patrick Harrison to the coaching staff, filling a vacant assistant role following the departure of Nick Bradford to Arkansas. Harrison joins the Shockers after spending last season as the associate head coach at Stephen F. Austin, where he helped lead the Lumberjacks to an appearance in the Western Athletic Conference championship game.

The program also announced WSU will participate in a foreign exhibition tour later this summer, a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands scheduled from July 28 through August 2. The Shockers will play two games, the first on July 30 and the other on July 31, against to-be-determined opponents.

In other scheduling news, WSU also announced it was included in a prestigious field for the inaugural Emerald Coast Classic on Nov. 25-26 hosted by Northwest Florida State this upcoming season. The Shockers will play in the Beach Bracket, joined by Creighton, Missouri and Syracuse.