H.S. recruiting: Grace Galbavy to narrow college list; Haverford’s Rian Dotsey gets offer from Maine

The grassroots basketball season is underway with plenty of local girls’ programs kicking off their spring schedules before playing in front of Division I coaches during the live period in May.

Here’s a recruiting update on a few local prospects in the class of 2025 and where they’ll be playing AAU hoops this summer.

After winning a pair of Pioneer Athletic Conference and District 1 championships in the past two winters, Perk Valley junior Galbavy is teaming up with fellow Vikings Lena Stein, Bella Bacani, and Quinn Boettinger this spring and summer.

Galbavy played with the Philly Rise on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League circuit the last two summers. She was a role player on the 16U Rise team last season that captured the EYBL championship. This AAU season she and her high school teammates will compete together against some of the best in the country on the Girls Under Armour Circuit with the Comets 17U squad.

“The Rise 16U season was probably one of the most fun seasons I’ve ever had with the players, the coaches, everything like that,” Galbavy said. “I feel like this year I can really lock in on everything I can do [with the Comets].”

The 6-foot-1 guard/wing’s recruitment hasn’t changed much in the last few months with most of the same programs continuing to talk with her. That list includes Monmouth, St. John’s, Columbia, DePaul, Penn, Rhode Island, Davidson, Delaware, Fairfield, Bowling Green, and Fordham.

She added that she is getting the most interest from the Atlantic 10 and Patriot League.

Her plan is to visit some colleges for a second time this offseason and start narrowing down her list.

“I just want to get better and play at the next level,” Galbavy said. “Being a part of the win, being able to play defense in the last few minutes is something I missed last [AAU] season.”

» READ MORE: High school recruiting tracker: Where the area's top basketball and football players are heading to college

Haverford junior Dotsey has ascended into one of the top players in the area this year. She averaged 15.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks, earning All-Central honors.

Her star emergence helped the Fords to a second straight league title.

“It was good to be able to step up a lot this year and kind of take over and make a big impact on the team,” Dotsey said. “We went far. It was a big team effort.”

Dotsey, a versatile 6-1 wing, is playing with the Philly Belles again this spring and summer, where she could play small forward, power forward, and center while being a featured piece.

Dotsey said programs from the America East and Patriot League are recruiting her. She received a scholarship offer from Holy Cross in November and recently received an offer from Maine.

Conestoga 6-1 junior forward Preston played this year with a strong senior class that was spearheaded by senior guard Marisa Francione (Scranton) along with talented sophomore Ryann Jennings, a Division I prospect.

She’ll have plenty of talented teammates again this summer with the Lady Runnin’ Rebels.

Preston will team up in the frontcourt with Lansdale Catholic’s Grace McDonough, a 6-2 All-Catholic League first-teamer who picked up offers from Northwestern, Bucknell, Robert Morris, Bryant, and Iona this past weekend.

Playing on the floor with McDonough this weekend gave Preston the chance to slide to power forward. It was an opportunity to show that she improved her range and driving ability, which she hopes to continue working on this summer.

» READ MORE: Audenried’s Shayla Smith commits to Penn State

“It is pretty cool having that change-up since I don’t really have that with Conestoga,” Preston said.

Preston is eyeing a high-academic institution to continue her playing career at the next level.

She’s talked with Cornell, American, Columbia, and Lehigh, all programs that fit that profile at the D-I level. The Coast Guard Academy and Scranton are Division III programs that have shown interest.

Scranton is an intriguing option for Preston, as 11 people in her family have attended the school, including one of her cousins who is currently on the Royals’ soccer team.

“[Coach Ben O’Brien] said they’ll love to have me,” Preston said.

Bennett, from Sicklerville, has established herself as one of the area’s top shooters in her two years of playing at Friends’ Central after starting her career at Timber Creek. Bennett is a lights-out scorer who can shoot threes or attack defenses.

This summer playing for Books & Basketball on the Girls Under Armour Association circuit, she’s trying to show there’s much more she brings to the table.

Listed at 5-6, Bennett knows she will have to create for herself and her teammates off the bounce at the next level. She’s trying to show college programs she is capable of that.

“I’m just trying to show more of my point guard skills,” Bennett said. “I’m going to be a ‘one’ guard in college, so that’s what I have to work on the most.

Bennett received her first Division I scholarship offer from Delaware State in September before her sophomore campaign. Long Island and Coppin State have also extended offers before her junior season and Maryland-Eastern Shore joined the list in February.

Bennett said all four schools have continued to recruit her, with Fairfield, Central Connecticut State, and Wagner among the other programs that have recently reached out.

» READ MORE: Neumann Goretti’s Reginna Baker elevating into one of the area’s top girls’ basketball players

“They just see that I’m a pure scorer and that over the years I’ve worked on my defense,” Bennett said. “Being able to be a combo guard and shoot off the dribble, my midrange is really good. That’s what they look at a lot.”

This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.