Jayla Dorsey ’24 Signs to Play Basketball at Huntington University

Though her high school career ended this past February, point guard Jayla Dorsey ’24 has a lot more basketball left to play. Dorsey signed to continue her basketball career at Huntington University, located just outside Fort Wayne, Indiana, about two hours north of Indianapolis. She said her decision came down to the connection she developed with the head coach of the Foresters, Darby Maggard.

“This school expressed how much they wanted me," Dorsey said. "Every conversation with Coach Maggard and her assistant coach was amazing. They answered all my questions and periodically checked on me, so I was set on them.” She said their relationship began a couple of years ago. “I met Coach Maggard during a team camp and again during elite camps when she was an assistant coach at a different university (University of Tennessee at Martin),” Dorsey said. “When she became head coach for Huntington, she invited me for a visit and I loved our conversation. This school just stuck with me. I see myself growing as a player there and my coach believes in me.”

She knows all about having a coach who believes in her from her time at Hutchison, where head coach Thomas Jones relied on Dorsey extensively throughout her four years of varsity basketball. Dorsey was a member of the 2021 state championship team and says that experience will stick with her forever. “The best memory of my time here at Hutchison will always be winning the first championship. No feeling was greater than holding that gold ball as streamers came down surrounded by a group that was basically my second family.”

“I’ll miss playing Hutchison basketball for Coach Jones. I’ll also miss my teammates, my friends, and the teachers and faculty who have supported me through all of this.”

Sting basketball requires a lot of time, a lot of energy, and a lot of sacrifice. Dorsey says she expects that learning how to balance those things while at Hutchison will help her have a smooth transition into college life. “Coach Jones has shown me how much work and time goes into basketball and how you’ll have to be even more dedicated for college,” Dorsey said. “The class schedules, the workload, and extracurriculars at Hutchison more than prepared us for college, and I think I will do extremely well at Huntington.”