Last summer, Nylah Mitchell played AAU basketball with her cousins, Mia and Mya Pauldo, the Morris Catholic (NJ) pair who are committed to play at the University of Tennessee in the fall. With New Jersey's HUrban Legends AAU team, Mitchell had the chance to play against tougher competition, travel the country and see some elite college coaching staffs. That experience prepared her for her senior year at Burlington High School.
"I kind of realized my potential a little bit," Mitchell said. "Being able to play higher level competition definitely made love the game even more because I'm like a really gritty player. I love to play hands on so I was like 'this is tough.' I'm going to bring this energy to Vermont."
Seahorses head coach Bev Robertson also saw plenty of improvements to Mitchell's game following her stint with the HUrban Legends.
"I saw that she was more determined," Robertson said. "She was more aggressive, wanting it more, and knowing that she could do more."
Burlington entered the year with championship aspirations with a roster that featured several key seniors including Mitchell, Bree McDonald and Hawa Mubarak. Mitchell knew her and McDonald's game was more developed while the rest of the team was strong.
"All of us are so tough individually, so if we could bring that together as a team than nobody could stop us," Mitchell said.
And in the end, no team could stop Mitchell and the Seahorses. Burlington claimed the Division I state title to snap a 49-year championship drought, with Mitchell scoring 20 points and adding eight rebounds and five steals.
Besides a championship, Mitchell concludes her BHS career as this year's Burlington Free Press' Miss. Basketball, an honor given annually since 1991 to the state's top girls basketball player. Mitchell is the second BHS player to receive the honor of Miss. Basketball, joining Sharmion Selman (2001).
This year, the 5-foot-9 forward averaged 17.9 points, 16.4 rebounds and 6.5 steals per game, leading her team in both scoring and rebounding.
"I think she's just a great kid and great competitor, super athletic," Mount Mansfield coach Mark Pfaff said. "Just can get to the rim through space, finishes through traffic ... sometimes you bring in help from other people but those help from other draws fouls because she can get through everybody."
Mitchell's ability to draw contact and shoot free throws was on display in
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