Like memorable high scoring guard Saniya Chong (former Ossining HS star and UConn Guard) and deadly shot maker Avery Labarbera (Harrison/Holy Cross) before her, Port Chester’s Kayleigh Heckel possesses an advanced skill set that’s ahead of her time.
Suddenly, immense projections are enveloping the prodigal point guard, as Heckel recently culminated her eighth grade season at Section 1’s Port Chester High School in Westchester County, NY.
Averaging a County-best 28.2 points (28th in the country, according to Max Preps) and turning in multiple games of 40+ points last season, Heckel’s scoring prowess suddenly has collegiate coaches keeping tabs on the neophyte’s stats and perusing her upcoming schedule.
Heckel’s thorough blend of awareness, sneaky athleticism, and natural adeptness of feel for the game impacts multiple statistical categories.
She averaged a County-best 8.1 steals and 4.3 assists during her inaugural varsity campaign with the Rams, piling up nine games of double digit steals. Heckel’s peskiness as an on-ball and off-the-ball defender has congested several formidable foes.
In sustaining draping pressure across 94 feet, Heckel takes a sense of pride and quiet vivacity in clamping down on the opposing team’s primary scoring threat.
A Class of 2024 prospect , Heckel has rapidly garnered the attention of numerous Division-I programs.
Texas Tech and Long Island University-Brooklyn recently offered the Port Chester native.
UCLA, Virginia Tech, Washington State, and most recently George Washington University have inquired about Heckel.
The quick, diminutive guard buried 50 3-pointers during her debut season, boasting a quick release.
And as for Heckel’s ability to spot up from the corners, fire in transition 3-pointers, and splash treys from way, way beyond the confines of the arc?
They extract memories of dead-eye Section 1 shooters such as the the aforementioned Chong and legendary Putnam Valley HS guard Kristi Dini, ( who played at Boston University and professionally).
The demure and highly driven Heckel, however, wants to write her own unique story after this rather sizzling opening chapter.
Even during this early stage of her career, she’s anticipated to put a historic stamp on New York downstate basketball and beyond.
AS AN EIGHTH GRADER, Heckel erupted for a game-best 34 points and pick pocketed a program record 13 steals in a 32-minute performance against Carmel HS.
Heckel erupted for 41 points during a win over Riverside, picking apart double and triple teams. She’s been a volume scorer amid a constant flow of various junk defenses and box-and-ones throughout the in and out-of-conference slate.
As the driving force behind an inexperienced, youth-laden, and depth-lacking Port Chester team that’s considerably limited beyond her, the 5-foot-7 Heckel’s game has brought alumni and former players back to the bandbox gym inside 1 Tamarack Road in Port Chester.
With the novel Coronavirus implementing significant limitations on recruiting process, and with several NCAA Division-I programs adverse to recruiting a player who has yet to enter high school (the high academic prospect already has freshman class credits), the unusually trying times haven’t dampened Heckel’s uber-competitive spirits.
Heckel’s rookie season has her on a promising path to eventually exceed the 1,500-point milestone. Given her proclivity for delivering pocket passes and transition assists, Heckel has shown flashes as a true point guard. Her velocity on get ahead passes makes the game easier for teammates leaking out in the transition attack.
Heckel is currently playing for the Empire State Blue Flames, the Westchester-based AAU program. The program has churned out several prized recruits, including athletic guard and Northwestern-commit Melannie Daley of Hastings High School.
Heckel has an athletic bloodline. Her father, Queens product Wally Heckel, played baseball at St. John’s University. A second baseman from Middle Village, NY, Heckel was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 12th round of the 1989 MLB draft.
Heckels grandfather, Wally Heckel Sr., played five professional seasons with the Dodgers in the 1960s.
Heckel’s mother, Donna Heckel, starred as a softball player at St. John’s University. Her grandfather, Port Chester native Ricardo “Rico” Dos Anjos, is known for a commendable basketball career at nearby Stepinac High School and Long Island University–Brooklyn.
