“I think the new coaching staff really made me feel like a priority,” Rismiller said Tuesday. “I was one one of their first — if not the first — offers they made when they got the job. Then they came to every one of my AAU games and showed their support and made me feel like like I was wanted.”
Rismiller committed to Dayton on Aug. 12, joining Lauren Pallotta, of Jackson High School in Massillon, in Dayton’s 2023 recruiting class.
“The coaching staff and I mesh really well,” Rismiller said, “and I like their coaching style. I think they’re going to push me in the right ways and get the best out of me. Another thing that really stuck out to me was their fan base. I went to the game last year and the atmosphere at UD Arena is like no other. They were just cheering so loud. It’s something I would really, really like to play in.”
The chance to play college basketball close to home was another reason Rismiller picked Dayton.
“It’s only about an hour away,” Rismiller said. “My family and friends can come see me whenever they want.”
Rismiller led the Midwest Athletic Conference in scoring last season as a junior (17.0 points per game) and ranked second in rebounding (10.3). She received an All-Ohio special mention in Division III.
Rismiller played AAU basketball for Ohio Elite, coached by former Dayton star Brooks Hall. She said he was “very unbiased” throughout the recruiting process, not trying to sway her to pick Dayton, but also a good resource.
Rismiller said Purdue, Marquette and Virginia Tech were the other schools recruiting her the hardest. She took an official visit to Dayton from Aug. 1-3.
“I got to hang out with the girls, which was good,” she said. “They have a lot of new kids, so it was good to see how they interacted with each other. You could tell they were still getting used to the new staff. (The staffs are) so different. We got to watch a practice, see the facilities and spent a lot of time with the coaching staff and the players to make sure they were people I would want to spend my next four or five years with.”
Rismiller said she got a relative late start in the sport. She’s always been tall but didn’t fall in love with basketball until the eighth grade.
“I’m the oldest of five,” she said. “My parents aren’t going to invest time and money unless it’s something you really love and want to do in the future. Eighth grade is when I started getting serious. I joined coach Brooks and Ohio Elite my freshman year. That was the COVID year so there was no exposure, but it was good to just learn and play with higher-level girls and learn the game more. Then my recruiting process really took off my sophomore year, when coaches can come see us live.”
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