University of Missouri women's basketball recruit Aijha Blackwell no longer is a part of the Whitfield girls basketball team or enrolled at the school, multiple sources confirmed Saturday.
Blackwell scored 31 points Nov. 27 in a season-opening win at O'Fallon, but she did not play in any of Whitfield's games this week against Pacific, Gateway STEM and John Burroughs in the Whitfield Round Robin.
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“She's no longer on the team roster,” Whitfield girls basketball coach Mike Slater said Saturday. “The team was notified (midweek) and it certainly made an impact, but we have a job to do.”
Becky Marsh, Whitfield School's director of marketing and communications, provided the following statement: “The Blackwell family has withdrawn from Whitfield School. We have no further comment.”
Blackwell was coming off a junior season in which she averaged an area-best 24.2 points per game and helped Whitfield finish third in Class 3. The 6-foot guard/forward also played for the United States as it won the FIBA Americas championship tournament title last summer in Mexico.
In October, she chose to commit to Missouri over Kansas and Louisville and then signed her letter of intent in November.
When asked if her daughter was enrolled at Whitfield, Blackwell's mother, Amy, said: “Nope. I can't afford Whitfield.”
Amy Blackwell added Lutheran North and Cardinal Ritter are schools Aijha may to transfer to in the coming days. Aijha Blackwell attended Lutheran North's games Nov. 30 at Lutheran St. Charles and Dec. 5 at Incarnate Word.
Tuition at Whitfield is $26,925 a year, according to the school's website. Tuition at Lutheran North High School is not listed on their site. Tuition at Cardinal Ritter is $8,853 for a non-Catholic student, according to its website. All the schools offer merit- and need-based scholarships.
Whitfield (3-1) now will look to junior guard jade Moore (12.3 points per game) and UMKC signee Tajah Foster-Walker (11.7 points per game) to lead the way.
“We still have games to play and that's about all I can say,” Slater said. “It is a loss and, with loss, you have choices to make. Either you can sit around and feel sorry for yourself, or you can move forward. As a coach, I refuse to sit around and feel sorry for myself. I refuse to have the team feel, "What now?" We have very capable players."