Sitaya Fagan cuts NCAA shortlist to three

• Fagan is the most sought-after Australian women’s basketball recruit in NCAA history
• Australia Gems teammate Zara Russell is undergoing her own college selection process
• See every Australian in the NCAAW for 2025-26 season

Teen sensation Sitaya Fagan has narrowed her college decision to three schools, with South Carolina, USC, and Texas making up the final shortlist, with a decision to come after she visits the schools in late September.

After receiving 26 NCAA Power Four program offers, the decision sees her turn down elite schools including LSU, UCLA, Arizona, Lousville, and more.

“It’s going to be a big decision,” Fagan told basketball.com.au earlier this year.

“Louisville was my first official offer, and I was almost screaming. I was like no freaking way and then they just kept coming.

“My mum is a teacher, so I'm big on 50-50 with basketball and education.

"Having offers from those top programs that are also top in education, it’s just really good.”

Her rise has been rapid. A year ago, she could not imagine this level of interest.

That changed at last year’s FIBA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Mexico, where she led Australia in rebounding (6.4 per game) and ranked third in the tournament for blocks (two per game), having been on the basketball radar ever since

Fagan’s advisor, Aussie Basketball USA founder and director Sam Tomlinson, has no doubt about where Fagan’s potential lies.

“Sitaya is a generational talent on the rise. In Australian women’s basketball, the well-known names include Michelle Brogan, Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor, and Ezi Magbegor. Next up is Sitaya Fagan,” she said.

For Fagan, the transition to college should be smooth, having been in a college-like environment for two years, training and living alongside the country’s best juniors at the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence in Canberra.

Now she faces the challenge of choosing the right program to match her ambitions on and off the court.

“You watch all the games on TV and you watch the head coaches, then all of a sudden you're on a call with them, it's surreal,” Fagan said.

“If you asked me five years ago if I go [to college], I'd probably have said no. After these past couple of years, especially with big names like Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, it's just crazy."

"All the opportunities you get, how big women's basketball is now, I couldn't miss that opportunity.”

FAGAN'S FULL LIST OF OFFERS

• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Louisville
• Mississippi State
• South Carolina (made final three)
• Texas (made final three)
• Texas Tech
• Kentucky
• LSU
• Michigan
• Virginia
• Baylor
• Syracuse
• USC (made final three)
• Cal Berkeley
• Michigan State
• Miami (Florida)
• UCLA
• North Carolina
• Missouri
• Oklahoma
• Arizona State
• SMU
• Florida
• Texas A&M
• Oregon