Ex-Manchester Girls Hoops Player Drafted Into WNBA

BROOKLYN, NY — Leilani Correa, who spent her senior year of high school helping the Manchester Township girls basketball team to a dream season, is headed to the WNBA.

Correa, who spent her final two college seasons playing for the University of Florida, was drafted by the Indiana Fever with the 27th overall pick. Correa will join No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark, who has thrilled audiences with her standout performance in college, where she set several scoring records, including most career points among all college players.

Correa came to Manchester in the fall of 2018 and joined a Hawks' team that had a strong nucleus, including Destiny Adams, who went on to play collegiately at the University of North Carolina before transferring to Rutgers.

Correa scored 595 points and had 264 rebounds in that season for Manchester, which reached the semifinals of the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions, the furthest the team ever reached in the tournament. The NJSIAA discontinued the TOC after the coronavirus pandemic. Read more: Manchester's Historic Girls Basketball Season Comes To An End

After graduation, Correa played at St. John's University before transferring to Florida. For the Gators, she was one of the team's most consistent players, averaging 11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in the 2022-2023 season and 16.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game in the 2023-2024 season, according to the Florida Gators' women's basketball website.

She led the Southeastern Conference in scoring in 2023-24, with 27 games in double-figures and three straight where she scored more than 30 points per game, and was named the 2024 SEC Sixth-Woman of the Year.

Correa finished her collegiate career with 27 games in double-figures, had three consecutive 30-point performances, and finished with 2,132 points for her career, scoring 1,272 at St. John's and 860 at Florida.