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2021 Pirate Player Preview: Ariel Cummings

Date: September 9, 2021

By: Heaven Hill

A graphic of Ariel Cummings is shown as she transfers from West Virginia to Seton Hall.

Seton Hall Athletics

The Pirates have completely revamped and supplanted their frontcourt this past offseason, with one of those moves being the acquisition of Ariel Cummings.

South Orange, N.J. marks the third stop in the collegiate career of Cummings, as she racked up numbers at Chipola Community College before transferring to play at West Virginia last season. Now that she’s at Seton Hall, let’s break down her skillset and what she can provide in Coach Bozzella’s rotation. 

During her first year at Chipola during the 2018-19 season, she played in 28 games with five starts. She established herself early on as a well-rounded post player, finishing on the interior and cleaning the glass. Overall, Cummings averaged 4.2 points-per-game and 3.8 rebounds-per-game, but after a few tremendous performances against Tallahassee and Roane State, it was clear heading into next season the sky was the limit. 

Her second season at Chipola was simply sensational. 6-foot-5 center Blessing Ejiofor, who started in 23 games the season prior, was now headed to West Virginia. So, a huge gap in the starting frontcourt had opened up, and Cummings took full advantage.

She trounced the competition night after night, putting up ridiculous stat lines. 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven stocks (steals + blocks) in the season opener against Denmark Technical? Easy. 27 points and nine rebounds in a tight loss to Daytona State? No problem. 15 points and 13 stocks against Broward in December? She didn’t even break a sweat.

Cummings did what great players do, and that is dominate inferior competition with ease. On the season she averaged 14.5 points-per-game, 11.4 rebounds-per-game and 3.2 blocks-per-game and was also later named to the All-Panhandle Conference First Team.

After her breakout season, she was ranked as a top-25 JUCO recruit in the entire nation by World Exposure Report. With a list of offers a mile long, she took her talents to the Big 12 and joined the Mountaineers. 

As you see in the tweet above, Cummings is extremely talented and skilled with what she can do on the hardwood. After all, players who can block shots, rebound, post up, and space the floor don’t exactly grow on trees.

However, with limited time available in the frontcourt, including her old teammate Blessing getting over 14 minutes-per-game, we didn’t get to see much of Cummings at West Virginia. So, she entered her name into the transfer portal and the Pirates eagerly offered her a new home.

I mentioned earlier how the Pirates revamped their frontcourt a ton this offseason. With the departures of Desiree Elmore and Alexia Allesch, Coach Bozzella had to find players who could seamlessly fit the team’s system and contribute in various ways, while also stacking up well against the opposing frontcourts in the Big East.

In their two losses to UConn, the Pirates were outrebounded 87-66 and allowed a field goal percentage of 60% inside the arc. So, landing three strong rebounders and defenders in Cummings, Katie Armstrong, and Sidney Cooks in one offseason will surely go a long way in the Pirates’ efforts next season on that end of the floor.

Cummings might not have had the run at West Virginia she hoped for, but at Chipola Community College and back at high school in Toledo, she showcased just how powerful of a presence she could be on the court. Now, she’s a vital piece to a contending puzzle. Let’s see how she does at Walsh Gymnasium.

Heaven Hill is the Sports Director at 89.5 FM WSOU and can be reached at wsou.sports@gmail.com.

Posted in: Women's Basketball, Sports, WSOU

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