By Matt Smith
The recruiting process can be a burden for any high school athlete.
Ridley’s Dakota McCaughan was cognizant of the pressure surrounding her choice for a college destination. The All-Delco basketball player had offers before her senior season, her first at Ridley High after a three-year stint at Bonner-Prendergast, but she decided to wait and play the long game.
That was OK with McCaughan.
She never announced her up-to-the-minute college offers or invitations for official campus visits. A quiet, down to earth sort, McCaughan kept her business to herself.
Ultimately, McCaughan, who led Ridley to its first Central League championship in decades, kept coming back to one school in particular. In late April, she signed with the University of South Carolina-Upstate.
Her somewhat belated signing had nothing to do with her academic prowess. McCaughan is a model student taking three advanced placement courses during her final semester of high school – psychology,statistics and literature. She is handling the heavy workload while being forced to complete her schoolwork at home due to the conronavirus pandemic.