POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Fresh off another season that saw the Pearl River women's basketball team raise the bar, the Wildcats have announced the first members of their 2023 signing class.

This year's class includes high school standouts Janiah Caples of Vicksburg, Kamren Edwards of Murrah, Roge'Ne' Hillard of Copiah Academy, Audria Houston and Mikayla Riley of Tupelo and Leah Wilcher of Brookhaven. PRCC also inked the signatures of Alabama State transfer Samya Brooks, Eastern New Mexico transfer Marley Freeman and Mississippi Valley State transfer Charity Hinton.

"I am very excited, honored and humbled to coach this special group of young women," Pearl River coach Scotty Fletcher said. "This signing class has a mixture of college experience and prep standouts from very successful and respectable high school programs.

"We had a strategic plan on what we were looking for this year with us graduating such a big class. My assistants did a great job of building relationships as we targeted the needs for next year's team as we continued to build on the success we have experienced the last few years."

SAMYA BROOKS
Brooks comes to The River after spending the 2022-23 season at Alabama State. The 5-foot-10 forward featured in 19 games off the bench for the Hornets. Before attending Alabama State, Brooks was a standout player at Pontotoc. As a junior, she led the Warriors to a 4A State Championship victory and was named the game's Most Valuable Player. She averaged 21.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks along the way. Brooks averaged 18.4 points and 8.3 rebounds during her senior year and was named the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Player of the Year. Brooks was a two-time Clarion-Ledger Dandy Dozen selection.

JANIAH CAPLES
Caples makes her way to Poplarville after an outstanding career at Vicksburg. As a junior, she averaged 9.5 points, 3.2 assists and 3.4 steals. She took her game up a notch during her senior campaign, averaging 17 points and seven assists. 

KAMREN EDWARDS
Edwards heads to PRCC after a solid career at Murrah. Edwards profiles as a scoring guard who defends at a high level. Before her senior season, she was named to the Capital Sports Players to Watch list. 

MARLEY FREEMAN
Freeman was a member of Eastern New Mexico as a freshman, playing in 22 games. She averaged 2.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists. Prior to attending ENMU, Freeman was the Most Valuable Player in Region 5-6A at Brandon and was selected to compete in the 2022 Mississippi/Alabama All-Star game after her senior year. 

ROGE'NE' HILLARD
The Wildcats have big shoes to fill in the paint with the departure of St. Louis signees Tierra Simon (Houston, Texas; Heights) and Marcavia Shavers (Biloxi) and Hillard is expected to be a player who can fill the void. The 6-foot-2 center was one of five players from Mississippi nominated for the McDonald's All-American Game as a senior at Copiah Academy.

CHARITY HINTON
A speedy scoring guard and elite defender, Hinton becomes a Wildcat after playing for Mississippi Valley State in 2022-23. Before heading to MVSU, Hinton was a standout at Meridian, averaging eight points, two assists and two steals while leading her team to a 6A State Championship victory.

AUDRIA HOUSTON
As a senior at Tupelo, Houston led her team to a 6A State Championship runner-up finish while averaging 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. The guard shot 74 percent from the free-throw line. She was named to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's All-Area team.

MIKAYLA RILEY
Riley is expected to play any position along the perimeter for the Wildcats in 2023-24. The Tupelo graduate helped the Golden Wave make their way to the 6A State Championship game by averaging 17 points and 5.4 rebounds. She participated in the Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Game and was named the 2023 Player of the Year by the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. 

LEAH WILCHER
Wilcher was a dominant presence in the paint for Brookhaven. A 6-foot-3 center, Wilcher heads to Pearl River after leading her team to a 26-5 record, averaging 8.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.1 blocks as a senior. Wilcher was selected to participate in the Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Game at the season's end.

2022-23 SEASON
The 2022-23 campaign was another incredible season for Pearl River. For a second straight season, the Wildcats won over 20 games and advanced to the Region 23 Championship game. Pearl River had three players named to the All-MACCC squads and sent seven players to the four-year level.

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