Plenty of college coaches have seen Westtown guard Savannah Curry play basketball.
Some came to practices, some came to Westtown games or Team Takeover EYBL tournaments, and some came to both to witness the 5-foot-11 guard on the court. Some saw her highs, and some saw her lows.
One particular coach saw everything.
Before they could even talk to each other, one coach was watching Curry for several years, dating back to Curry’s time at Maryland’s Roland Park Country School. One coach, as Curry puts it, followed her on her basketball journey.
That coach was Temple women’s basketball head coach Diane Richardson.
“She saw all the good games and bad games, and she still wanted me,” Curry told OwlScoop.com. “Her persistence made me feel that Temple was the right place for me.”
Curry, who is ranked as BlueStar Basketball’s 37th-best player in the 2024 class, announced her commitment to Temple via Twitter July 16. Curry joins the 2024 recruiting class with guard Adena Webster from Miami’s Archbishop Carroll High School and Drew Alexander from Maryland’s Shabach Christian Academy.
The Owls also picked up a late class of 2023 addition when 6-foot-2 center Alexandra Wilkinson, a South Jersey native, announced her verbal commitment to Temple July 27. A graduate of Woodbury High School, Wilkinson last played at Community College of Baltimore County Essex, which reeled off a 36-1 last season and won the 2023 NJCAA Division II National Championship.
Though her basketball life had many twists and turns, one consistency was her relationship with Richardson. That relationship blossomed and led to Curry’s decision to call North Broad Street home.
Sports were always a major part of Curry’s life. She started playing basketball at five years old and lacrosse at eight. She joined the AAU basketball circuit in sixth grade, which led her to Team Takeover later.
She learned to use her physicality as a weapon, doing anything to get in her opponent’s way. Temple assistant coach Myles Jackson told Curry she is “positionless,” as her relentless work ethic and length allows her to guard almost anyone on the floor.
“I was one of those players who was all over girls,” Curry said. “It’s hard because you can’t be as physical in basketball, but it taught me good footwork.”
Her physicality and footwork are just some traits that helped Curry throughout her career so far. She is also a very prominent shooter. Jackson said she has a consistent three-point shot and can explode at times, which she displayed by hitting eight threes during a game in the PRIME Event at Spooky Nook in Manheim last month.
In that game, Curry started slowly, but she pushed herself to keep shooting rather than get caught up in the misses, a mentality she carries in every game.
“I just kept shooting,” Curry said. “They’re gonna fall eventually. If I keep shooting, I’ll hit shots. If I find my spots, I’m gonna hit them.”
She learned this mentality in high school, around the same time Richardson started following her. Curry remembers waving across the gym at Richardson, knowing they couldn’t talk due to NCAA regulations.
Richardson remained in touch as Curry transferred to Westtown last year, keeping an eye on the guard she had seen grow up over the past few years.
“She’s loved the way that I play for a long time,” Curry said. “She loves that I can attack, I can pull back, all sorts of things. And she loves that I can defend.”
Before she could commit to her next step, Curry had her eyes set on her team’s goals. Westtown, the reigning Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association champions, had aspirations of a repeat. Curry’s squad did just that, beating Penn Charter in the finals in February.
Curry averaged just under 10 points, shooting 41.5 percent from three, and finished second-team all-state in the Class-3A rankings from the Pennsylvania Sports Writers.
Westtown didn’t stop there. In March, after Curry’s lacrosse season had started, head coach Fran Burbidge informed his team that they also qualified for the GEICO Nationals tournament as the fourth seed. Though the tournament caught them by surprise, Westtown made it to the semifinals before falling to Florida’s Montverde Academy, the eventual champions.
“We had a little bit of pressure to win our Friends league and, of course, states,” Curry said. “[Winning the state championship] was our main goal. Then, competing for nationals, we never thought we’d get that kind of opportunity. I feel like we did very, very well.”
After reaching and surpassing her goals for the season, Curry had her eye on the summer. On June 23 and 24, she attended Richardson’s Elite Camp on campus. The camp served as an unofficial visit for Curry, who got to tour dorms, the practice facility and the rest of campus while working out with the other campers.
At that camp, everything seemed to come together for Curry.
“The dorms were some of the best I’ve ever seen,” Curry said. “The facilities were very good. We did some drills that the team does, and a lot of drills I was already comfortable with. They were similar to what my game already is, which is part of why I committed.”
As Curry heads into her final high school season, she feels excited for what’s to come at Westtown and beyond.
“It feels so good,” Curry said. “As a player, you get these accomplishments, and other people see those accomplishments too. It feels really good.”
Owls add JUCO center to 2023 class
Diane Richardson and her staff also picked up a late class of 2023 addition when 6-foot-2 center Alexandra Wilkinson, a South Jersey native, announced her verbal commitment to Temple July 27.
A graduate of Woodbury High School, Wilkinson last played at Community College of Baltimore County Essex, which reeled off a 36-1 last season and won the 2023 NJCAA Division II National Championship. Wilkinson played the 2021-22 season at Bryn Mawr's Harcum College.
Wilkinson started six times in 22 games this past season and averaged 3.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest.
