By Zach Smart
One of the top SEC programs and a Top-15 nationally ranked program, LSU brings a star spangled 2023 recruiting class which suddenly has a Bronx feel to it.
Aalyah Del Rosario and Angelica Velez, the radiant inside-outside tandem which helped propel New Heights AAU to national prominence under Dominique Nutte, will prolong their careers as part of this prized recruiting class.
Velez, who is from the Bronx and Del Rosario, also from the Bronx via the Dominican Republic, are currently at the Webb School in Tennessee.
In a video that appeared live on Sports Center Next’s Instagram page last month, Aalyah Del Rosario committed to LSU.
As the No.7 ranked player in the country, Del Rosario is a major pickup for LSU coach Kim Mulkey.
Del Rosario, easily the nation’s best rim protector, is arguably the top legitimate interior scoring threat through all classes.
LSU’s much buzzed about incoming class is underscored by 6-foot-1 guard Mikaylah Williams, the top ranked recruit in the country.
Velez, the dazzling point guard who committed to Mulkey and the Tigers last month, has been playing alongside Del Rosario for four years now.
Their games began to blossom together in the summer of 2020.
The two defied the limitations of Covid, circumventing the shutdown with workouts and a consistent commitment to skill development over the border in Connecticut.
Now, they are Baton Rouge bound.
With Del Rosario and Velez headed to LSU and sharpshooting Staten Island-bred guard Grace Sundback headed to Delaware, the highly touted New Heights Class of 2023 is moving onward and upward.
And living up to the lofty expectations and aspirations which enveloped this troika ever since they were receiving letters from Division 1 coaches as eighth graders.
Having stockpiled myriad high major offers, Del Rosario ultimately narrowed her list down these past few months.
A list once akin to a child’s Christmas gift list in length was trimmed and trimmed and trimmed, whittled down the last five months.
She ultimately chose LSU over North Carolina and Tennessee.
The 6-foot-6 Del Rosario rapidly emerged as a top 10 national recruit, garnering national visibility following a promising freshman season, as she was a defensive catalyst at now defunct Trenton Catholic (NJ).
A fierce shot blocker and shot manipulator, Del Rosario’s timing and instincts bolstered New Heights’ frontline.
Del Rosario established herself as a rare breed, a throwback if you will, with her ability to block shots with the authority of a 1990s NBA center.
Since playing her way into better conditioning and developing a rim running, baseline to baseline presence, her skill set evolved as well. Del Rosario became a pick and roll threat and high efficiency interior scorer.
The multitalented big possesses all that’s prioritized at the next level as a big with ball skills, capable of scoring between a defender and the rim and dragging rim protectors away from the post with her mid range game.
A recruit of Del Rosario’s magnitude comes around about as often as Houston’s comet.
Many with her uniqueness of imposing size and physicality falter with the intricacies of the game and take a while to develop.
With how quickly she’s grown the past three years, Del Rosario’s prolonged upside is what made her one of the nation’s top recruits.
