UM women’s basketball lands Top 10 recruiting class, Springmann joins men’s staff
The college basketball season is still five months away, but University of Miami coach Tricia Cullop is already fired up, as ESPN-W rated the Hurricanes’ 2025 recruiting class as No. 10 in the nation and the transfers UM landed were also highly coveted.
The freshman class includes Camille Williams, rated No. 36 on the list of top recruits, Danielle Osho (54), Natalie Wetzel (80), Meredith Tippner (91) and four-star Emanuella “Somo” Okolo.
Miami also landed a few highly ranked players from the transfer portal. Israeli national team guard Gal Raviv, who transferred to UM from Quinnipiac, was rated No. 9 by 247Sports; and 6-6 center Ra Shayla (Shay) Kyle, who transferred from Florida, was No. 20. ESPN had Kyle ranked No. 13 on its list.
“When we assessed our team last year, it was very apparent to us we needed to get bigger, faster, stronger, and build out more depth,” said Cullop, who is entering her second season at UM. “I do think we checked all those boxes. We have a lot of talent, and I can’t wait to see this group in the same room together.”
Raviv was among the nation’s top freshmen last season, averaging 17.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists. Hurricanes fans remember her well, as she scored 25 points and had five rebounds against them.
Kyle, a 6-6 center who has one year of eligibility remaining, averaged 14.1 points and 8.7 rebounds for the Gators last season with 59.4 percent shooting. The Indiana native spent the first two years of her career at Purdue.
Kyle was a five-star recruit and the No. 5 center in the nation in the class of 2020 coming out of Marion High School. She was also a two-time Indiana All-Star and McDonald’s All-American game nominee. Cullop coached Kyle’s aunt, Tanika Mays, at the University of Toledo.
Other transfers joining UM this season include Vittoria Blasigh (USF), Mya Kone (FIU), Jessica Peterson (SMU), Candace Kpetikou (Washington State), and Amarachi Kimpson (UNLV).
The 2025-26 roster will have two seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and six freshmen. The two returning players are sophomore Ahnay Adams and redshirt freshman Simone Pelish.
Cullop already got a head start on the 2026 class, getting a commitment from Slovenian combo guard Maja Uranker, who scored 15 points per game at the FIBA U18 European Championships and averaged 44 percent shooting from three-point range.
Russell Springmann joins UM men’s staff
UM men’s coach Jai Lucas announced the addition of assistant coach Russell Springmann to the Hurricanes’ staff.
Springmann’s career spans 20 years, as he rose from graduate assistant at Florida in 1996 to the head coach at Oral Roberts the past two seasons.
“I’ve been fortunate to not only play for Russell, but also work alongside him during our time at Texas,” Lucas said. “He is an exceptional basketball coach and an even better person. His wisdom and 20-plus years of basketball experience will help create the culture we want here at The U.”
Springmann has worked with 18 NBA draft picks, including Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge and Tristan Thompson. He was an assistant coach at Texas during Lucas’ three years as a Longhorn (2008-11).
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 4:01 PM.