The Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team has netted their second recruit for the class of 2025 in Erianna Gooden, who announced her verbal commitment Tuesday evening.
The 6-foot guard is entering her senior year at Northside High School in Fort Smith, Arkansas, which is located close to the Oklahoma border. During her junior year, Gooden averaged 19.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.6 steals. For her performance, she was given all-conference and state honors.
Gooden's most flaunted talent is her physicality, she has a tough paint presence otherwise missing from the Buffs backcourt. Gooden could be game-changing for the Buffs' roster should she be able to play as a versatile guard during her rotation.
The Arkansas guard was the No. 2 prospect in the state of Arkansas (per Prep Girls Hoops). She selected Colorado over Columbia, Creighton, Missouri State, Oklahoma State and UNLV.
Gooden was recently interviewed on Sportslifetalk Media, a basketball podcast that follows the top high school recruits from the South.
In her interview, she stated that one of her top priorities for choosing a program is the head coach. CU head coach JR Payne seemingly had a huge role in Gooden's decision to play for the Buffaloes.
Later in the interview, she mentioned her ultimate aspiration is to play in the WNBA, hoping to join the likes of Jaylyn Sherrod as the lone Colorado alum to play in the league this decade.
Northside High School’s basketball program has produced professional talent in the past, as it's the same school that recently produced center Jaylin Williams. A homegrown prospect, Williams played for the hometown University of Arkansas and now plays professionally close to home for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Gooden joins forward Sophie Zadel as the CU's current commits from the 2025 recruiting class. With Zadel coming out of San Antonio, Texas, the pair represents a new region for recruiting from Payne, who’s current roster mainly comes from the northern and international areas.
The current state of Buffs' recruits could indicate a new, talent-rich area for the team to scout talent out of as the team looks to replenish the pool of talent that was on the team for the past few years.
Gooden joins the roster next year with the Buffaloes looking to bounce back from a critical offseason, in which they lost all but one starter on the squad that made it to the Sweet Sixteen of March Madness last season.
Cover photo from @EriannaGooden/X
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